Secret of Santa Vittoria, The

Anticoli Corrado, Lazio, Italy

The doors of the church of St Peter, San Pietro, now bronze, in AC.

Same place, and it is probably possible to stand on one foot, and gradually swivel round taking a panoramic series of shots which will cover 80% of the locations used in this film.

Side door now the Anticoli Corrado club, the "circle". Main square AC.

The town square, the piazza.

Fountain, steps and collonaded upper floor. Piazza della Ville. Town Square, Anticoli Corrado, AC.

The town, from below.

AC from below. Difficult to say with certainty if it is the same place, vegitation makes it impossible to find a comparative angle and there are some dozen other similar hill-top towns in the area.

The turtle on the left is the town fountain.

The sairway on the right was made of papier-mache' for the film, and the archway was demolished in the 60's, to make way for via San Rocco, only the steps leading to the church of San Pietro remain. The tortoise or turtle was also fake.

The priest's tower. Reputed to be a fake or a matte, but maybe shot in another nearby town.

One of Anticoli Corrado's claims to fame is that many artists from Rome used to select their models from amongst the villagers. Long way in them days to find a pretty girl, or boy.

At the fountain, announcing Mussolini's death.

Bar Cicco, in those days, now Bar Daniella & Santino. Inside is good coffee, a few photos of the stars and much information from Daniella.

Fountain, a bit closer.

Cars have replaced people. Same bar.

Piazza della Ville, AC.

Looking towards via Corelli.

Town square, looking towards via Corelli.

...and there it is.

Corner of the square looking towards the fake town hall.German HQ

Couldn't find a crane or gantry, but it's the same angle.

The Bombolini family, Anthony Quinn,a pretty girl and Anna Magnani, outside the bar.

The wall and the railings have gone, the corner of via S Caterina

A side street. Not yet found in AC, but could be in another town called Capranica, about a dozen km south of AC.

Steps down. Capranica perhaps?

The town's water tower, well, at least its legs. But no-one yet has identified it in AC, maybe the other piazza, maybe the Orto Garboni, maybe buit for the film, maybe below via Santa Caterina, maybe Capranica.

The tower. It appears vertically segmented.

The tower from inside the house.

The Town Hall steps, il Comune. All a fake, made of papier mache'. Now a bar and restaurant, but, the bit of angle iron sticking out from the wall on the right........

......leads one to believe. There is a long window above and a doorway below, and ssv017d shows it again.

Town square again, Anticoli Corrado.

Bet these fellers were in that mob.

Yup, you guessed it, the town square. Via Roma and the Manse.

Hardly changed.

This appears to be Boboloni's house, or at least the garden railings and stone posts shown in 009.

It's changed a lot.

The bar and via Corelli, but the white uniformed soldier or policeman; wonder what his unit was? Or maybe just invented for the film.

Same place.

.......and back to the Town Hall.

....goddit!

Heading towards the town hall, the bar in the background.

Yup!

Town Hall. Fake. But, on the pink house, that tiny scrap of angle-iron, an old support for electicity cables..............

........is still there.

Some steps.

The church of Santa Vittoria.

Perhaps above the steps, with more steps in the background.

Piazza Santa Vittoria, church on the right, and steps on the left leading to the Museum of Modern Art. Unhappily in Anticoli Corrado, film is not considered art, and, although modern, is not mentioned. The museum is sited in the old prison, and there are many interesting scratchings, graffiti, on the walls and ceilings.

The fountain again. The German commander's house behind the falling water.

Couldn't be better.

One of the streets leading up into the square of Anticoli Corrado. The lady on the left in a white top, looks very modern and is wearing jeans, did a tourist wander into the film set?

via Roma, AC

The priest's house, on the main square, the manse in fact.

Walking off to even more steps.

Manse and church, San Pietro.

Via Santa Caterina & via Roma

Would you believe, that square again!

Yes, I know the fountain is on the wrong side, but the background conforms.

Inside the bar.

A church, where?

Church square, Piazza della Chiesa, but which town?

A side street, but not methinks in Anticoli Corrado, as the Germans haven't yet arrived..

A college, a school, a university?

Perhap they could have called the film "Here We Go Round, and instead of the Mulberry Bush, the Tinkling Tortoise.

Yes, stand on one foot, take a photo every 25 degrees and get all the pics for most of the locations used in this epic.

Here We Go round the Tinkling Tortoise.

Same place, many years later.

'tis said, on Wikipedia: Anticoli became known in the 19th century because its young inhabitants used to pose as models for the community of artists living near Piazza di Spagna.

Don't imagine that Quinn and his mates would have been selected, except as models for gargoyles on the corners of the cathedrals, or some of Hieonymus Bosch's output.

...........Or even, "The Pied Piper".

......repetition I'm afraid, but when someone goes to all the time and trouble, it's difficult to reject their offerings.

Outside the bar. Stone posts and railings.

Now, the supermarket. Steps and tree remain and the bench is modernised.

........and off they go, but a new street for us to locate. Which later houses the German H.Q.

The doorway on the left of the shop with the green door later becomes German HQ, and today is a deli.

.......and up some more steps. Same steps as in 018 /019.

Piazza Santa Vittoria.

.........and up the steps.

....yes.

The caves. where the booze is to be stored.

Les Girls, bet they could tell us a thing or two or three, about adventures on the mountain sides!

......yes, definately the caves.

Yes, really, the caves.

View from the top of the town over the valley. Looking for the Huns, or, as they are called in Italia, il Tedeschi.

One of the streets in town.

via Roma, AC

Probably further down in Anticoli Corrado. Yes, same green door at the bottom.

Via Roma.

...and some more folk ready to pass the bottles.

Looking up via Roma. See also pic 63a

........and back to the square.

Via Santa Caterina on the left and via Roma on the right.

.......and lower still.....probably the other side of the square, going downhill towards the caves. As you can see, a cast of thousands.

Surprising what a pleasurable discovery a bit of old green iron fencing can provide. Via Roma.

.........there's that view again. The street of the flying wine bottles! But it may well be Capranica and not AC.

The town walls and the wine ribbons flowing down to the caves.

........and the wine keeps flowing. This pic for Simon, he loves rocks!

City walls, and people and wine bottles.

.......back to town.

The manse again, the priest's house, Piazza della Ville, Anticoli Corrado, next door to the church of San Pietro.

The heroine arrives, Ms Headache.

Priest's house with via Roma behind.

Why they are not passing bottles we don't know. But as she's a minor noble lady and he's a wounded partisan I'm sure they were excused duties.

Same place, casa parrochiale, priest's house..

...and once more,

Town walls again, and there's that damned elusive water tower on the right, so just maybe this isn't AC and maybe Capranica.

But this is AC on a damp morning.

Those steps again from the upper town.

The square of Saint Victoria.

The last bottle being born triumphally down those upper steps.

The square of the church of Santa Vittoria.

Down the steps.

Steps down from the square.

Approaching the main square, via Correlli

Same place.

...........and into the square.

The oldest lady is carried out of the square, with the last bottle of wine.

......that road with the view, again.

..........and all done moments before the Germans arrive. The square.

.........and a bit to the right.

Is that the water tower on the right, from its other side? It appears segmented.

Germans in the square. Although the Italians and Germans were allies for the first part of the war, after the Allied invasion; US, UK and allied forces; the fall of Roma, and the death of Mussolini many Italians felt that they were "invaded" by the Germans, that they were now an "occupied" country, and that the guerrillas, or partisans, were fighting for Italian freedom.

Looking towards Bomboloni's bar and via Roma.

German chief, and tortoise.

Same angle, but the tortoise has wandered off.

The Town Hall, the Mayor and the Corporation

The meeting in the invaded and occupied town of Anticoli Corrado, now under German martial law.

Bit of repair work with the Town Hall in the background.

The German H.Q. Probably just behind the Town Hall.

The bar

All gone, only the space is left.

......and the Mayor

The Town Hall.

Town Hall.

Up near the church.

Him again!

Same corner with the German HQ

Him closer!

The Square, and Germans.

Town Square.

Santa caterina and Roma

Are those the steps up to the church?

Yes.

Arch leading to the square. Now demolished.

The caves don't seem to have much vegitation around them. A set?

The German H.Q. just behind the town hall.

Looks better with plants and no flag.

Brighter day, more architectural detail.

Now a grocer's shop.

Germans about to leave.

.....really going.

We were here before in 037.

....yes, just down from the square. And twenty paces further down via Roma.

Victoria's secret exposed.