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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = Five Golden Hours~~
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	\| alt =		\| alt =
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	*{{tcmdb title\|75053}}		*{{tcmdb title\|75053}}
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	~~{{Mario Zampi}}~~

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	[[Category:English-language comedy films]]		[[Category:English-language comedy films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

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added Category:English-language comedy films using HotCat

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Five Golden Hours
| image = Five Golden Hours poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = theatrical release poster
| director = [[Mario Zampi]]
| producer = Mario Zampi
| writer = [[Hans Wilhelm (screenwriter)|Hans Wilhelm]]
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| starring = [[Ernie Kovacs]]<br />[[Cyd Charisse]]<br />[[George Sanders]]
| music = [[Stanley Black]]
| cinematography = [[Christopher Challis]]
| editing = Bill Lewthwaite
| studio =
| distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1961|03|10|Italy|1961|2||U.S.}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = Italy<br>United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Five Golden Hours''''' is a 1961 Italian-British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Mario Zampi]] and written by [[Hans Wilhelm (screenwriter)|Hans Wilhelm]], starring [[Ernie Kovacs]], [[Cyd Charisse]] and [[George Sanders]], and featuring [[Dennis Price]] and [[John Le Mesurier]].

==Plot==
Aldo Bondi (Kovacs) is a professional pallbearer and mourner in Rome who lives well off the extravagant gifts given to him by the rich widows he comforts. When he falls for the supposedly penniless Baroness Sandra (Charisse) – who is actually a rich "black widow" whose husbands all die – he concocts a [[Ponzi scheme]] to bilk three widows by taking money from them, telling them that he will invest it during the "five golden hours" between the closing of the stock exchange in Rome, and the opening of the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. However, the Baroness absconds with the cash, leaving Bondi in hock to the widows. He attempts to kill them, but the scheme fails and he pretends to have gone insane. In the sanatarium, his roommate is another debtor feigning madness, Mr. Bing (Sanders).

One of the three widows dies, leaving Bondi a fortune, which he can only have if he continues to be insane, otherwise the inheritance is to go to a monastery – so Bondi makes a deal with the brothers to split the money. He returns to Rome, where Mr. Bing makes contact with Baroness Sandra and, for a fee, tells her that Bondi is now rich. Sandra and Bondi get married, and soon he is her seventh dead husband.

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Ernie Kovacs]] as Aldo Bondi
* [[Cyd Charisse]] as Baroness Sandra
* [[George Sanders]] as Mr. Bing
* [[Kay Hammond]] as Martha
* [[Dennis Price]] as Raphael
* [[Clelia Matania]] as Rosalia
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Doctor Alfieri
* [[Finlay Currie]] as Father Superior
* [[Reginald Beckwith]] as Brother Geronimo
* [[Avice Landone]] as Beatrice
* [[Sydney Tafler]] as Alfredo
* [[Martin Benson (actor)|Martin Benson]] as Enrico
* [[Bruno Barnabe]] as Cesare
* [[Ron Moody]] as Gabrielle
* [[Leonard Sachs]] as Mr. Morini
{{div col end}}

==Production==
''Five Golden Hours'' was filmed in two versions, one for English-language release, and another, released as ''Cinque ore in contanti'', for Italian consumption. In the Italian version, some of the smaller roles were taken by Italian actors. Location shooting for the film took place in [[Bolzano, Italy]] and the surrounding area.<ref>TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=75053&category=Notes "Notes"]</ref>

Kovacs cited the picture as his favorite among his own films.

The film was the last directed by Mario Zampi.<ref>Allmovie [http://www.allmovie.com/work/five-golden-hours-17659 "Overview"]</ref>

==Reception==
The movie received generally tepid reviews. The one in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' complained that "too much onus is flung on the shoulders of Ernie Kovacs, a talented comedian, but one who is more acceptable in smaller doses."<ref name="dianarico">Rico, Diana. ''Kovacsland''. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. Retrieved January 25, 2019</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]''' [[Howard Thompson (film critic)|Howard Thompson]] added that "[[Alec Guinness]] and a subtle director could have turned (the film) into gold," but "hammered brass is what we get, unfortunately." He was critical of the two American stars, saying that Kovacs was "sniggering self-consciousness" while Charisse was "merely wooden."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1961/10/19/archives/five-golden-hours-and-mr-sardonicus-in-multiple-openings.html Thompson, Howard. "'Five Golden Hours' and 'Mr. Sardonicus' in Multiple Openings," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, October 19, 1961.] Retrieved January 24, 2019</ref> ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' presented a more favorable evaluation, calling it "a wicked, happy little surprise," "an excellent black joke of a sort rare in the British cinema" and that "most importantly, it has Ernie Kovacs, a player whose comic vitality hasn't been staled."<ref name="dianarico"/>

==Novelization==
In anticipation of the film's release, [[Digit Books]] of London (the paperback imprint of [[Brown, Watson Limited]]) published a novelization of the screenplay. While the cover and title page say "Adapted from the screenplay by Hans Wilhelm," the novelist is not credited.

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0054877}}
*{{tcmdb title|75053}}
*{{AllRovi movie|17659}}

{{Mario Zampi}}

[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:Italian comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language Italian films]]
[[Category:1961 comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films about con artists]]
[[Category:Films set in Italy]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:British multilingual films]]
[[Category:1960s multilingual films]]
[[Category:Films shot at MGM-British Studios]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s Italian films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy films]]

Five Golden Hours - Revision history

Kurt at 18:10, 13 March 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Sc2353: added Category:English-language comedy films using HotCat