Fortunella. Nino Rota

Nanda Diotallevi (Giulietta Masina), known as Fortunella by everyone, is a girl of humble origins who lives in a neighborhood of second-hand dealers and is in love with Peppino (Alberto Sordi), to the point that she takes responsibility for a legal offencee he committed in receiving stolen goods. When Fortunella is released from prison, however, Peppino is living with another woman. Then she will meet a very strange character, Professor Golfiero Paganica (Paul Douglas). Not too many people know that the film’s score, composed by Nino Rota, notably contains three memorable motifs, two of which would be reused in Rota’s most famous film compositions: La Dolce Vita (1960) and The Godfather (1972). Another prominent motif had already been used in another Rota composition, Il Bidone (1955). To his credit, Rota did reveal in a documentary that he’d, in my words, ripped himself off. While the Fortunella controversy cost him an Oscar, he did go on to win for the sequel. The two themes in this video are