The best Rosalba Neri’s drama movies
She won a beauty pageant and attended il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (The Center for Experimental Cinematography). In 1956, she received an offer to go to Hollywood and attend the Actor's Studio but didn't take the offer for undisclosed reasons.
She began her film career at the age of 15 with a role in the film I pinguini ci guardano (1956) (The Penguins Watch Us) in which the animals at the zoo watched the humans around them and cultivated some very interesting thoughts. Many sources, however, list her first film as Mogli pericolose (1958). She is uncredited in this comedy which was directed by Luigi Comencini.
Neri was also much in demand for erotic films. She played Zoe, in Jesús Franco's 99 Women (1969), a movie about women in prison who must turn to each other for comfort while dealing with a sadistic warden. In 1971 she was Eleanor Stuart, Farley Granger's 'wife' in Amuck (1972).
El Cid
7.2/10
Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour, still succeeds in taking the initiative and driving the Moors from Spain.
Marquis de Sade: Justine
5.1/10
Without a family, penniless and separated from her sister, a beautiful chaste woman will have to cope with an endless parade of villains, perverts and degenerates who will claim not only her treasured virtue but also her life.
99 Women
4.7/10
Jesus Franco's campy women's prison film is worthwhile for genre devotees primarily due to an outstanding cast. Mercedes McCambridge is unintentionally hilarious as sadistic lesbian warden Thelma Diaz, spitting tacky dialogue with exuberant venom in a performance so overbearing that it verges on classic. The plot is standard for the genre, as three women (Maria Rohm, Elisa Montes, Luciana Paluzzi) are sentenced to an island prison off the Panamanian coast, only to encounter torture, rape, and lesbianism. When sympathetic Warden Caroll (Maria Schell) replaces Diaz, the prisoners assume that conditions will improve, but their agony only worsens until they decide to escape. Rosalba Neri co-stars, and Herbert Lom runs the corrupt men's prison nearby. 99 Mujeres was heavily censored in various prints, with versions running anywhere between 70 and 108 minutes. Edits running 84, 86, and 94 minutes are most commonly available.
Big Guns
6.7/10
A mob hitman wants to retire, but his bosses don't think that's a good idea. Complications - and many bloody shootouts - ensue.
Johnny Yuma
6.1/10
Infidelity, murder, and betrayal lies at the center of this violent Spaghetti western. A scheming wife does away with her husband, causing the man's heir to seek revenge. A number of double-crosses and bloody gun battles follow, eventually driving the woman to flee into the desert.
Esther and the King
5.5/10
Recently widowed Persian King Ahasuerus wants to marry the beautiful Esther. But Esther is a Jewess, and Haman, the king's evil minister, is spreading hatred against the Jews. Set in the 4th century B.C., this Biblical epic stars Richard Egan (Demetrius And The Gladiators, A Summer Place) as Ahasuerus and Italian leading man Sergio Fantoni as Haman. Esther is portrayed by none other than Joan Collins, who would later gain fame as the scheming Alexis Carrington, in the hit TV series Dynasty. Directed by Raoul Walsh (The Thief of Bagdad, High Sierra, White Heat). 1960 / Running Time: 109 min. / Color
Escape by Night
7.1/10
In Nazi-occupied Rome, a beautiful bootlegger, to the chagrin of her lover, gives sanctuary to three escaped POWs: an American pilot, a Russian sergeant and a British major
Cleopatra's Daughter
4.8/10
The beautiful young Sushila is forced into a political marriage with young Pharaoh Nemorat in order to consolidate power. However, the young Pharaoh is beset with mental illness and the marriage becomes dangerous, all the while the chief advisor Kefren and his scheming mistress plot to destroy the unstable pair.
Two Males for Alexa
5.9/10
Curd Jurgens as the betrayed husband is incredibly expressive and believable; Rosabla Neri, as the philandering Alexa, delivers her usual thoughtful performance and, in doing so, makes her potentially cardboard cut-out character multi-dimensional, and Juan Luis Galiardo, as Alexa'a heartthrob Pierre, also cares enough about his craft that he avoids the trappings of a potentially stereotypical character and, like Neri, makes him real and full of depth
SuperSeven Calling Cairo
5.1/10
Super 7 looks for a piece of a new metal hidden in a camera.
Desert Raiders
4.4/10
A hero saves a beautiful young princess from a forced marriage to an evil villain.
The Lion of Thebes
5.1/10
Fleeing Troy in the wake of its destruction, fair-faced Helen and her faithful protector Arion run into the pharaoh Ramses, who sets his sights on Helen -- and is subsequently murdered. Now it's up to Arion to save Helen from those who wish her dead.
Libera, My Love
6.7/10
Director Mauro Bolognini inserts this story in Fascist Italy, with careful attention to details. The couple formed by Matteo Zannoni (Bruno Cirino) and Libera Valente (Cardinale) can't bear fascism. They move constantly between cities, settling down in Modena, where Libera quickly collides with the fascist political commissar Franco Testa (Philippe Leroy). Libera has to suffer awful moments due to her attachment to the resistance, and to the political and sexual harassment from Testa.
The Seducers
5.4/10
Ulla, a prostitute is hired by the despicable Mudy, mother of the shy and mentally disturbed 20-year-old Tony with a tendency toward pyromania. She is invited on a sea cruise where she is meant to "take" his virginity. Also invited on the cruise are the provocative Paula and her husband Aldo, who are constantly striving to win the favor of a wealthy woman in hope of obtaining an oil concession. Despite her efforts, Ulla has no effect on the young man until the yacht stops on a Mediterranean island inhabited only by a goat herder and his wife, Beba. Tony is attracted to her, but little by little his mental disorders arise, and the story ends in tragedy.
The Spy with Ten Faces
5.3/10
Paul Hubsschmid is Paul Finney aka Upperseven, master of disguise. He's out to stop a diamond smuggling operation which fronts for a missile building project.
The Tough and the Mighty
6.4/10
Based on the story of real life Sardinian bandit Graziano Mesina.
The Conquest of Mycenae
4.9/10
Gordon Scott plays Glaucus, the prince of Tiryns, a powerful warrior who goes undercover in Mycenae to infiltrate the evil cult of Moloch, which is exacting tribute from neighboring kingdoms in the form of attractive young hostages, both male and female. Calling himself "Hercules," Glaucus defeats Mycenae's champions and gains the favor of the voluptuous Queen Demetra (Rosalba Neri) whose son, covered in a dog's head mask, has been raised as the living embodiment of the dark god Moloch and receives sacrifices in his sprawling underground grotto.
