General Della Rovere

In German-occupied Genoa during the winter of 1943–44, a small-time con man named Bardone scrapes by selling false hope to the families of prisoners, promising to intercede with the authorities on their behalf. When the Germans see through his scheme, an SS colonel offers him a choice: cooperate or die. Bardone is to pose as General Della Rovere, a Resistance leader the Germans have killed, and be planted among the inmates of a Milan prison to identify the partisan chief whom the general was supposed to meet. Sharing a cell with men who believe in the cause he is only pretending to serve, the swindler gradually takes on the convictions of the role he was forced to play.

Roberto Rossellini directed the film, which followed Journey to Italy (1954) and came before Viva l'Italia! (1961) in a career that had begun with Rome, Open City (1945) and Paisan (1946). Vittorio De Sica, better known as a director, plays Bardone, with Hannes Messemer as Colonel Mueller and Vittorio Caprioli as the inmate Banchelli. The screenplay was written by Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri and the journalist Indro Montanelli, whose own wartime experiences inform the story; thirty-one performers are credited.

Released in October 1959, the Italian-French production runs 132 minutes. It holds a 7.7 rating on IMDb from around 4,100 votes and a 7.5 on TMDB from about 150 votes. The critics' score stands at 7.6 from ten reviews, close to the audience verdicts, indicating a film that critics and viewers have received with similar regard over the decades.