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Big Deal On Madonna Street Director, Mario Monicelli, Dies After Leap From Hospital Window

Mario Monicelli (Big Deal On Madonna Street), Oscar-nominated director of such films as The Organizer and Casanova ’70, died Monday, after jumping to his death out of a fifth-floor window at Rome’s San Giovanni hospital.   Monicelli was 95.

Hospitalized at San Giovanni for a tumor in his prostate, deemed terminal, the director joins actor Leslie Nielsen and actor/director Irvin Kershner as the third cinematic giant to leave us within the past week.

While I’m not as familiar with his work as I would like to admit, Monicelli was a former collaborator with late producer Dino De Laurentiis, who died earlier this month.   This is a truly sad loss for the film world.

The one film of Monicelli’s that I have seen, his Oscar nominated The Organizer, is a truly breathtaking piece of work, that made a turgid film class here at my school an absolute joy.   It’s a fantastic film, and with this director’s untimely death, I can’t wait to dig through his canon.   Hopefully you will do the same.

Source: THR


An all-star cast and jazzy score highlight this charming comedy, a deft satire of classic caper films like Rififi. Big Deal on Madonna Street hilariously details the plight of a sad-sack group of bumbling thieves and their desperate attempts to pull off the perfect heist.

Disc Features

  • Gorgeous new digital transfer
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.