6-456: Mario Zampi (1 November 1903 – 2 December 1963) was an Italian film producer and director. A co-founder of Two Cities Films , a British production company, he is most closely associated with British comedies of the 1950s. He later formed his own film production companies, Anglofilm and Mario Zampi Productions. Zampi began his career as an actor in Italy at the age of 17. By 1930, he
12-662: The Stars (1945), and Blithe Spirit (1945) contributed significantly to the high critical reputation acquired by the British cinema of the time. In the mid-1940s Two Cities Films became part of the Rank Organisation . It was raising the finances for the production of Laurence Olivier's patriotic epic Henry V (1944) totalling more than £470,000, which forced Filippo Del Giudice to surrender his controlling interest in
18-575: The company to the Rank Organisation. Under Rank they produced key films such as Odd Man Out (1947), Hamlet (1948), and Vice Versa (1948). Two Cities Films is now owned by Gregory Motton . The company went back into production in 2017 with the shooting of The Four Gospels of Dracula the Messiah , a quartet of films, The Four Gospels of Dracula the Messiah, part one: A Voice Crying In The Wilderness , The Four Gospels of Dracula
24-445: The dual role of director and producer. Director and producer unless otherwise indicated. Two Cities Films Two Cities Films is a British film production company. Formed in 1937, it was originally envisaged as a production company operating in the two cities of London and Rome which gave the company its name. The driving forces behind the company were the flamboyant, Italian-born Filippo Del Giudice , and his partner
30-458: The multitalented Mario Zampi , born in Sora , Italy who often worked in the dual role of director and producer. Two Cities produced a number of quintessentially English film classics including the most popular British film from the wartime period, In Which We Serve (1942). Other Two Cities films such as This Happy Breed (1944), The Way Ahead (1944), Henry V (1944), The Way to
36-527: Was working for Warner Bros. as a film editor in London. In 1937, he and compatriot Filippo Del Giudice founded Two Cities Films. While the company was noted for such serious films as In Which We Serve , Henry V , and Hamlet , Zampi is most remembered for comedies. He made his mark with such films as Laughter in Paradise (1951), The Naked Truth (1957), and Too Many Crooks (1959), often in
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