Vittorio De Sica (7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves (honorary), while Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and 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. Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history.
De Sica was also nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Major Rinaldi in American director Charles Vidor's 1957 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 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.
Cannes Film Festival
Palme d'Or
National Board of Review Awards
Best Director
Known For
Bicycle Thieves
(1948)
Director
Two Women
(1960)
Director
Umberto D.
(1952)
Director
Boccaccio '70
(1962)
Director
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(1963)
Director
Sunflower
(1970)
Director
Shoeshine
(1946)
Director
Miracle in Milan
(1951)
Director
Marriage Italian Style
(1964)
Director
The Witches
(1967)
Director
After the Fox
(1966)
Director
Indiscretion of an American Wife
(1953)
Director
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
(1970)
Director
A Place for Lovers
(1968)
Director
Full Filmography
Directing
Maddalena... zero in condotta
(1940)
Director
Red Roses
(1940)
Director
Teresa Venerdì
(1941)
Director
A Garibaldian in the Convent
(1942)
Director
The Children Are Watching Us
(1944)
Director
The Gate of Heaven
(1945)
Director
Shoeshine
(1946)
Director
Bicycle Thieves
(1948)
Director
Miracle in Milan
(1951)
Director
Umberto D.
(1952)
Director
Indiscretion of an American Wife
(1953)
Director
The Gold of Naples
(1954)
Director
The Roof
(1956)
Director
Two Women
(1960)
Director
The Last Judgment
(1961)
Director
Boccaccio '70
(1962)
Director
The Condemned of Altona
(1962)
Director
The Boom
(1963)
Director
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(1963)
Director
Marriage Italian Style
(1964)
Director
After the Fox
(1966)
Director
Un monde nouveau
(1966)
Director
Woman Times Seven
(1967)
Director
The Witches
(1967)
Director
A Place for Lovers
(1968)
Director
The Couples
(1970)
Director
Sunflower
(1970)
Director
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
(1970)
Director
We'll Call Him Andrea
(1972)
Director
A Brief Vacation
(1973)
Director
The Voyage
(1974)
Director
Acting
The Clemenceau Affair
(1917)
Pierre Clémenceau bambino
La bellezza del mondo
(1927)
La compagnia dei matti
(1928)
Prof. Rosolillo
What Scoundrels Men Are!
(1932)
Bruno
Two Happy Hearts
(1932)
Mr. Brown
The secretary for everyone
(1932)
The Old Lady
(1932)
Fine dicitore
Un cattivo soggetto
(1933)
Willy
Lisetta
(1933)
Das Lied der Sonne
(1933)
Dr. Giuseppe Paladino
La canzone del sole
(1934)
Paladino, l'avvocato
Full Speed
(1934)
Il professore Giacomo Banti
I'll Give a Million
(1935)
Gold
Amo te sola
(1935)
Giovanni
Lohengrin
(1936)
Alfredo
I Don't Know You Anymore
(1936)
Il dottore Alberto Spinelli
But It's Nothing Serious
(1936)
Memmo Speranza
The Man Who Smiles
(1937)
Pio Fardella
Questi ragazzi
(1937)
Vincenzo
Mister Max
(1937)
Gianni / Max Varaldo
The Cuckoo Clock
(1938)
Hanno rapito un uomo
(1938)
L'attore cinematografico
Le due madri
(1938)
Salvatore
La mazurka di papà
(1938)
Stefano San Mauro / Il figlio di San Mauro
Napoli d'altri tempi
(1938)
Mario Esposito
Castles in the Air
(1939)
Riccardo Pietramola
Department Store
(1939)
Bruno Zacchi
Napoli che non muore
(1939)
Ai vostri ordini, signora...
(1939)
Pietro Haguet
It Always Ends That Way
(1939)
Alberto Milnar
Red Roses
(1940)
Alberto Verani
Pazza di gioia
(1940)
Conte Corrado Valli
Maddalena... zero in condotta
(1940)
Alfredo Hartman
The Sinner
(1940)
Pietro Bandelli
Manon Lescaut
(1940)
Renato Des Grieux
Teresa Venerdì
(1941)
Dott. Pietro Vignali
The Adventuress from the Floor Above
(1941)
Fabrizio Marchini
A Garibaldian in the Convent
(1942)
Nino Bixio
If I Was Honest
(1942)
Pietro Kovach
Our Dreams
(1943)
Leo
No One Comes Back
(1945)
Maurizio
Lo sbaglio di essere vivo
(1945)
Adriano Lari
Il mondo vuole così
(1946)
Paolo Morelli
Peddlin' in Society
(1946)
Il conte Ghirani
Rome: Free City
(1946)
Il signore distinto
Christmas at Camp 119
(1947)
Don Vicenzino
Sperduti nel buio
(1947)
Unkown Men of San Marino
(1948)
Leo, l'ateo
Heart
(1948)
Master Perboni
Tomorrow Is Too Late
(1950)
Professor Landi
Position Wanted
(1951)
Leonardo Leonardi
Times Gone By
(1952)
Defense Advocate (segment "Il processo di Frine")
Hello Elephant
(1952)
Carlo Caretti
It Happened in the Park
(1953)
Arturo Cavazzuti - the lawyer (segment: Incidente a Villa Borghese)
Bread, Love and Dreams
(1953)
Maresciallo Carotenuto
The Earrings of Madame de...
(1953)
Baron Fabrizio Donati
Frisky
(1954)
Maresciallo Carotenuto
The Anatomy of Love
(1954)
Conte Ferdinando / Don Corradino Scognamiglio
The Gold of Naples
(1954)
Il conte Prospero B. (segment "I giocatori")
Gran varietà
(1954)
Veneziani
The Secrets of the Bed
(1954)
Roberto
Modern Virgin
(1954)
Antonio Valli
Too Bad She's Bad
(1954)
Vittorio Stroppiani
100 Years of Love
(1954)
Duke Giovanni del Bagno aka Signor Pallini (segment "Pendolin")
The Cheerful Squadron
(1954)
Il generale
Il matrimonio
(1954)
Gregory Stefanovich Smirnov
Roman Tales
(1955)
Mazzoni Baralla - the lawyer
It Happens in Roma
(1955)
Carlo Reani
The Sign of Venus
(1955)
Alessio Spano
Scandal in Sorrento
(1955)
Maresciallo Carotenuto
The Miller's Beautiful Wife
(1955)
Don Teofilo - governatore
Time of Vacation
(1956)
Aristide Rossi
The Monte Carlo Story
(1956)
Count Dino della Fiaba
Noi siamo le colonne
(1956)
Alfredo Celimontani, il guitto squattrinato
The Bigamist
(1956)
Honorable Prince / Attorney Prince
Nero's Mistress
(1956)
Seneca
I giorni più belli
(1956)
La donna che venne dal mare
(1957)
Console Bordogin
Doctor and the Healer
(1957)
Antonio Locoratolo
Fathers and Sons
(1957)
Vincenzo Corallo
The Guilty
(1957)
Giorgio
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
(1957)
Marchese Vittorio De Vittti
A Farewell to Arms
(1957)
Major Rinaldi
Il conte Max
(1957)
Conte Max Orsini Varaldo
Holiday Island
(1957)
Engineer Occhipinti
It Happened in Rome
(1957)
The Count
Paris Casino
(1957)
Alexander Gordy
Cannon Serenade
(1958)
Ernesto de Rossi, Kapitän
Domenica è sempre domenica
(1958)
Il 'comandante' Gastaldi
Bread, Love and Andalucia
(1958)
Tonino
The Inveterate Bachelor
(1958)
Il professore
Fast and Sexy
(1958)
Don Luigi
Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina
(1958)
Self
Love and Chatter
(1958)
Avvocato Bonelli
The Girl of San Pietro Square
(1958)
Armando Conforti
Il mondo dei miracoli
(1959)
Director Pietro Giordani
Policarpo, ufficiale di scrittura
(1959)
Il prestigiatore con il piccione (uncredited)
Ferdinand I King of Naples
(1959)
Seccano
Il nemico di mia moglie
(1959)
professor Ottavio Tornabuoni
The Moralist
(1959)
O.I.M.P. President
Nel blu dipinto di blu
(1959)
Spartaco
Winter Holidays
(1959)
Maurizio
General Della Rovere
(1959)
Bardone AKA 'Grimaldi'
Venetian Honeymoon
(1959)
Alfredo
Men and Noblemen
(1959)
marchese Nicola Peccoli Macinelli di Afragola
Gastone
(1960)
The Prince
Three Etc.'s and the Colonel
(1960)
Colonel Belalcazar
Le pillole di Ercole
(1960)
Colonel Piero Cuocolo
The Angel Wore Red
(1960)
General Clave
Love in Rome
(1960)
le réalisateur
The Battle of Austerlitz
(1960)
le pape Pie VII
It Started in Naples
(1960)
Mario Vitale
The Traffic Policeman
(1960)
Il sindaco
The Millionairess
(1960)
Joe
Long Live Henry IV... Long Live Love!
(1961)
L'ambassadeur d'Espagne
The Wonders of Aladdin
(1961)
Genie
The Orderly
(1961)
Colonnello Filippo Bitossi
The Last Judgment
(1961)
Defense lawyer
The Two Marshals
(1961)
Maresciallo Vittorio Cotone
L'onorata società
(1961)
Salvatore il 'Capintesta'
Lafayette
(1962)
Bancroft
Eva
(1962)
(uncredited)
Sophia Loren in Rome
(1964)
Max Ophuls ou Le Plaisir de tourner
(1965)
Self
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
(1965)
der Graf
After the Fox
(1966)
Himself
Gli altri, gli altri e noi
(1966)
Retired
Me, Me, Me... and the Others
(1966)
Commendator Trepossi
Man of Three Worlds: Luchino Visconti
(1966)
Self - Interviewee
An Italian in America
(1967)
Lando Marossi
Cinéma et Réalité
(1967)
Self
The Biggest Bundle of Them All
(1968)
Cesare Celli
Dear Caroline
(1968)
Le comte de Bièvre
The Shoes of the Fisherman
(1968)
Cardinal Rinaldi
Twelve Plus One
(1969)
Di Seta
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
(1969)
Shoemaker
Cose di Cosa Nostra
(1971)
Don Michele
Trastevere
(1971)
Enrico Formichi
I Don't See, You Don't Speak, He Doesn't Hear
(1971)
Player in Venice casino
We Are All in Temporary Liberty
(1971)
Scandal Man
(1972)
Hector the Mighty
(1972)
Giove
Snow Job
(1972)
Enrico Dolphi
Storia de fratelli e de cortelli
(1973)
Maresciallo Cenciarelli
The Assassination of Matteotti
(1973)
Mauro Del Giudice
Blood for Dracula
(1974)
Marquis Di Fiore
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
(1975)
(archive footage)
My Name Is Anna Magnani
(1980)
Self (archive footage)
Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema
(1985)
Self
That's Life: Vittorio De Sica
(2001)
Self (archive footage)
Cesare Zavattini
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
(2004)
(archive footage)
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
(2005)
Self (archive footage)
Working with De Sica
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Vittorio D.
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
1960
(2010)
Self (archive footage)
Sophia Loren, une destinée particulière
(2019)
Self (archive footage)
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
We Are Cinema
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
The Garden That Doesn't Exist
(2022)
Self (archive footage)
Writing
Teresa Venerdì
(1941)
Screenplay
A Garibaldian in the Convent
(1942)
Screenplay
If I Was Honest
(1942)
Screenplay
Our Dreams
(1943)
Screenplay
The Children Are Watching Us
(1944)
Screenplay
The Gate of Heaven
(1945)
Screenplay
Sperduti nel buio
(1947)
Screenplay
Christmas at Camp 119
(1947)
Screenplay
Bicycle Thieves
(1948)
Screenplay
Miracle in Milan
(1951)
Screenplay
The Gold of Naples
(1954)
Screenplay
Production
Bicycle Thieves
(1948)
Producer
Miracle in Milan
(1951)
Producer
Mamma mia, che impressione!
(1951)
Producer
Umberto D.
(1952)
Producer
Hello Elephant
(1952)
Producer
Indiscretion of an American Wife
(1953)
Producer
The Roof
(1956)
Producer
Bread, Love and Andalucia
(1958)
Producer
Io e Dio
(1970)
Producer
Crew
Sound