View source for Pasquale Festa Campanile


{{More citations needed|date=July 2025}}

{{Infobox person
| name        = Pasquale Festa Campanile
| image       = Pasquale Festa Campanile 2.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1927|7|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Melfi]], Kingdom of Italy
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1986|2|25|1927|7|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Rome]], Italy
| yearsactive = 1949–1984
| occupation  = {{flatlist|
*Screenwriter
*film director
*novelist}}
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[Anna Salvatore]]||1962|end=sep}}<br/>{{marriage|Rosalba Mazzamuto|1985}}
}}
'''Pasquale Festa Campanile''' (28 July 1927&nbsp;– 25 February 1986) was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the ''[[commedia all'italiana]]'' genre.<ref name=N>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/05/16/archives/screen-restless-widow-the-libertine-stars-catherine-spaak.html|title=Screen: Restless Widow: The Libertine' Stars Catherine Spaak|author=Thompson, Howard|authorlink=Howard Thompson (film critic)|date=May 16, 1969}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Born at [[Melfi]], in the [[province of Potenza]], he moved to [[Rome]] at young age. He started as a writer and literary critic. ''La nonna Sabella'', one of his novels, was later adapted by [[Dino Risi]] into the movie of the same name, internationally known as ''[[Oh! Sabella]]'' (1957).

He began his cinema career as a screenwriter with ''[[Faddija – La legge della vendetta]]'' (1949) by [[Roberto Bianchi Montero]] and later co-produced masterpieces of Italian cinema such as {{Lang|it|[[Poor, But Handsome]]}} (1957) by Risi and ''[[Rocco and His Brothers]]'' (1960) and ''[[The Leopard (1963 film)|The Leopard]]'' (1963) by [[Luchino Visconti]].

His first film as a director was ''[[A Sentimental Attempt]]'' (1963), along with [[Massimo Franciosa]]. Subsequently he made many films of the commedia all'italiana genre, including ''[[The Libertine (1968 film)|La Matriarca]]'' (1969), ''[[Secret Fantasy]]'' (1971), ''[[Jus primae noctis (film)|Jus primae noctis]]'' (1972) and {{Lang|it|[[The Sex Machine]]}} (1975), the latter is based on his novel with the same name.

Pasquale Festa Campanile had a collaboration with Italian singer and actor [[Adriano Celentano]], directing him in films like ''[[Rugantino (film)|Rugantino]]'' (1973), ''[[Qua la mano]]'' (1980) and ''[[Bingo Bongo]]'' (1982). Other notable movies include ''[[Soldier of Fortune (1976 film)|Soldier of Fortune]]'', a satirical revisiting of the [[challenge of Barletta]]; the crime film ''[[Hitch-Hike (film)|Hitch-Hike]]'' (1977); the [[LGBT]]-themed ''[[Nessuno è perfetto]]'' (1981); ''[[Petomaniac]]'' (1983), loosely based on French  entertainer [[Le Pétomane|Joseph Pujol]] and ''[[A Proper Scandal]]'' (1984), inspired by the [[Bruneri-Canella case]] which is also his last cinematographic work.

He died of a [[kidney tumor]] in Rome in 1986.

==Personal life==
Festa Campanile was married to Italian painter [[Anna Salvatore]], from whom he separated in 1962. Later he was linked to actresses [[Maria Grazia Spina]], [[Catherine Spaak]] and [[Lilli Carati]]. He married his last wife, Rosalba Mazzamuto, a year prior to his death.

==Filmography==

===Director===
* ''[[A Sentimental Attempt]]'' (1953)
* ''[[White Voices]]'' (1964)
* ''[[La costanza della ragione]]'' (1965)
* ''[[A Maiden for a Prince]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Adultery Italian Style]]'' (1966)
* ''[[On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Il marito è mio e l'ammazzo quando mi pare]]'' (1967)
* ''[[The Girl and the General]]''  (1967)
* ''[[The Libertine (1968 film)|The Libertine]]''   (1968)
* ''[[Check to the Queen]]'' (1969)
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Con quale amore, con quanto amore|it}}'' (1969)
* ''[[Where Are You Going All Naked?]]'' (1969)
* ''[[When Women Had Tails]]''     (1970)
* ''[[Secret Fantasy]]'' (1971)
* ''[[When Women Lost Their Tails]]'' (1971)
* ''[[La calandria (1972 film)|La calandria]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Jus primae noctis (film)|Jus primae noctis]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Little Funny Guy]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Rugantino (film)|Rugantino]]'' (1973)
* ''[[The Gamecock (film)|The Gamecock]]'' (1974)
* {{Lang|it|[[The Sex Machine]]}} (1975)
* ''[[Tell Me You Do Everything for Me]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Soldier of Fortune (1976 film)|Soldier of Fortune]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Hitch-Hike (film)|Hitch-Hike]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Cara sposa]]'' (1977)
* ''[[How to Lose a Wife and Find a Lover]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Saturday, Sunday and Friday]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Il ritorno di Casanova]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Il corpo della ragassa]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Gegè Bellavita]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Il ladrone]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Qua la mano]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Nessuno è perfetto]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Culo e camicia]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Mano lesta]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Bingo Bongo]]'' (1982)
* ''[[The Girl from Trieste]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Più bello di così si muore]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Porca vacca]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Un povero ricco]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Petomaniac]]'' (1983)
* ''[[A Proper Scandal]]'' (1984)

===Screenwriter===
* ''[[Faddija]]'' (1949)
* ''[[A Sentimental Attempt]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Wild Love (film)|Wild Love]]'' (1955)
* ''[[La donna che venne dal mare]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Oh! Sabella]]'' (1957)
* {{Lang|it|[[Poor, But Handsome]]}} (1957)
* ''[[Pretty But Poor]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Il cocco di mamma]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Vacanze a Ischia]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Young Husbands]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Ladro lui, ladra lei]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Toto and Marcellino]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Everyone's in Love]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Venice, the Moon and You]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Ferdinando I Re di Napoli]]'' (1959)
* ''[[The Magistrate (1959 film)|The Magistrate]]'' (1959)
* ''[[La cento chilometri]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Poor Millionaires (1959 film)|Poor Millionaires]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Rocco and His Brothers]]'' (1960)
* ''[[The Assassin (1961 film)|The Assassin]]'' (1961)
* ''[[The Lovemakers (film)|The Lovemakers]]'' (1961)
* ''[[La bellezza di Ippolita]]'' (1962)
* ''[[The Four Days of Naples (film)|The Four Days of Naples]]'' (1962)
* ''[[Smog (film)|Smog]]'' (1962)
* ''[[The Leopard (1963 film)|The Leopard]]'' (1963)
* ''[[In Italia si chiama amore]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Senza sole né luna]]'' (1963)
* ''[[The Conjugal Bed (1963 film)|The Conjugal Bed]]'' (1963)
* ''[[White Voices]]'' (1964)
* ''[[La costanza della ragione]]'' (1965)
* ''[[A Maiden for a Prince]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Adultery Italian Style]]'' (1966)
* ''[[The Girl and the General]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Where Are You Going All Naked?]]'' (1969)
* ''[[When Women Had Tails]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Secret Fantasy]]'' (1971)
* ''[[La calandria (1972 film)|La calandria]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Jus primae noctis (film)|Jus primae noctis]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Little Funny Guy]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Rugantino (film)|Rugantino]]'' (1973)
* ''[[The Gamecock (film)|The Gamecock]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Sex Machine]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Soldier of Fortune (1976 film)|Soldier of Fortune]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Hitch-Hike (film)|Hitch-Hike]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Gegè Bellavita]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Qua la mano]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Un povero ricco]]'' (1983)

==Bibliography==
* ''La nonna Sabella'' (1957)
* {{Lang|it|Conviene far bene l'amore}} (1975)
* ''Il ladrone'' (1977)
* ''Il peccato'' (1980)
* ''La ragazza di Trieste'' (1982)
* ''Per amore, solo per amore'' (1984)
* ''La strega innamorata'' (1985)
* ''Buon Natale, buon anno'' (1986)
*''La felicità è una cosa magnifica'' (2017)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0275269}}

{{Bancarella Prize}}
{{Prix du scénario}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Festa Campanile, Pasquale}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Melfi]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian screenwriters]]
[[Category:Italian film directors]]
[[Category:Giallo film directors]]
[[Category:Bancarella Prize winners]]
[[Category:Premio Campiello winners]]
[[Category:Italian male novelists]]
[[Category:Italian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Pasquale Festa Campanile|access_date=2026-03-05}}