Totò diabolicus (1962)

Totò diabolicus: Directed by Steno. With Totò, Raimondo Vianello, Nadia Sanders, Luigi Pavese. The marquis Galeazzo di Torre Alta is murdered by a mysterious killer who calls himself Diabolicus. His heirs are his three brothers and a sister, but all of them, with the exception of Monsignor Antonino di Torre Alta, are killed by Diabolicus. The police are unable to solve the case, but when Antonino gives his inheritance to Pasquale Bonocore, illegitimate son of his father and Pasquale is in prison and therefore can’t be the killer, all the clues are in the hand of the police.

“Toto plays five siblings, each nutty as a fruitcake. This isnu0026#39;t a farce or a parody, itu0026#39;s a very unfunny burlesque, with no characterization and an almost non existent plot. Typical is a long scene where he plays a surgeon who canu0026#39;t find the patientu0026#39;s head, cuts the patient open and then tells him to find another surgeon to finish the job, etc. Humor literally on the level of stage burlesque. Toto merely has to mug shamelessly and deliver the nonsense dialogue as fast as possible. Most scenes are very long takes, shot head-on in mid- to long-shot. With a small cast (and only two shots with more than one Toto character on screen at the same time), this must have cost nothing to make. And itu0026#39;s worth about as much.”