The White Sheik (1952)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Fantastic!

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I LOVE this movie! It's so nice to see a fun Fellini movie with pure humor—no deep symbolism, semi-autobiographical narcissism, or self- analysis here. I think that this is one of the few non-English movies where I laughed out loud--while viewing it by myself!! The plot is funny enough, but the thing that really nailed it for me was the expressions and gestures of the two main characters.The movies starts as a couple comes to Rome on their honeymoon. Since the husband's uncle is an important public official, he has arranged a VIP tour of the city for them-—including an audience with the Pope!!. The husband, Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste), is anxious for everything to go well for between his uncle and his new wife, Wanda. (Brunella Bovo). However, Wanda is swept away by the chance to visit a photographic comic book studio (or fumetti) where a serial romance with her favorite star, 'The White Sheik,' is being made. She wants to know the future of the fumetti plot and get 'The White Sheik's autograph. When Wanda disappears, Ivan is left to make excuses to his uncle for her whereabouts. In the meantime, she is taken away into by the fumetti group's photograph sessions. As time runs low, they are both left on a comical verge of a nervous breakdown.

Two young newlyweds from a provincial town, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) and Ivan Cavalli (Leopoldo Trieste), arrive in Rome for their honeymoon. Wanda is obsessed with the "White Sheik" (Alberto Sordi), the Rudolph Valentino-like hero of a soap opera photo strip and sneaks off to find him, leaving her conventional, petit bourgeois husband in hysterics as he tries to hide his wife's disappearance from his strait-laced relatives who are waiting to go with them to visit the Pope."The White Sheik" was Fellini's first solo effort as a director. He had previously co-directed "Variety Lights" in 1950 with Alberto Lattuada. Of course, we know now that Fellini went on to be one of the world's biggest directors and Lattuada is forgotten. And this is a solid effort, both fun and funny. Some have compared it to Chaplin, which is an exaggeration, there's definitely a promising career showcased here.The plot line was re-used by Woody Allen in his film "To Rome with Love", not one of his bigger films. But it is always nice to see Allen pay tribute to his heroes, Fellini and Bergman.

This is Federico Fellini's first solo effort, his first film, Variety Lights, having been co-directed by Alberto Lattuada (although it is unmistakably in the style of Fellini's early films). The White Sheik is quite underrated - there's no reason why it should be so much less respected than the other early films, particularly La Strada and Nights of Cabiria, the two most often cited as masterpieces (and I'd agree). I actually like The White Sheik quite a bit better than I Vitelloni, Fellini's next film (Il Bidone is the only one from his early period that I have not yet seen). The White Sheik is quite humorous, perhaps Fellini's funniest (although so many of his films contain a great amount of comedy). No Fellini fan should go without seeing it, because so many of his themes and images are established in it. In fact, no one should miss Variety Lights, either, for the same reason. But The White Sheik, unlike Variety Lights, stands by itself as a great film. 9/10.

One of the earlier Fellini´s films, Lo Sceicco bianco show some of Fellini´s style: weird characters, bizzare and oniric situations, and abouve all a lot of lirism, showing how beatiful life can be.The film is an acid comedy about fans and showbiz. A pure fan of printed soap operas met her beloved hero, a kind of Rodolfo Valentim. But the meeting will show her some of the truth about showbiz. Fellini transforms what could be an tragedy in a nice story of redemption.A great surprise is the participation of Giulietta Massina as Cabíria. Cabíria appears as a common person, not yet as a prostitute, but adds a lot of lirism to film. In my opinion Nights of Cabiria and La Nave Va are the two best of Fellini.Worth seeing