FULL SYNOPSIS
Better known as one of Italy's most visionary producers, Giuseppe Amato was also a director of considerable skill. Filmed in 1945, Amato's Malia was released in the U.S. in 1952, on the coattails of his internationally successful Umberto D. Though Rosanno Brazzi is top-billed in the American version, the film's real star is Gino Cervi, cast as a Sicilian priest. Fighting strenuously against the ancient superstitions which hold his parishioners in thrall, the priest finds himself at odds with a local soothsaying quack (Virginia Balistreri). The ultimate test of religion vs. mysticism takes place when the priest tries to help a young girl suffering from malaria. Hemstitched into the proceedings is a gratuitous romantic triangle involving new a bride (Maria Denis), her philandering husband (Rosanno Brazzi), and her impressionable sister (Anna Proclamer). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi