Product Review

The classic Nicolas Gogal fable THE OVERCOAT is given a European flavor by Italian filmmaker Alberto Lattuada; some consider the film to be Lattuada's best psychological study. Comedian Renato Rascel plays a nebbishy nobody who spends his life-savings on a fancy overcoat. Suddenly, the nobody becomes a somebody, proving beyond doubt that clothes make the man. And then one day, the overcoat is stolen...Fleshing out the short-but-bittersweet Gogol original are several colorful new characters, including a publicity-hungry small-town mayor, played by Giulio Stival. The background music was composed by director Lattuada's wife Felice. American prints of IL CAPPATO are missing a so-called naughty telephone exchange between the mayor and his silken mistress.