Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa? (Italian: Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa?) is a 1968 Italian adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Ettore Scola. Production of the film started in 1965, with the working title Mister Sabatini, suppongo (Mister Sabatini, I Suppose). It started a trend in Italian cinema of using extremely long names for films.
The film was the sixth highest-grossing release at the Italian box office in the 1968–69 season. The plot is loosely based on books by Salgari, Verne and Conrad that Scola read as a child and on Italian Disney comics artist Romano Scarpa's comic Topolino e il Pippotarzan (1957).
Contents
Plot
The Roman businessman Fausto Di Salvio can no longer stand his work and his sloppy and emotionless way of life. The chance to escape from this "prison" occurs when the news of the death of his brother-in-law, Oreste Sabbatini, known as "Titino", arrives from Africa. Fausto, with his employee Ubaldo, his firm's accountant, leaves immediately to Angola in search of Titino, a journey that will take many months of travel and will involve them in many adventures. They follow in Titino's tracks, but it seems that he cannot be found. From what they learn by speaking to people who have met him, Titino appears to be a man of many resources who has left behind him many people crazy of him, but even someone who was cheated by him and who would be glad to lay hands on him.
As they lose hope that they will ever find Titino, Fausto and Ubaldo are captured by a tribe of natives who turn out to be governed by the shaman Oreste, the brother-in-law of Fausto. They propose to Titino to come back with them to Italy. After some hesitation, Titino decides to accompany them to Italy. However, once aboard the ship departing the place where he had long lived among the natives, he finds himself unable to endure separation from the tribe that had welcomed and cared for him. He therefore leaps from the vessel bound for Europe and swims back to the people he loves.
Cast
Alberto Sordi as Fausto Di Salvio
Nino Manfredi as Oreste Sabatini (Titino)
Bernard Blier as Ubaldo Palmarini
Giuliana Lojodice as Marisa
Franca Bettoia as Rita
Manuel Zarzo as Pedro Tomeo
Erika Blanc as Genevieve