Founded 1904 | ||
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Films produced The Leopard, Rocco and His Brothers, One Kiss, Scandal in Sorrento, Poor But Beautiful | ||
Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome.
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Lombardo ran the studios until his death in 1951. His son, Goffredo Lombardo (1920–2005) and later his grandson, Guido Lombardo have continued to run the company.
The company has been responsible for hundreds of Italian productions, including some of the most popular or important films in Italian cinema. Titanus made many peplum films and comedies featuring Totò and Franco and Ciccio. The film The Shortest Day was not only a parody of The Longest Day but featured a galaxy of stars who made the film to help the studio. The studio made numerous international co-productions with American (The Story of Ruth, The Angel Wore Red) and French (Plein Soleil) film studios.
The flop of the Robert Aldrich film Sodom and Gomorrah (1963), and the large budget of Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) were, reportedly, two of the main reasons for film production ceasing by 1964.
After a hiatus of approximately ten years, Titanus reorganized and resumed film production on a smaller scale. Despite a few false starts, the company seemed to be back on its feet by the late 1980s, though, now, most of its work is being done for television.