Valentina Cortese
Birthday: 1923-01-01
Place of Birth: Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Biography: Valentina Cortese (January 1, 1923 - July 10, 2019) was an Italian film actress. The Milan-born actress starred in The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) directed by Robert Wise, and costarring Richard Basehart and William Lundigan. Cortese, aged 28, married Basehart in 1951, and had one son with him before they divorced in 1960. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1975 for her performance in François Truffaut's Day for Night. Cortese appeared in Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Michelangelo Antonioni's Le Amiche (1955), Gérard Brach's The Boat on the Grass, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and in the Franco Zeffirelli projects such as the 1972 film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, his 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and the 1993 film Sparrow.
Movies
Day for Night
A committed filmmaker struggles to complete his latest project while coping with a myriad of crises,...
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The Boat on the Grass
Despite their social differences, poor David and the rich Olivier are the best friends. David took t...
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Ring of Darkness
Once a Satanist who surrendered her soul and body to the devil himself, Carlotta Rhodes begins to re...
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Brother Sun, Sister Moon
In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days...
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Thieves' Highway
Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfr...
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The Assassination of Trotsky
A Stalinist assassin tracks exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky to Mexico in 1940....
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Les Misérables
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless po...
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Barabbas
Epic account of the thief Barabbas, who was pardoned for his crimes and spared crucifixion when Pila...
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The Girl Who Knew Too Much
A tourist witnesses a murder and finds herself caught up in a series of bloody killings....
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The Barefoot Contessa
A washed-up filmmaker gets a second chance at stardom when he discovers stunning peasant Maria Varga...
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The House on Telegraph Hill
Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder w...
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Jailbirds
Three jailbirds— a surgeon, a robber, and a wrongly convicted man— must adjust to their lives once r...
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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfi...
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Malaya
After living abroad for several years, journalist John Royer returns to the United States just after...
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Sparrow
Catania, Sicilia 1854. A serious epidemic of cholera is hitting the region. Maria a 16 years old nov...
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When Time Ran Out...
An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues ...
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Le Amiche
Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout lo...
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Juliet of the Spirits
Middle-aged Giulietta grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio, when his behavior grows increasingly...
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Appassionata
Two teenage friends conspire to find out how much their youthful sensuality can disrupt one of their...
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The Legend of Lylah Clare
A dictatorial film director hires an unknown actress to play the lead role in a planned movie biogra...
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The Love Mates
Julien and Agatha appear to be a great couple, loving, caring and seem to feel complete with each ot...
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The Rocket from Calabuch
Professor Hamilton, a naive Nuclear scientist who once thought bombs were good for humanity, realize...
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Black Sun
A young Gallic heiress Christine is looking for her long-lost brother in Algeria. She's not looking ...
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Secret People
This tale of intrigue finds Valentina Cortese involved in an assassination plot. She helps the polic...
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Blue Tango
Tango blu is a night club in Milan where various bizarre characters meet. Among them a womanizing ph...
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Magic Fire
Director William Dieterle's 1956 film biography of classical composer Richard Wagner stars Carlos Th...
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Il matrimonio
An Italian historical comedy film consisting of three segments, based on three stage plays by Anton ...
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Son tornate a fiorire le rose
The birth of a nephew upsets the life of Paolo and Carlo who, unable to grow old, try to prove that ...
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Tanto va la gatta al lardo...
Film in four episodes, inspired by the chronicle of the time: three mature sisters give themselves t...
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Amore mio non farmi male
Anna and Marcello, two wealthy high school students. they would like to consume their Platonic love ...
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First Love
The story of two young lovers takes a tragic turn as the girl falls in love with the boy's father....
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Il passatore
The story of the most infamous bandit in Romagna, who robbed from the rich to give to the poor....
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Buster's Bedroom
A young woman who is obsessed with Buster Keaton stays in the sanatorium where the actor was once a ...
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La passeggiata
A meek and simple-minded boarding school teacher falls in love with a prostitute and gets the boot f...
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Square of Violence
Set in Italy, the story takes place in this very country, during WW2, where German occupation army r...
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The Visit
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she w...
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Story of San Michele
A biographical drama is based on the 1929 autobiography of Swedish doctor Axel Martin Fredrik, The S...
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Chronicle of a Homicide
Roma.During a clash between demonstrating laborers (whose fight the students have joined) a policema...
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Listen, Let's Make Love
When his father dies, young lad travels to Milan to attend the funeral and decides to follow in his ...
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The Jester's Supper
In Florence, at the time of Lorenzo de Medici, known also as Lorenzo the Magnificent, the aristocrat...
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The Kiss
Countess Elena marries the charming Guido Rambaldi, only for him to be seduced by dancer Nara during...
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The Glass Mountain
An aspiring composer, in the British Air Force for WWII, is downed in Italy and rescued by an Italia...
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L'ebreo errante
Matthew, a rich nationalist Jew and a contemporary of Jesus, regards the latter as an obstacle in th...
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No One Comes Back
A host of college girls take different life paths in the Italy of the 1930s....
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Love and Troubles
Three vignettes about couples trying to get together and the problems that continue to keep them apa...
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Les Misérables - Storm Over Paris
The story of Jean Valjean, still pursued by Javert, continues with a love developing between Cosette...
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Crossroads of Passion
Lisbon, the capital of Neutral Portugal, is a hotbed of spies. Mario, a cabaret singer working for t...
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Give Her the Moon
Marie, a young provincial girl, is seduced by an American billionaire. She agrees to stay with him i...
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The Secret of Santa Vittoria
During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army....
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Widows' Nest
The arrival of some unwanted visitors interrupts the peaceful Cuban home life of sisters Dolores, Ca...
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Angels of Darkness
When "Tamara" throws herself from the window of their brothel, her colleagues are made to realise th...
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Il bravo di Venezia
Marco Fuser, an outlaw. returns to Venice after many years. His son who works in the studio of a cel...
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Kidnap Syndicate
After his son is kidnapped, a millionaire industrialist seeks revenge, in spite of the potential dan...
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The Big Operator
The aging villain Émile Morland talks his old friend Aristide into helping him with to kidnap the so...
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Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza
A boorish, snobish toothpaste factory owner, Constantino Nicosia, gives his wife and everyone a hard...
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Oh, Grandmother's Dead
Relatives brawl over the estate of a deceased grandmother who owned an insecticide factory.They stop...
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Federico Fellini's Autobiography
Federico Fellini was one of the most individual and thought provoking directors who based most of hi...
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Via Montenapoleone
Via Montenapoleone in Milan is the ritziest street in the city and here the destinies of several cha...
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Diva!
The moving life and international career of actress Valentina Cortese is acted out by eight Italian ...
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Tender Dracula
Two writers and their girlfriends visit the castle of an actor who specializes in playing vampire ro...
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Shadow of the Eagle
During the eighteenth century the Empress of Russia sends her lover to kidnap her rival for the thro...
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Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials
A behind-the-scenes documentary about director Michelangelo Antonioni as he's shooting his segment o...
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Primo amore
An Italian emigrant, who found fame and success in America, comes back to his hometown after over tw...
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Rome: Free City
In a post-war Rome (1946) a cat burglar inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide man who r...
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Nick the Sting
Nick Hezard, a young con man, wants to avenge the death of a friend of his and organizes a swindle t...
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Kean: Genius or Scoundrel
England, first half of the 19th century. Edmund Kean is a celebrated theatre actor, notorious for hi...
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La Classe américaine
George Abitbol, the classiest man in the world, dies tragically during a cruise. The director of an ...
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The Possessed
While visiting his favorite resort village during winter, a writer investigates the apparent suicide...
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The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire
In Dublin, the acid-scarred, razor-slashed corpse of a young woman is discovered in the boot of the ...
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Lulù
Mario, a student from a noble Milanese family, falls in love with Lulù, a young slender girl....
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Reporter’s Diary: 'Zoom on Fellini'
Documentary about the making of Federico Fellini's film JULIET OF THE SPIRITS, with behind the scene...
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Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema
A look back at the life and works of Michelangelo Antonioni....
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