Il gattopardo (1963)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa (novel)
Suso Cecchi d'Amico (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 July 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Luchino Visconti's Enduring Romantic Adventure

Plot:

The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860's Sicily.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | 1860s | Noble | Sicily | Aristocracy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
Claudia Cardinale	...	Angelica Sedara / Bertiana
Alain Delon	...	Tancredi Falconeri
Paolo Stoppa	...	Don Calogero Sedara
Rina Morelli	...	Princess Maria Stella Salina
Romolo Valli	...	Father Pirrone
Terence Hill	...	Count Cavriaghi (as Mario Girotti)
Pierre Clémenti	...	Francesco Paolo
Lucilla Morlacchi	...	Concetta
Giuliano Gemma	...	Garibaldi's General
Ida Galli	...	Carolina
Ottavia Piccolo	...	Caterina
Carlo Valenzano	...	Paolo
Brook Fuller	...	Little Prince
Anna Maria Bottini	...	Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess

Also Known As:

The Leopard (UK) (USA)
Le guépard (France)

Runtime:

187 min | Spain:151 min (cut version) | UK:161 min (cut version) | USA:165 min (cut version) | France:195 min (Cannes Film Festival) | 205 min (premiere version) | West Germany:161 min (cut version)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M (TV rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Norway:12 (re-rating) (1985) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:U (original rating) | USA:PG (certificate #20553) | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Ariccia, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Titanus

Trivia:

Although Claudia Cardinale's dialogue was dubbed by Solveyg D'Assunta, her voice can still be heard in some scenes, in particular when her and Alain Delon run around the empty house; her deep and hearty laugh being quite distinctive.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: During one of the long shots of the journey to Donnafugata, a blur crosses the screen near the center, apparently caused by a fly crawling over the lens.

Quotes:

Prince Don Fabrizio Salina: [of the Sicilians] "They never want to improve. They think themselves perfect. Their vanity is greater than their misery."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in An Opera of Violence (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Mazurka

a film that just gets better with age, yours and its own!

I was rounding off a two year study in France in 1963 and I remember gazing at the marquee of a cinema in Paris shortly after the Cannes Festival, seeing "Le Guepard" advertised, beautiful Claudia Cardinale waltzing with handsome, courtly, Burt Lancaster. At the time, I made a mental note to see the movie but in fact, saw it for the first time many years later, on a black and white TV no less! Chopped up and edited as it was, in black and white, the film moved me immensely. I was absolutely thunderstruck by the dialogue which, when I read the Prince of Lampedusa's novel shortly after, I realized had been "lifted" verbatim from the novel in large chunks. What a novel and what a worthy and noble tribute to it Visconti has paid. I now own the Criterion three disk set of Il Gattopardo and never tire of watching what is for me, one of the great films of the twentieth century. Burt Lancaster, as the Prince of Salina, was an inspired choice for the cinematic role, though apparently he was not Luchino Visconti's choice. I think the Prince of Salina is Lancaster's finest performance.