Franco Rossi (director)

Franco Rossi ( born April 28, 1919 in Florence, † June 5, 2000 in Rome ) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and film producer.

A lawyer by profession, Rossi was interested from his youth to the theater. His career as a filmmaker, he began as an assistant director under well-known directors such as Mario Camerini, Luis Trenker and Renato Castellani.

His first film, counterfeiters (I falsari, 1950), can, like the other also recognize his artistic development in the years of neo-realism. His first success was Il seduttore (1954 ) with Alberto Sordi. Among his best known films include Friends for Life ( Amici per la pelle, 1955), The Ugly Odyssey ( Odissea Nuda, 1961) as well as two missionaries ( Porgi l' altra guancia, 1974) with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill.

Rossi was one of the first to the production of films devoted themselves for television. Among the early productions, the two German - Italian miniseries The Odyssey (L' Odissea, 1968) and The Aeneid (1971). His last television film was Cry For Help ( va alla guerra Michele, 1994) with Silvio Orlando and Désirée Nosbusch.