View source for Vittorio De Sica

{{Short description|Italian film director and actor (1901–1974)}}
{{Redirect|De Sica|Vittorio De Sica's sons|Christian De Sica|and|Manuel De Sica}}
{{Family name hatnote|De Sica|Sica|lang=Romance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Vittorio De Sica
| image        = S Kragujevic, Vittorio De Sica, 1959.JPG
| caption      = De Sica in 1959
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1901|7|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Sora, Lazio]], Kingdom of Italy
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1974|11|13|1901|7|7|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], France
| occupation   = {{flatlist|
* Film director
* actor
}}
| years_active = 1917–1974
| spouse       = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|[[Giuditta Rissone]]|1937|1954|end=div}}
|{{marriage|[[María Mercader]]|1968}}}}
| children     = {{unbulleted list|Emilia De Sica|[[Manuel De Sica]]|[[Christian De Sica]]}}
| signature    = Autografo di Vittorio de Sica.png
}}

'''Vittorio De Sica''' ({{IPAc-en|d|ə|_|ˈ|s|iː|k|ə}} {{respell|də|_|SEE|kə}}, {{IPA|it|vitˈtɔːrjo de ˈsiːka|lang}}; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the [[Italian neorealism|neorealist]] movement.

Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the [[history of cinema]], four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''[[Shoeshine (film)|Sciuscià]]'' and ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' (honorary), while ''[[Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow]]'', and ''[[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (film)|Il giardino dei Finzi Contini]]'' won the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]. Indeed, the great critical success of ''Sciuscià'' (the first foreign film to be so recognized by the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]) and ''Bicycle Thieves'' helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Award. These two films are considered part of the canon of classic cinema.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves (1949)|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990319/REVIEWS08/903190306/1023|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|access-date=8 September 2011|archive-date=5 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105164545/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990319%2FREVIEWS08%2F903190306%2F1023|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Bicycle Thieves'' was deemed the greatest film of all time by ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' magazine's poll of filmmakers and critics in 1952,<ref>{{cite news |title=The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves (1949) review |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990319/REVIEWS08/903190306/1023 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=19 March 1999 |access-date=20 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227023704/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990319%2FREVIEWS08%2F903190306%2F1023 |archive-date=27 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was cited by [[Turner Classic Movies]] as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=TCM's 15 most influential films of all time, and 10 from me|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090413/COMMENTARY/904139997|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=8 September 2011}}</ref>

De Sica was also nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for playing Major Rinaldi in American director [[Charles Vidor]]'s 1957 adaptation of [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[A Farewell to Arms (1957 film)|A Farewell to Arms]]'', a movie that was panned by critics and proved a box office flop. De Sica's acting was considered the highlight of the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/farewell-arms/review/114370 |title=A Farewell To Arms - TV Guide |website=TVGuide.com |access-date=8 September 2011}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:De Sica V fine anni venti.jpg|thumb|left|De Sica in the late 1920s]]
De Sica was born on 7 July 1901 in [[Sora, Lazio]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Lambiase |first=Sergio |date=20 February 2013 |title=Foto e lettere inedite di De Sica, il ciociaro cosmopolita che voleva essere napoletano |url=https://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/napoli/notizie/arte_e_cultura/2013/20-febbraio-2013/foto-lettere-inedite-de-sica-ciociaro-cosmopolita-che-voleva-essere-napoletano-2114112646498.shtml |work=[[Corriere del Mezzogiorno]] |language=it |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref> His father Umberto De Sica was from [[Giffoni Valle Piana]], [[Campania]]; he was a journalist, and in the later years worked for the Bank of Italy.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=8-9}} Teresa Manfredi, his mother, had [[Naples|Neapolitan]] origins. De Sica was baptised in the church of San Giovanni Battista in Sora under the name Vittorio Domenico Stanislao Gaetano Sorano De Sica. He had a very close relationship with his father and later dedicated to him the film ''[[Umberto D.]]'' The first interest in cinema sparked in Vittorio due to his father's occasional performances in silent movies: he filled in for the pianists. As an adult, Vittorio De Sica described their family state in his early years as 'tragic and aristocratic poverty'.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=De Siza - Actor Director |magazine=Continental Film Review |page=14 |date=July 1965 |url=https://archive.org/details/Continental_Film_Review_1965-07.good/page/n11/mode/1up?q=sora |access-date=7 December 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=8-9}}

In 1914, the family moved to Naples. Upon the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], they moved to [[Florence]]. Eventually, they settled down in Rome. At the age of 15, De Sica started performing as an actor in amateur plays staged in hospitals for recovering soldiers. He started studying to become an accountant when in 1917 through a family friend [[Edoardo Bencivenga]] he got a small part in the Alfredo De Antoni film ''[[The Clemenceau Affair]]''.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.raicultura.it/cinema/articoli/2021/06/7-luglio-1901-nasce-Vittorio-De-Sica-eb715393-0fb7-4de0-aba3-99c4668f1589.html
| title =7 luglio 1901: nasce Vittorio De Sica
| publisher = RAI Cultura
| access-date =2024-05-14}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Theatre ===
De Sica was laureated in 1923. Described as strikingly handsome, already in the early 1920s he began his career as a [[theatre]] [[actor]] and joined [[Tatyana Pavlova|Tatiana Pavlova]]'s theatre company in 1923.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=8-9}} With Pavlova he worked for two years and toured [[South America]]. In 1925, he joined the company of [[Italia Almirante Manzini]] and was soon referred to as the second-best in her troupe. Two years later he joined the company of [[Luigi Almirante]], [[Sergio Tofano]] and [[Giuditta Rissone]]. De Sica debuted as a romantic protagonist in [[Ferenc Molnár]]'s ''Gli occhi azzurri dell'imperatore''. During that period he met [[Umberto Melnati]], an actor from [[Livorno]], with whom formed a successful comic duo and collaborated in many films and theatre plays.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://nuovavenezia.gelocal.it/venezia/cronaca/2015/07/22/news/era-figlio-di-un-attore-umberto-melnati-famoso-per-i-duetti-con-vittorio-de-sica-1.11821336
| title =Era figlio di un attore, Umberto Melnati famoso per i duetti con Vittorio De Sica
| date =2015-07-22
| publisher = La Nuova
| access-date =2024-05-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.teche.rai.it/2015/07/brani-da-suicidio-di-un-poeta-maledetto-di-achille-campanile/
| title =Brani da 'Suicidio di un poeta maledetto' di Achille Campanile
| date =6 July 2015
| publisher = RAI
| access-date =2024-05-14}}</ref> On 3 October 1930, they premiered in [[Teatro Manzoni]] with ''L'isola meravigliosa'' based on [[Ugo Betti]]'s play. They were soon spotted by [[Mario Mattoli]] who was then an impresario in Teatro Mazoni. Mattoli was impressed by the quality of their rehearsals and offered to join his company ''Za-Bum''. With ''Za-Bum'', De Sica, Rissone and Melnati played in ''Una segretaria per tutti'', ''Un cattivo soggetto'', ''Il signore desidera?'', ''Lisetta'', and many other [[revue]]s written by Mattoli and Luciano Ramo. The duo became famous on the national level after the success of radio sketch ''Düra minga, dura no'' and a popular song ''Lodovico sei dolce come un fico'' sang by De Sica.{{sfn|Mallozzi|2021}}

In 1933, De Sica, Rissone, and Tofano founded their own company.<ref name=marilyn>{{cite web
| url =https://marilyn.corriere.it/2021/06/02/vittorio-de-sica-story-ieri-oggi-e-domani/
| title =Vittorio De Sica story. Ieri, oggi e domani
| last =Morosi
| first =Silvia
| date =2021-06-02
| publisher = Corriere
| access-date =2024-05-14}}</ref> The period of Tofano-Rissone-De Sica was notable also due to De Sica's acquaintance to [[Aldo De Benedetti]] and [[Gherardo Gherardi]], the screenwriters with whom he had a long and fruitful collaboration. Tofano-Rissone-De Sica performed mostly light [[comedy|comedies]], but they also staged plays by [[Beaumarchais]] and worked with famous directors like [[Luchino Visconti]]. In 1936, the company was reformed into Rissone-De Sica-Melnati, and eventually disbanded in 1939. The play ''Due dozzine di rose scarlatte'', written by Aldo De Benedetti, premiered on 11 March 1936, in Teatro Argentina. It is considered the best Italian comedy of the 1930s.{{sfn|Cardullo|2002|p=29}}

In 1937, De Sica married Giuditta Rissone, around that time the duo with Melnati was ended. In 1940, the spouses reconciled with Tofano and founded the mutual company again, where all the management tasks were taken over by Tofano. Together they released a series of successful plays: ''La scuola della maldicenza'' (based on [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]]), ''Ma non è una cosa seria'' written by [[Luigi Pirandello]], ''Il paese delle vacanze'' by [[Ugo Betti]], ''Liolà'', etc.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000}}

In 1945-46, he played in two spectacles directed by [[Alessandro Blasetti]]: ''Il tempo e la famiglia Conway'' written by [[John Boynton Priestley]] and ''Ma non è una cosa seria'' by [[Luigi Pirandello]]. During the season 1945-46 he spent playing in ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|The Marriage of Figaro]]'' and collaborated with [[Luchino Visconti]], Vivi Gioi and [[Nino Besozzi]]. In 1948-49 he acted in two new plays: ''[[The Time of Your Life (film)|The Time of Your Life]]'' and ''[[The Magnificent Cuckold]]'' written by [[Fernand Crommelynck]] and adapted by [[Mario Chiari]]. ''The Magnificent Cuckold'' became De Sica's last theatre performance after which he concentrated fully on cinema and TV projects. Between 1923 and 1949 De Sica took part in over 120 theatre performances.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.ilmamilio.it/c/news/55509-vittorio-de-sica-il-sogno-e-la-realta-del-cinema.html
| title =Vittorio De Sica, il sogno e la realtà del grande Cinema
| publisher = Il Mamilio
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref>

=== Cinema ===
In the early years, De Sica combined his theatre and cinema careers: in the summer months, he was engaged in filmmaking and spent the winters performing on stage.{{sfn|Mallozzi|2021}} In cinema, his first notable role was in 1932 ''Gli uomini, che mascalzoni'' directed by [[Mario Camerini]]. The song ''[[Parlami d'amore Mariù]]'' became a hit and remained his signature song for many years.<ref name=marilyn/>{{sfn|Marrone|2007|p=621}} In the 1930s his credits included many notable performances such as in ''[[I'll Give a Million (1935 film)|I'll Give a Million]]'' (1935), ''[[Il signor Max]]'' (1937), ''[[Department Store (1939 film)|Department Store]]'' (1939), ''[[Manon Lescaut (1940 film)|Manon Lescaut]]''. Between 1931 and 1940, he starred in and directed 23 productions.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=9}}

In 1940, supported by producer Giuseppe Amato, De Sica debuted as a director and created ''[[Red Roses (film)|Rose scarlatte]]''.<ref name=marilyn/>{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=10}}

In 1944, De Sica received an invitation from [[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] to make a film in [[Prague]], but refused, using an offer from the Catholic Film Centre in Rome as an excuse.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=10-11}}

De Sica had first met screenwriter [[Cesare Zavattini]] in Verona in 1934. For many years they would become inseparable collaborators and created some of the most celebrated films of the post-war [[Italian neorealism|neorealistic age]], like ''[[Sciuscià]]'' (''Shoeshine'') and ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' (released as ''The Bicycle Thief'' in America), both directed by De Sica.{{sfn|Cardullo|2002|pp=128, 164}}{{sfn|Brancaleone|2021}}

De Sica's 1946 drama ''[[Shoeshine (film)|Sciuscià]]'' won the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film|Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1947. Despite the film's critical success, it failed in the Italian box office because the public craved easier films and mostly went to comedies.{{cn|date=July 2024}} It was also heavily criticized by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Correction. This alienation by the Italian authorities made it difficult for De Sica to finance his subsequent projects. To produce ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'', De Sica had to invest own money and rely on the support of several Italian businessmen. The film brought De Sica his second Oscar as well as multiple other awards and accolades, however, again the success in Italian box office was tepid. The relationship with the government remained bad, after the release of ''[[Umberto D.]]'' prime minister [[Giulio Andreotti]] sent De Sica a letter accusing him of 'rendering bad service for the country'.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=10-13}}

In 1951, De Sica co-authored (with [[Alberto Sordi]]) and played in ''[[Mamma Mia, What an Impression!]]''<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/mammamiacheimpressione
| title =Mamma mia, che impressione!
| publisher = Rai Play
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref> In 1952, he played along [[Gina Lollobrigida]] in ''[[In Olden Days]]'' and then again in 1953 in the comedy ''[[Bread, Love and Dreams]]''. De Sica's character, Marshal Antonio Carotenuto, immediately became the public's favourite. The film was an enormous success, it was nominated for Academy Awards and won the Silver Bear at Berlinale. It was followed with three sequels: ''[[Bread, Love and Jealousy]]'' (1954), ''[[Scandal in Sorrento]]'' (1955), and ''[[Bread, Love and Andalusia]]'' (1958).<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://titanus.it/en/progetto/cinema/bread-love-and-dreams/
| title =Bread, Love and dreams
| publisher = Titanus
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bread-love-and-dreams/
| title =Bread, Love and Dreams
| publisher = Film at Lincoln Center
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref>

In 1961, he starred in ''[[The Two Marshals]]'' alongside ''[[Totò]]''.{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=12}}

His 1963 film ''[[Ieri, oggi, domani (film 1963)|Ieri, oggi, domani]] (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)'' and his 1970 film ''[[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (film)|Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini]]'' both won Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language film.

In 1974 he acted in [[Paul Morrissey]]s comedy horror film ''[[Blood for Dracula]]'' starring [[Joe Dallesandro]] and [[Udo Kier]] also including [[Roman Polanski]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://chicagoreader.com/film-tv/andy-warhols-blood-for-dracula/ | title=Andy Warhol's Blood for Dracula | date=8 October 2004 }}</ref> De Sica wrote his own lines on the set.{{sfn|Curti|2017|p=118}}

=== Television ===
{{expand-section|date=June 2025}}
In 1959, De Sica appeared in the British television series ''[[The Four Just Men (TV series)|The Four Just Men]]''.

His final role was in the 1976 television movie ''L'eroe'' by his son, [[Manuel De Sica|Manuel]].

== Personal life ==
His passion for gambling was well known and because of it, he often lost large sums of money and accepted work that might not otherwise have interested him. He never kept his gambling a secret from anyone; in fact, he projected it on characters in his own movies, like ''Count Max'' (which he acted in but did not direct) and ''The Gold of Naples'',{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=12}} as well as in ''General Della Rovere'', a film directed by Rossellini in which De Sica played the title role.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bondanella |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Bondanella |date=1993 |title=The Films of Roberto Rossellini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCKossyGiHMC&pg=PA119 |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=119 |isbn=0-521-39236-5}}</ref>

In 1937 Vittorio De Sica married the actress [[Giuditta Rissone]], who gave birth to their daughter, Emilia (10 February 1938 – 23 March 2021).<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.lastampa.it/spettacoli/cinema/2021/03/24/news/addio-a-emi-de-sica-primogenita-di-vittorio-christian-de-sica-mi-mancherai-dai-un-bacio-a-papa-1.40066140/
| title =Addio a Emi De Sica, primogenita di Vittorio. Christian De Sica: "Mi mancherai, dai un bacio a papà"
| date =2021-03-24
| publisher = La Stampa
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref> In 1942, on the set of ''Un garibaldino al convento'', he met Spanish actress [[María Mercader]] (cousin of [[Ramon Mercader]], [[Leon Trotsky]]'s assassin), with whom he started a relationship. De Sica never parted from his first family: he led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Year's Eve, he used to put back the clocks by two hours in Mercader's house so that he could make a toast at midnight with both families. Rissone agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father. After finally divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959 in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris. Meanwhile, he had already had two sons with her: [[Manuel De Sica|Manuel]] (1949-2014), a musician and composer, and [[Christian De Sica|Christian]] (b. 1951), who would follow his father's path as an actor and director. Only when Christian was 18 would the brothers find out they had a half-sister and started communication.{{sfn|Cardullo|2002|p=3}}{{sfn|Curle|Snyder|2000|p=10}}<ref name=corriere20230105>{{cite web
| url =https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/cards/saga-de-sica-padre-vittorio-due-famiglie-christian-cognato-verdone/due-donne-famiglie-vittorio.shtml
| title =I De Sica e la saga famigliare: il padre Vittorio, le due famiglie, Christian e il cognato Verdone
| last =Volpe
| first =Maria
| date =2023-01-05
| publisher = Corriere della sera
| access-date =2024-05-16}}</ref> Christian's son and Vittorio's grandson [[Brando De Sica]] continued the dynasty and became an actor and film director.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/cards/saga-de-sica-padre-vittorio-due-famiglie-christian-cognato-verdone/generazione-continua-1-brando-che-non-usa-scorciatoie.shtml?refresh_ce
| title =I De Sica e la saga famigliare: il padre Vittorio, le due famiglie, Christian e il cognato Verdone
| last =Volpe
| first =Maria
| date =May 2023
| publisher = Corriere della sera
| access-date =2024-04-27}}</ref>

He was a [[Roman Catholic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_catholic.html |title=Famous Catholics |website=www.adherents.com |access-date=21 February 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214144248/http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_catholic.html |archive-date=14 February 2012}}</ref> and a [[communist]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ariela Bankier |title=All About My Father |url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5105080 |website=Haaretz |publisher=Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. |access-date=26 June 2021 |date=22 April 2010 |quote="They were both communists, both Cesare and De Sica," his son says.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Gino Moliterno |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415145848 |page=409}}</ref>

== Death ==
De Sica died on 13 November 1974 after surgery due to [[lung cancer]] at the [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]] hospital in Paris.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Michael T. |author-link=Michael T. Kaufman |date=14 November 1974 |title=Vittorio De Sica, 73, Dies; Neorealist Movie Director |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/14/archives/vittorio-de-sica-73-dies-neorealist-movie-director-leader-of-new.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=8 September 2011}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[Pauline Kael]] recalls: 
{{blockquote| When [[Shoeshine (film)|''Shoeshine'']] opened in 1947, I went to see it alone after one of those terrible lovers' quarrels that leave one in a state of incomprehensible despair. I came out of the theater, tears streaming, and overheard the petulant voice of a college girl complaining to her boyfriend, "Well I don't see what was so special about that movie." I walked up the street, crying blindly, no longer certain whether my tears were for the tragedy on the screen, the hopelessness I felt for myself, or the alienation I felt from those who could not experience the radiance of ''Shoeshine''. For if people cannot feel ''Shoeshine,'' what ''can'' they feel? ... Later I learned that the man with whom I had quarreled had gone the same night and had also emerged in tears. Yet our tears for each other, and for ''Shoeshine'', did not bring us together. Life, as ''Shoeshine'' demonstrates, is too complex for facile endings.}}

Kael quotes [[Orson Welles]] as saying: "In handling a camera I feel that I have no peer. But what De Sica can do, that I can't do. I ran his ''Shoeshine'' again recently and the camera disappeared, the screen disappeared, it was just life..."<ref>{{cite news| last=Kael| first=Pauline| title=Shoeshine| url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/shoeshine-1947-review-by-pauline-kael/}}</ref>

[[André Bazin|Andre Bazin]] wrote "the Neapolitan charm of De Sicca becomes, thanks to the cinema, the most sweeping message of love that our times have heard since Chaplin."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kael |first=Pauline |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Age_of_Movies_Selected_Writings_of_P/tkShTL84MrcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+age+of+movies+selected+writing+of+pauline+kael&printsec=frontcover |title=The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael: A Library of America Special Publication |date=2011-10-27 |publisher=Library of America |isbn=978-1-59853-171-8 |pages=303 |language=en}}</ref>

== Awards and nominations ==
Vittorio De Sica was given the '''Interfilm Grand Prix''' in 1971 by the [[Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.inter-film.org/festivals/berlinale-international-film-festival-berlin
| title =Berlinale - International Film Festival Berlin
| publisher = Interfilm
| access-date =2024-05-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.inter-film.org/auszeichnungen/71717171/otto-dibelius-film-award-berlin-1971
| title =Otto Dibelius Film Award, Berlin 1971
| publisher = Interfilm
| access-date =2024-05-17}}</ref>
* ''[[Miracle in Milan|Miracolo a Milano]]''
** [[Cannes Film Festival]] '''[[Palme d'Or]] Winner'''
* ''[[Umberto D.]]''
** Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
* ''[[Terminal Station (film)|Stazione Termini]]''
** Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
* ''[[The Gold of Naples|L'oro di Napoli]]''
** Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
* ''[[Il Tetto]]''
** Cannes Film Festival '''OCIC Award Winner'''
* ''[[Anna di Brooklyn]]''
** [[8th Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin International Film Festival]] Official Selection<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051363/awards|title=IMDB.com: Awards for Anna di Brooklyn|access-date=31 December 2009|website=imdb.com}}</ref>
* ''[[Two Women|La Ciociara]]''
** Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
* ''[[Marriage Italian-Style|Matrimonio all'italiana]]''
** [[4th Moscow International Film Festival|Moscow International Film Festival]] Official Selection<ref name="Moscow1965">{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1965|title=4th Moscow International Film Festival (1965)|access-date=2 December 2012|work=MIFF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116145645/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1965|archive-date=16 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (film)|Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini]]''
** [[21st Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin International Film Festival]] '''[[Golden Bear]] Winner'''<ref name="berlinale 1971">{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1971/03_preistr_ger_1971/03_Preistraeger_1971.html|title=Berlinale 1971: Prize Winners|access-date=14 March 2010|website=berlinale.de}}</ref>
** Berlin International Film Festival '''Interfilm Award Winner – Otto Dibelius Film Award'''
* [[Nastro d'Argento for Best Director]] 1946 for ''[[Sciuscià]]''
* [[20th Academy Awards|Academy Award 1947]] [[Academy Honorary Award|Honorary Award to the Italian production]] for ''[[Sciuscià]] (Shoeshine)''
* [[22nd Academy Awards|Academy Award 1949]] Special Foreign Language Film Award for ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]''
* [[BAFTA]] ([[British Academy Award]]) 1950 Best film ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]''
* [[38th Academy Awards|Academy Award 1965]] Best Foreign Language film for ''[[Ieri, oggi, domani (film 1963)|Ieri, oggi, domani]] (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)''
* [[45th Academy Awards|Academy Award 1972]] Best Foreign Language film for ''[[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (film)|Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini]]''

==Filmography==
{{main|Vittorio De Sica filmography}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Mallozzi|first=Giuseppe|year=2021|title=Vittorio De Sica: Visioni di Cinema Quaderni di Visioni Corte Film Festival vol. 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDtCEAAAQBAJ&dq=Umberto+Melnati+vittorio+de+sica&pg=PT18|publisher=Ali Ribelli|isbn=9788833468778}}
* {{cite book|last=Marrone|first=Gaetana|year=2007|title=Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies: A-J|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=69ey6Z-05fMC&q=Parlami+d%27amore+Mari%C3%B9+de+sica|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=621|isbn=9781579583903}}
* {{cite book|last=Cardullo|first=Bert|date=2002|title=Vittorio De Sica: Director, Actor, Screenwriter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ia1aAAAAMAAJ|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=078641135X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Curle|first1=Howard|last2=Snyder|first2=Stephen|date=2000|title=Vittorio De Sica: Contemporary Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gj2qbAsmHK4C|location=Toronto|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|isbn=080200654X}}
* {{cite book|last=Brancaleone|first=David|year=2021|title=Cesare Zavattini's Neo-realism and the Afterlife of an Idea: An Intellectual Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9W01EAAAQBAJ&q=de+sica+met+zavattini|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=9781501317002}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Curti
 |first=Roberto
 |title=Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970–1979
 |publisher=McFarland
 |isbn=978-1476629605
 |year=2017
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|1120}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020607124826/http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/garden/crew/sica.html Vittorio De Sica director bio for ''The Garden of the Finzi-Continis''] Sony Pictures Entertainment website, retrieved 8 April 2006
* [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704269204575271021338187684 Vittorio De Sica Review] Wall Street Journal article, retrieved 9 March 2013

{{Vittorio De Sica}}
{{Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{David di Donatello Best Director}}
{{David di Donatello Best Actor}}
{{Nastro d'Argento Best Director}}
{{Nastro d'Argento Best Actor}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Director}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Sica, Vittorio}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:People of Campanian descent]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Italian male comedians]]
[[Category:Italian communists]]
[[Category:Italian male film actors]]
[[Category:Italian film directors]]
[[Category:Italian male silent film actors]]
[[Category:People from Sora, Lazio]]
[[Category:Male actors from Lazio]]
[[Category:David di Donatello winners]]
[[Category:Nastro d'Argento winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male actors]]
[[Category:Italian-language film directors]]
[[Category:Christian communists]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in France]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Directors of Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:Directors of Golden Bear winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian comedians]]
[[Category:Italian neorealism]]
[[Category:Comedians from Lazio]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Film BAFTA Award winners]]