One day in 1945 Rod Geiger, an American G.I., came back from Italy with an odd trophy in his barracks bag : a print of Roberto Rossellini's Open City, one of the first movies made in liberated Italy. Geiger had bought the exclusive U.S. rights for $13,000. In seven years the film, which startled U.S. audiences with its documentary realism, grossed more than $3,000,000.
Open City's success not only made money. It stirred Italy's moviemakers into a frenzy of activity which has put Italy second only to Hollywood as the major supplier of films...
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