Giorgio Simonelli


Giorgio Simonelli, was an Italian film director, editor, screenwriter and journalist.

Life and career

Born in Rome, Simonelli got a high school diploma in business studies, and then started working as a journalist and as a film critic for the weekly magazines Avvenimento and Gente nostra. In 1928, at 22, he made his directorial debut co-directing with Nicola Fausto Neroni Maratona, and two years later he was among the screenwriters of the first Italian talking film, The Song of Love by Gennaro Righelli. From 1934 Simonelli mainly devoted himself to film editing, then, from 1940, he resumed his activity as a director specialising in commercially successful comedy films, in which he directed some of the most popular actors of the period, notably Totò, Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo, Nino Taranto, Renato Rascel, Walter Chiari, Ugo Tognazzi, Macario, Alberto Sordi and Aldo Fabrizi. He ended his career by filming many successful works interpreted by the comedy duo Franco and Ciccio. His last film was the western-parody Two Sons of Ringo, in which shortly before the end of filming he was replaced by Giuliano Carnimeo for health reasons.

Selected filmography

Director

The Cuckoo Clock A Husband for the Month of April The Two Tigers Two Hearts Among the Beasts Eleven Men and a Ball The Transporter I'm the Capataz Auguri e figli maschi! La paura fa 90 I, Hamlet Passionate Song Saluti e baci Love Song It Happened at the Police Station Noi siamo due evasi Robin Hood and the Pirates Ursus in the Land of Fire

Screenwriter

The Song of Love Fountain of Trevi

Film editor

The Blue Fleet Paradise La Wally Seconda B Loyalty of Love Don Bosco Golden Arrow Cavalry Queen of the Scala Mother Song Luciano Serra, Pilot Battles in the Shadow The Widow Cardinal Messias No Man's Land A Thousand Lire a Month The Thrill of the Skies