Antonio De Curtis - Totò
"Dying to Live"
‘Give us still the strength to make men laugh…’. With these memorable words begins the biographical documentary dedicated to the great Antonio De Curtis, known as Totò, prince of laughter.
Totò as an actor was born in the street, inspired by the characters of the commedia dell’arte. At the start of his career, to earn a living, he began working as an usher in a theatre for 14 soldi a week. One day, by chance, he was called upon to stand in for an actor, and so he began working at the Salone Margherita. His mask, too, came about accidentally: a teacher punched him, causing a shift in his jaw that would give his face the look that made his fortune.
With the participation of: Adriana Asti – Laura Betti – Mauro Bolognini – Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia – Claudia Cardinale – Maria Teresa Corridoni – Francesco Corridoni – Suso Cecchi D’Amico – Ninetto Davoli – Liliana De Curtis – Tonino Delli Colli – Franca Faldini – Franco Interlenghi – Alberto Lattuada – Marisa Merlini – Mario Monicelli – Silvana Pampanini – Gloria Paul – Peppino Rotunno – Marisa Solinas – Ricky Tognazzi – Leopoldo Trieste – Franca Valeri – Paolo Villaggio
Script, editing and direction: Donatella Baglivo
Digital editing: Maurizio Baglivo
Directors of photography: Edmondo Pisani, Roberto Romei
Original music: Pietro Grignani, Giuseppe Gandolfo
85′ – 2003 – Restored and re-edited in 2025 with previously unreleased material and images