The Clowns (film)

I clowns
Directed by	Federico Fellini
Produced by	Elio Scardamaglia
Written by	Story and Screenplay: Federico Fellini Bernardino Zapponi
Starring	Federico Fellini
Music by	Nino Rota
Edited by	Ruggero Mastroianni
Release dates	December 25, 1970
Running time	92 min.
Language	Italian

I clowns (also known as The Clowns) is a 1970 film by Federico Fellini about the human fascination with clowns and circuses.^[1]

Production

The film was made for the Italian TV station RAI with an agreement that it would be released simultaneously as a cinema feature.^[2] RAI and co-producer Leone Film compromised on its release, with RAI broadcasting it on Christmas Day, 1970, and Leone Film releasing it theatrically in Italy the following day, December 26, 1970.^[3]

It is a docufiction: part reality, part fantasy. The Clowns was incorrectly referred as the first mockumentary in film history.^[4] In fact, A Hard Day's Night (1964) appears to be the first one. Nonetheless, being documentary and fiction in one, The Clowns distinguishes itself by being a mockumentary with unique characteristics.

Cast

Main

• Riccardo Billi as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Billi)
• Federico Fellini as Himself
• Gigi Reder as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Reder)
• Tino Scotti as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Scotti)
• Valentini as Himself - Italian Clown
• Fanfulla as Himself - Italian Clown
• Merli as Himself - Italian Clown
• Carlo Rizzo as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Rizzo)
• Colombaioni as Themselves - Italian Clowns (Credited as I 4 Colombaioni)
• Pistoni as Himself - Italian Clown
• Martana as Themselves - Italian Clowns (Credited as I Martana)
• Giacomo Furia as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Furia)
• Alvaro Vitali as Himself (The Troupe)
• Dante Maggio as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Maggio)
• Galliano Sbarra as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Sbarra)
• Peppino Janigro as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Janigro)
• Carini as Himself - Italian Clown
• Maunsell as Himself - Italian Clown
• Nino Terzo as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Terzo)
• Osiride Pevarello as Clown (Credited as Peverello)
• Nino Vingelli as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Vingelli)
• Alberto Sorrentino as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Sorrentino)
• Fumagalli as Himself - Italian Clown
• Valdemaro as Himself - Italian Clown
• Luigi Zerbinati as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Zerbinati)
• Ettore Bevilacqua as Himself - Italian Clown (Credited as Bevilacqua)
• Maya Morin as Maya (La troupe)
• Anna Lina Alberti as Herself - Alvaro's mother (La troupe) (Credited as Lina Alberti)
• Gasparin as Gasparino (La troupe)
• Alex asHimself - French Clown
• Georges Loriot as Himself - French Clown (Credited as Père Loriot)
• Maïs as Himself - French Clown
• Bario as Himself - French Clown
• Ludo as Himself - French Clown
• Nino as Himself - French Clown
• Charlie Rivel as Himself
• Pierre Étaix as Himself
• Annie Fratellini as Herself
• Victor Fratellini as Himself
• Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée as Himself (Credited as Baptiste)
• Tristan Remy as Himself
• Liana Orfei as Herself
• Rinaldo Orfei as Himself
• Nando Orfei as Himself
• Franco Migliorini as Himself - Animal Tamer
• Anita Ekberg as Herself

Cameo/Uncredited

• Maria Grazia Buccella as Herself
• Aristide Caporale as Railwayman
• Victoria Chaplin as Herself
• Liliana Chiari as Herself
• Dante Cleri as Fascist
• Shirley Corrigan as Audience member
• Feverello as Himself - Italian Clown
• Gustavo Fratellini as Himself - Italian Clown
• Adelina Poerio as Dwarf nun

References

1. I Clowns review by Philip French at The Guardian, October 26, 2014
2. Baxter, J.: Fellini, page 260. St. Martins Press, 1993.
3. Baxter, J.: Fellini, page 270. St. Martins Press, 1993.
4. I clowns: Fellini’s Mockumentary - article at The Artifice

External links

• The Clowns at Rotten Tomatoes
• I clowns at the Internet Movie Database