by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Peter Ustinov co-produced, wrote and co-directed the quietly effective Private Angelo. Set during
WW II, the film stars Ustinov as a tremulous Italian army private who does his best to avoid getting shot at. Trouble is, the more he tries to run away from danger, the more dangerous his life becomes. Private Angelo's cowardice provides an endless source of embarrassment for his nobleman father (Conway Tearle); it also offers his fiancee Lucrezia (Maria Denis) an excuse to be unfaithful. Like most of Ustinov's written works, Private Angelo aims at quiet chuckles rather than belly laughs; also, there are no real heroes and villains, just ordinary folks in extraordinary circumstances.
characteristics
- Fathers And Sons
- Military Life
- Unlikely Heroes
- War
- Valor
- Pride
- Italy
- Hero
- Battle [war]
- Coward
- Army
- Deserter
- Desertion
- Combat
- Privacy
