Film Snail

7.7

The Leopard

NR·1963·186m

Drama

Summary

As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi, to marry Angelica, the beautiful daughter of gauche, bourgeois Don Calogero, in order to maintain the family's accustomed level of comfort and political clout.

Cast

Burt Lancaster

Prince Don Fabrizio Salina

Claudia Cardinale

Angelica Sedara / Bastiana

Alain Delon

Tancredi Falconeri

Paolo Stoppa

Don Calogero Sedara

Rina Morelli

Princess Maria Stella Salina

Romolo Valli

Father Pirrone

Terence Hill

Count Cavriaghi

Pierre Clémenti

Francesco Paolo

Lucilla Morlacchi

Concetta

Giuliano Gemma

Garibaldi's General

Ida Galli

Carolina

Ottavia Piccolo

Caterina

Carlo Valenzano

Paolo

Brook Fuller

Little Prince

Anna Maria Bottini

Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess

Lola Braccini

Donna Margherita

Marino Masé

Tutor

Howard Nelson Rubien

Don Diego

Tina Lattanzi

Cook

Marcella Rovena

Peasant Woman

Rina De Liguoro

Princess of Presicce

Valerio Ruggeri

Colonel

Giovanni Melisenda

Don Onofrio Rotolo

Giancarlo Lolli

Franco Gulà

Mimi

Vittorio Duse

Colonel

Vanni Materassi

Sergeant

Giuseppe Stagnitti

Carmelo Artale

Olimpia Cavalli

Mariannina

Anna Maria Surdo

Halina Zalewska

Winni Riva

Waitress

Stelvio Rosi

Sergeant

Carlo Palmucci

Dante Posani

Rosolino Bua

Ivo Garrani

Colonel Pallavicino

Leslie French

Cavalier Chevalley

Serge Reggiani

Don Francisco Ciccio Tumeo

Pippo Agusta

Minor Role (uncredited)

Inna Alexeievna

Woman at Ball (uncredited)

Marie Bell

(uncredited)

Omero Capanna

Citizen (uncredited)

Lou Castel

Party Guest (uncredited)

Sandra Christolini

Youngest Daughter (uncredited)

Maurizio Merli

(uncredited)

Augusto Pescarini

(uncredited)

Paola Piscini

(uncredited)

Amalia Troiani

(uncredited)

Crew

Director, Screenplay

Luchino Visconti

Novel

Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa

Screenplay

Suso Cecchi d'Amico

Screenplay

Massimo Franciosa

Screenplay

Enrico Medioli

Screenplay

Pasquale Festa Campanile

Reviews

Geronimo1967

March 28, 2022

I was given the blu-ray of this as a gift recently and what a lovely, thoughtful present that proved to be. The photography is glorious - the light is brilliant. Visconti delivers a truly captivating period piece but with none of the shallowness of many other costume/historical dramas. It features a magnificent performance from the gently aristocratic, classy Burt Lancaster as a Sicilian Prince coming to terms with the absorption of his kingdom into the newly unified Kingdom of Italy. The trials of love, war, the lavish and the poverty are all expertly and delicately portrayed and I really did get a sense of the fragility of the times. Alain Delon and Rina Morelli are superb, as is Claudia Cardinale and Nino Rota provides some sumptuous orchestrations to help all along. Knowing much about the history of the time isn't essential, it all unfolds wonderfully...