Synopsis

Umberto Ferrari, aged government-pensioner, attends a street demonstration held by his fellow pensioners. The police dispense the crowd and Umberto returns to his cheap furnished room which he shares with his dog Flick. Umberto's lone friend is Maria, servant of the boarding house. She is a simple girl who is pregnant by one of two soldiers and neither will admit to being the father. When Umberto's landlady Antonia demands the rent owed her and threatens eviction if she is not paid, Umberto tries desperately to raise the money by selling his books and watch. He is too proud to beg in the streets and can not get a loan from any of his acquaintances. He contracts a sore throat, is admitted to a hospital and this puts a delay on his financial difficulty. Discharged, he finds that his dog is gone and, following a frantic search, locates him in the city dog pound. His room has been taken over by the landlady and the now-homeless Unberto determines to find a place for his beloved dog, and then kill himself. Unsuccessful, he resolves that his dog must die with him and he stands in the path of a train, with his dog in his arms.

Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Umberto D. (1952) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Carlo Battisti, Napoleone the Dog, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Elena Rea, Memmo Carotenuto DIRECTOR: Vittorio De Sica CINEMATOGRAPHY: G.R. Aldo MUSIC: Alessandro Cicognini PRODUCTION: Amato Film, Rizzoli Film, Produzioni De Sica

Box Office Performance

Umberto D. earned $74,308 domestically and $-2,847 internationally, for a worldwide total of $71,461. The film skewed heavily domestic (104%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 3 nominations total

Nominations: ○ Academy Award for Best Story (29th Academy Awards)

CRITICAL RECEPTION

De Sica said that the film was quite unpopular in Italy because it was in a period after World War II when the country was just getting back on its feet. Subsequently, they saw Umberto D. as too critical of the pride they were trying to engender in themselves. However, it was quite popular overseas and the film remained the one he was most proud of (even dedicating the film to his father).

In an interview where he discussed Diary of a Country Priest, Psycho and Citizen Kane, Ingmar Bergman is quoted as saying, "Umberto D. is ... a movie I have seen a hundred times, that I may love most of all."

Martin Scorsese included it on a list of "39 Essential Foreign Films for a Young Filmmaker."

Roger Ebert included the film in his selection of Great Movies, writing that "Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D (1952) is the story of the old man's struggle to keep from falling from poverty into shame. It may be the best of the Italian neorealist films--the one that is most simply itself, and does not reach for its effects or strain to make its message clear."

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 98% score based on 41 critic reviews, with an average rating of 9.0/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Anchored by Carlo Battisti's moving performance as Umberto D, Vittorio de Sica's deeply empathetic character study is a bracing glimpse into the lives of the downtrodden."