

Variety Lights
1950-12-06 · 93 min · ★ 6.9
In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.
Trailers are previews, not full movies.
No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.
Production details
- Directors
- Alberto Lattuada, Federico Fellini
- Production companies
- Capitolium
- Countries
- Italy
- Status
- Released
Top Cast
Peppino De FilippoChecco Dal Monte
Carla Del PoggioLiliana "Lilly" Antonelli
Giulietta MasinaMelina Amour
John KitzmillerTrumpet Player Johnny
Dante MaggioRemo
Checco DuranteTheater Owner
Gina MascettiValeria del Sole
Silvio BagoliniBruno Antonini
Giacomo FuriaDuke
Vanja OricoMoema - Brazilian Singer
Renato MalavasiHotelkeeper
Folco LulliAdelmo Conti
Carlo RomanoEnzo La Rosa
Fanny MarchiòSoubrette
Franca ValeriMitzy - Hungarian Designer
Alberto BonucciNight Club ComicTitle information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.
Where to watch
Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.
Seasons & episodes
Recommendations

Vanni, Gregorio and Livia are brothers. The first is a well-known pianist, the second has abandoned his career as an aspiring violinist to become a deejay. When Vanni discovers that his father has disappeared into thin air, together with Gregorio they decide to call his sister Livia. The three relatives travel the length and breadth of Tuscany to find their missing parent.

Amelia and Pippo are reunited after several decades to perform their old music-hall act, imitating Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, on a TV variety show.

Arturo is a lonely, gluttonous, and disillusioned Sicilian real estate agent. His mundane life finally finds its spark through his one true passion: Sicilian pastries. It’s over a tray of cannoli that he meets his soulmate, Flora. She is everything he ever dreamed of—beautiful, witty, and brilliant. To top it off, she’s a pastry chef. However, a divine obstacle stands between them: God. While Flora is a devout, fervent Catholic, Arturo abandoned his faith as a child. Desperate not to lose the woman of his dreams, he decides to "fake it 'til he makes it," pretending to be a man of deep conviction. Guiding Arturo on this chaotic journey toward truth, faith, and Flora’s heart is an unlikely mentor and friend: Pope Francis himself.

Giacinto lives with his wife, their ten children and various other family members in a shack on the hills of Rome. Some time ago he has lost his left eye while at work, and got a consistent sum of money from the insurance company, which he keeps hidden from the rest of the family. His whole life is now based on defending the money he sees as his own, while the rest of the family tries to kill him.

A young Roman woman during the 1950s is on the verge of becoming engaged to a man. She goes to Cinecittà to do an audition as an extra and is thrust into this almost infinite night during which she discovers herself.

A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.

A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.

Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?

A multifaceted exploration of the pointlessness of sexual stereotypes. Liv Ullmann is a countess who, after her divorce, takes over the family farm. Realizing that she can't rely on the patriarchal society structure for assistance, Ullmann runs the farm herself with the help of her female servants and relatives. When the Count (Philipe Noiret) comes back into her life, he and his male buddies find themselves outclassed by the expertise of the ladies.

Three partisans bound by a strong friendship return home after the war, but the clash with everyday reality puts a strain on their bond.

Like all sixteen-year-olds, Leo prefers the company of friends, motorbike rides and music to school. None of the teachers seem to be able to arouse his interest until the arrival in his class of a young history and philosophy substitute who, with his modern methods, helps him see the world with different eyes. In love with Beatrice, the ethereal girl of his dreams, Leo divides the world by colours. Beatrice is the red of love but he is forced to confront his own beliefs and fears when he discovers that the girl is suffering from leukemia, a disease that he links to white, a symbol of emptiness and loss.

A father and son who lived separate for some time meet one day to try to reconcile and understand their diametrical differences.

Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.

A musical comedy, a journey filled with unexpected twists and unexpected encounters, leading a group of musicians to set out to the rhythm of their musical verses to participate in the Scanzano Jonico Song-Theatre Festival, walking across Basilicata, from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian Sea, along the route that gives the project its name. The journey will have a therapeutic effect.

This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile

A dark comedy centering on the lives of a Neapolitan based family whose father, a fish merchant, is so infatuated with the reality TV show "Grande Fratello" (the Italian version of "Big Brother") he starts living his life as if he were on it.

An obscure Italian magistrate suspects that a well-known industrialist commited murder, and decides to investigate him, and bring him to court, whatever it takes. But - will the magistrate have it in him to go against impossible odds, in the name of the Italian people he represents?

A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

Summer 1998 - the opening stages of Le Tour de France are relocated to Ireland. Belgian rider Dom Chabol (late 30s) has been one of the best “Domestiques” (support riders) on the Tour for the last 20 years. It’s a sacrificial role – setting pace, blocking wind, and providing support to enable the team’s sprinter to victory - winning is not an option. But Dom secretly harbours a desire to wear the yellow jersey - just once before his career is over. At the start of what will likely be his last Tour, Dom is unceremoniously dropped from the Team he has dedicated his life to. His best mate Sonny, the team masseur, fails to reassure him about his future. But a chance liaison with Lynn, a young Irish doctor, softens the blow, and Dom starts to accept - and even enjoy - the idea of civilian life. But as he gears up to go home and to face his estranged sister, a massive doping error knocks another teammate off the Tour and Dom is thrown back in the saddle…

Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!
Similar titles

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.

In a totalitarian future society, a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected.

A banana grieves with the death of its friend.

Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.
German silent film

Harry Peltzer, who is passionate about his job as a firefighter, and his superior, fire chief Paul Körner, are the best of friends. This changes the day they both meet Nelly, a young, blonde cashier at a vending machine buffet, on whom both men immediately set their eyes. As Harry has a much better chance with Nelly, Paul's friendship with him soon turns into bitter antagonism, if not outright enmity.

Throughout a night out in downtown Tijuana, Laura waits for her destiny to arrive.
German drama
Drama about a monk of the Bavarian church.

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.
In the village of Stubbhult lives many motorcycle interested young people. However, their rampage interfere with the local population.