"Lawyer?" "Lawyer!" " What?" "There are the people from television." "Damn, what punctuality!" "Well, then..." "I am not a lawyer." "I'm a showman." "I think I can sustain this, because I worked,.." "for many years, always in the field of entertainment." "And, of course, if you work for so long, there are many things to say!" "Well, let's look." ""How old am I?"" "80." "In a few days I'll be 80." "That's a lot." ""What have I done?" I've said it: just about all!" "Cinema, variety shows, prose..." ""Where and how did I start?" Now I'll tell you, I have it prepared." ""Can even talk bad about reviewers, but then, apologize."" "Oh no!" "No, no, we'd better stop here." "First of all, .." "remarked that this is all combined, of course, because,.." "I do work this way in the morning, but this is all done for television." "Excuse me, but if I speak badly about reviewers, I won't apologize after!" "Look, there is a misunderstanding." "You can say anything bad about anyone,.." "with no need to apologize." " Let's hope it's true!" "Here I am!" "Transformed like "Fregoli"." "Ah, you know that.." "I saw Fregoli's last performance, at the Diana theater, in 1921, in Milan." "However, not from the audience." "On stage." "I was already interested in show biz." " And how would Fregoli quick-change?" "It was a quite simple thing." "Exiting,.." "he opened his arms." "There were three employees." "His clothes were zipped, in front or behind." "One of them slipped it off from behind, another would put one from the front,.." "the third put the wig on his head,.." "and he entered." "Two seconds!" "So, this is the famous desk, the desk of memories." "There." "Plenty of drawers." "There are seven drawers." "And here in the folders, I put some order, and here are some photos." "Here, it says about theater." "Oh, wait!" "I would like to point out that I, when I started, I never put my name." "We had found, me and my partner, Ramo,.." "a symbol:" "ZA BOOM, and we simply signed Za Bum." "Not today!" "Today, they have done nothing, and put names larger than those of the authors!" "For how many years you've done theater, Mario?" " About ten." "10-12 years..." "lots of stuff!" "For example, "Za Bum presents the great Schwarz revues"..." "Schwarz, in Italy, is a truly unforgettable memory." "Here there are 30-40 well built ladies, who were "Chez Maxim" types,.." "married by Milanese men." "I started from variety shows." "And I think it was the best experience.." "to then do theater." "Because variety is important." "Variety,.." "what does it mean?" "Someone, who is alone on stage,.." "holding an audience, he's an actor, he's real!" "While those who need a text, well!" "Ah, then here are some interesting things!" "Then were fashionable the "sisters"." "Once came from Paris.." "a number composed by two big girls, tall - they were not even beautiful,.." "escorted by their father." "The father had a large black beard,.." "and the ribbon of the Legion of Honor." "That evening, behind the scenes, before going on stage, they took off their bras,.." "their father, ... took ... nipples, and said: "Allez-y!" (Go!" ")" "Allez-y..and the Commissioner came on stage and arrested the father!" "He kept saying:" ""but we do the best nude act of France!"" "But back then, you could not do the nude as they do now!" "And De Sica, when did you engage him in Za Bum?" " Ah, De Sica!" "When talking about theater and De Sica, they say "it's you who launched De Sica."" "But it is not so!" "I had taken De Sica, who played very well, but,.." "unfortunately, people did not go to the theater." "At the Olimpia, in Milan, there was a company of 4 people:.." "Melnati, De Sica, Rissone, and Chellini." "Their acting was splendid!" "One night I went in, and there were 12 people." "A theater with 12 people, makes you cry!" "I wanted to stop and listen." "But I am superstitious,.." "so I called an usher and said: "sit beside me."" "At the Olympia there was a side called...ah, the "tramway", there!" "So we sat down, and, the next day,.." "I sent for the manager and engaged De Sica." "I engaged the whole company, and introduced many elements in this company." "So it turned out the show passed into history." "Because Za Bum #8.." "was truly one of the most interesting things of the theater of the time." "Milly, did you take part in the Za Bum shows directed by Mattoli?" "Sure." "I think I took part, as a revue actress,.." "in one of the most important shows of Mattioli." "Indeed, it was a novelty:" "Broadway." "A novelty in that, on stage,.." "with the theater company, there was a Negro orchestra." "A show that.." "had a huge success, and created a genre." "That almost all have tried to copy." "If I were to compare the Za Bum shows to a contemporary show,.." "which could I quote?" "Well, I would compare them to the best of Giovannini and Garinei." "Later, you have starred in three films by Mattoli." "There was a continuity thread between the film and the Za Bum?" "Sure!" "Because Mattoli brought his style of theater into cinema." "Now, Mattoli, shall we talk a little bit of cinema?" " Why not?" "With pleasure!" "Speaking of movies that speak to your heart,.." "not only they spoke, but they made you weep." "They made you weep much." "Perhaps because of that, later, I wanted to do only comedies." "Because.." "comedies are much, much more difficult than dramas." "Here!" "Now I sit down in my chair." "A chair.." "that's with me since 40 years." "Here." "There is a portrait of my mother, done by my great friend Tabet,.." "and of course I'm very comfortable here." "So,.." "in the movies that speak to your heart, and make you weep,.." "the soundtrack was made with real music." "Chopin, the sad Sibelius waltzes, La Traviata..." "While, in me, there was always this sort of tendency for the song." "Indeed, in "Stasera, niente di nuovo", there is "Ma l'amore no". "L'amore no",.." "nobody says any longer that I made it!" "And that's the truth." "I like to say it." "D'Anzi, great songwriter from Milan and good friend of mine, came to me and said:" ""I'm in a quandary because Galdieri, who should write the text,.." "fails to find a starting point."" "And I said, "well, look", on one side was a vase of roses that.." "Assia Noris had given me, and the roses were exfoliating." "So I say "look, I think it's a nice idea, love like roses,.." "but love no, love doesn't fall like the roses' petals",.." "and I practically gave him the lyrics." "That turned out to be written by Galdieri." "Because this, a bit,.." "haunted me in my life, the life of..." "one who works,.." "many times, things that I did, were attributed to others." "Mattoli, I know you were even in Hollywood." " Ah, yes, in '35, after.." "the making of "Tempo massimo", I went to America." "They made me visit studios, they took pictures..." "I remember, Shirley Temple was a little girl,.." "Ford, the great director, who brought a black dancer..." "But I felt uncomfortable, I don't know, I couldn't tie up." "It was people that.." "made the movies at the expense of banks." "Above all, they drank." "They drank so much that..." "It was impossible to be with people.." "who were drunk from morning to night!" "And, when they offered me a contract for a few dollars, I thought about it,.." "and I returned to Italy, where I felt better."