Silvana Mangano

Acting

Silvana Mangano

Born — Died

1930-04-21 — 1989-12-16

Place of birth

Rome, Latium, Italy

Known for

Acting

Credits

47 titles

Silvana Mangano (21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. She won the David di Donatello for Best Actress three times - for The Verona Trial (1963), The Witches (1967), and The Scientific Cardplayer (1973) – and the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress twice. Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a Miss Rome beauty pageant in 1946. This led to work in films; she achieved success in Bitter Rice (1949) and went on to forge a successful car…

Known for

What's My Line? poster
7.0

Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.

What's My Line?

1950

Dune poster
6.2

In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe, the vast desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Its native inhabitants, the Fremen, have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.

Dune

1984

Death in Venice poster
7.2

Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.

Death in Venice

1971

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World poster
7.3

In 1971, due to the world premiere of Death in Venice, Italian director Lucino Visconti proclaimed his Tadzio as the world’s most beautiful boy. A shadow that today, 50 years later, weighs Björn Andrésen’s life.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

2021

Ulysses poster
6.6

A retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, focusing on Ulysses's ten-year journey home to Ithaca following the Trojan War, where he faces various mythical challenges while his wife Penelope fends off suitors.

Ulysses

1954

Theorem poster
7.0

A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.

Theorem

1968

Film credits

2010s · 1 titles

2000s · 2 titles

1970s · 7 titles

Death in Venice poster
7.2

Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.

Death in Venice

1971

Conversation Piece poster
7.3

A retired professor of American origin lives a solitary life in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. He is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her lover, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, and forced to rent to them an apartment on the upper floor of his palazzo. From this point on his quiet routine is turned into chaos by his tenants' machinations, and everybody's life takes an unexpected but inevitable turn.

Conversation Piece

1974

The Decameron poster
6.9

A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.

The Decameron

1971

Ludwig poster
7.5

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness.

Ludwig

1973

The Scopone Game poster
7.4

An aging American millionairess journeys to Rome each year with her chauffeur George to play the card game scopone with destitute Peppino and his wife Antonia.

The Scopone Game

1972

Scipio the African poster
6.8

Years after the Second Punic War, Scipio Africanus finds himself generally unliked, despite his defeat of Hannibal Barca. He and his brother, Scipio Asiaticus, are accused by Marcus Porcius Cato of the theft of 500 talents intended for Rome.

Scipio the African

1971

For Love One Dies poster
9.0

A hyper sensitive film student falls in love with an older woman.

For Love One Dies

1972

1960s · 15 titles

Theorem poster
7.0

A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.

Theorem

1968

The Witches poster
6.0

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.

The Witches

1967

Oedipus Rex poster
6.8

In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Oedipus, and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road…

Oedipus Rex

1967

Barabbas poster
6.9

Epic account of the thief Barabbas, who was pardoned for his crimes and spared crucifixion when Pilate offered the Israelites a choice to pardon Barabbas or Jesus. Struggling with his spirituality, Barabbas goes through many ordeals leading him to the gladiatorial arena, where he tries to win his freedom and confront his inner demons, ultimately becoming a follower of the man who was crucified in his place.

Barabbas

1961

Me, Me, Me... and the Others poster
6.2

Sandro is a well-known journalist and he is conducting a survey on human selfishness. Every man and every woman he meets turns into a theme for his inquiry. Even his own wife, Titta.

Me, Me, Me... and the Others

1966

A Difficult Life poster
8.0

Silvio refuses to fight for the fascists and joins the resistance with Elena. After the war, his vitriolic newspaper articles cause him to be sentenced to imprisonment.

A Difficult Life

1961

...And Suddenly It's Murder! poster
6.5

Three couples are involved in a murder at Montecarlo.

...And Suddenly It's Murder!

1960

Pardon, Are You for or Against? poster
6.1

A successful fifty-year-old entrepreneur, Tullio Conforti, opposed to divorce for religious reasons, is in fact separated from his wife and leads a frenetic life divided between numerous lovers.

Pardon, Are You for or Against?

1966

The Last Judgment poster
6.4

In Naples, a voice from the skies announces one morning that the final judgment will be at 6 p.m. on that day. What follows is a series of vignettes depicting various people's reactions (or lack thereof) to the announcement.

The Last Judgment

1961

Five Branded Women poster
6.1

Five Yugoslav women who consorted with the German occupiers are publicly humiliated and banished by the Yugoslav partisans but they take up arms to fend for themselves.

Five Branded Women

1960

Caprice Italian Style poster
6.1

The film consists of six short stories created by different directors, but all the stories share one thing: a warm irony to current events.

Caprice Italian Style

1968

The Flying Saucer poster
5.4

An exasperated police inspector receives different eyewitness accounts surrounding a downed saucer and its female occupant.

The Flying Saucer

1964

My Wife poster
6.2

Five comedic episodes, all starring Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano.

My Wife

1964

The Verona Trial poster
7.5

This film is the moving story of Edda Ciano, the daughter of Italian dictator Mussolini, who was unable to prevent the atrocious assassination of her husband by fanatics of her father.

The Verona Trial

1963

The Earth As Seen from the Moon poster
8.1

Ciancicato Miao and his son, after the death of his wife and mother by mushroom poisoning, are dedicated to find her replacement and have no luck until they find a mysterious deaf mute green-haired woman.

The Earth As Seen from the Moon

1967

1950s · 9 titles

Ulysses poster
6.6

A retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, focusing on Ulysses's ten-year journey home to Ithaca following the Trojan War, where he faces various mythical challenges while his wife Penelope fends off suitors.

Ulysses

1954

The Great War poster
8.1

Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army.

The Great War

1959

Tempest poster
6.5

A young officer in the army of Empress Catherine of Russia is on his way to his new duty station at a remote outpost. During a blinding snowstorm he comes upon a stranger who was caught in the storm and is near death from freezing. He rescues the man and eventually brings him back to health. When the man is well enough to travel, the two part company and the man vows to repay the officer for saving his life. Soon after he arrives at his new post, a revolt by the local Cossacks breaks out and the fort is besieged by the rebels. The young officer is astonished to find out that the leader of the rebellious Cossacks is none other than the stranger whose life he had saved during the storm.

Tempest

1958

The Gold of Naples poster
7.3

A tribute to Naples, this film presents six episodes: a clown exploited by a gangster, a pizza seller losing her husband’s ring, a child's funeral, a gambler beaten by a kid, a prostitute's unusual wedding, and a "wisdom seller" offering advice.

The Gold of Naples

1954

Mambo poster
5.4

A young and poor Venetian woman is invited to a masquerade ball by a charming count.

Mambo

1954

Men and Wolves poster
6.6

Two young hunters of wolves are involved in a conflict. Besides the dangerous wild wolves, beautiful Teresa is the center of attention.

Men and Wolves

1957

This Angry Age poster
6.1

20-year-old Joseph and his 16-year-old sister Suzanne live in the merciless conditions of an intemperate foreign land with their widowed mother. Their mother attempts to exert a hold on her children by involving them in the family's run-down rice plantation. However, the siblings seek liberation, and look for this in their romantic lives. Suzanne becomes involved with Michael and Joseph finds a love interest in Claude.

This Angry Age

1957

Outlaw Girl poster
7.2

Beppe Musolino is falsely accused of murder. He is tried and once found guilty is imprisoned. Unexpectedly he escape from prison and to survive he start living like an outlaw brigand. He falls in love for Mara, a village girl, and with her help he hunts down all of the witnesses who lied about him at the trial.

Outlaw Girl

1950

Anna poster
7.3

The life story of a nun who started out as a bar singer, then took the veil because she couldn't choose between two men, and now devotes herself to nursing.

Anna

1951

1940s · 6 titles

Bitter Rice poster
7.5

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.

Bitter Rice

1949

Lure of the Sila poster
6.2

Returning home after a night of love spent in a woodman's hut with Orsola, Pietro is arrested by the police for a crime he did not commit. His mother and youngest sister, Rosaria, go to Orsola begging her to provide Pietro with the alibi that will clear him. But Rocco, Orsola's brother, dreading a family scandal, constrains Orsola to silence. Condemned despite his innocence, Pietro escapes from prison, but the police track him down and kill him, and his mother, before the eyes of Rosaria. Years pass, and one day Rocco stumbles upon a half-frozen young woman lying in the snow. He takes her home and confides her to the care of Orsola. Later, yielding to the pleas of Orsola, Rocco and Rocco's son, Salvatore, the girl stays on in the house, and Salvatore falls in love with the beautiful stranger, who is careful to keep the family members from learning she is Rosaria, the grown up sister of Pietro seeking revenge for the deaths of her brother and mother.

Lure of the Sila

1949

Black Magic poster
6.4

A hypnotist uses his powers for revenge against King Louis XV's court.

Black Magic

1949

Flesh Will Surrender poster
7.2

Giovanni used to be a humble, mild-mannered government clerk whose life was turned upside down when he met Giulio, a notorious forger who at once set about manipulating the over-confident man. Giovanni did what he should never have done: he associated himself with the crook. Giulio soon laid hands on Giovanni's money, ruined his career and manhandled him into marrying his own mistress, the beautiful Ginevra. It was of course an unhappy marriage but Giovanni found a little solace when his son Ciro was born. Seven years later though, Wanzer resurfaced...

Flesh Will Surrender

1947

The Last Judgment poster
10.0

In Central Europe, resistance to the Germans in growing. But the partisan leader is denounced and killed. His daughter and the son of the traitor love each other. Condemned by his comrades, the informer commits suicide in front of the young couple.

The Last Judgment

1945

This Wine of Love poster
5.7

Nemorino is hopelessly in love with Adina but she is attracted to a dashing captain.

This Wine of Love

1947

Series credits