Amelia and Pippo are reunited after several decades to perform their old music-hall act, imitating Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, on a TV variety show.
Acting
Masina and Mastroianni's final pairing—decades of history in every glance.
Direction
Fellini's controlled chaos turns a TV studio into purgatorial carnival.
Costume
The grotesque parade of celebrity impersonators—uncanny valley as art.
Director
Federico Fellini
Giulietta Masina
Amelia "Ginger" Bonetti
Marcello Mastroianni
Pippo "Fred" Botticella
Franco Fabrizi
Aurelio, "Ed Ecco A Voi" Host
Friedrich von Ledebur
Admiral Aulenti
Augusto Poderosi
Evelina Pollini
Martin Maria Blau
Florenzio
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Brother Gerolamo
Totò Mignone
Toto
Ezio Marano
Author
Antoine Saint-John
(credit only)
Friedrich von Thun
Armando Bissanti
Antonino Iuorio
Production Inspector
Barbara Scoppa
Barbara, TeleFlash Reporter
Salvatore Billa
Clark Gable
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Masina and Mastroianni had starred together in Fellini's first feature *Variety Lights* (1950)—this was their bittersweet bookend.
Fellini based the TV show on real Italian variety programs he'd grown to despise; the 'lookalikes' were actual impersonators he cast from Rome's streets.
IT
