Claretta

Claretta

History | May 31, 1984

In this biography of Claretta Petacci, Benito Mussolini's mistress of 10 years, the Petacci family is a primary source of information -- which introduces a definite bias on how she is viewed. Claretta met Mussolini in the mid-'30s and remained with him after he was dismissed in 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel (American and Allied forces invaded Sicily and started north to Rome at that time). Claretta's family also fled to the north, where Mussolini was set up in a puppet dictatorship by the Germans until the end of the war. Photographs of Mussolini and Claretta hanging from a gas-station pole in 1945 while crowds stare at their bodies were disseminated worldwide, yet information on them has been kept in the classified files of the Italian government. In this docudrama, Claretta is played by Claudia Cardinale and Claretta's younger sister Miriam Petacci, still alive in 1984, plays herself as she "meets" with a television reporter at Claretta's tomb to talk about her famous sister's life.

Claretta

History | May 31, 1984

Claretta
In this biography of Claretta Petacci, Benito Mussolini's mistress of 10 years, the Petacci family is a primary source of information -- which introduces a definite bias on how she is viewed. Claretta met Mussolini in the mid-'30s and remained with him after he was dismissed in 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel (American and Allied forces invaded Sicily and started north to Rome at that time). Claretta's family also fled to the north, where Mussolini was set up in a puppet dictatorship by the Germans until the end of the war. Photographs of Mussolini and Claretta hanging from a gas-station pole in 1945 while crowds stare at their bodies were disseminated worldwide, yet information on them has been kept in the classified files of the Italian government. In this docudrama, Claretta is played by Claudia Cardinale and Claretta's younger sister Miriam Petacci, still alive in 1984, plays herself as she "meets" with a television reporter at Claretta's tomb to talk about her famous sister's life.
Producers RAI, Trans World Film
Original title Claretta
Directors Pasquale Squitieri
Writers Arrigo Petacco, Pasquale Squitieri

Cast

Claudia Cardinale

as Miriam Petacci

Giuliano Gemma

as Marcello Petacci

Caterina Boratto

as Giuseppina Petacci

Fernando Briamo

as Benito Mussolini

Nancy Brilli

as Young Miriam Petacci

Raffaele Curi

as Carabinieri Lieutenant

Sasha D'Arc

as Musician