Desire (1946 film)

Desire (Italian: Desiderio) is a 1946 Italian drama film directed by Marcello Pagliero and Roberto Rossellini and starring Massimo Girotti, Elli Parvo and Carlo Ninchi.[1] Interiors were shot at the Farnesina Studios in Rome while location shooting took place around Tagliacozzo in L'Aquila. The film's sets were designed by the art director Virgilio Marchi.[2]

Desire
Directed by	Marcello Pagliero Roberto Rossellini
Written by	Rosario Leone Giuseppe De Santis Roberto Rossellini Diego Calcagno Marcello Pagliero Guglielmo Santangelo Anna Benevuti
Starring	Massimo Girotti Elli Parvo Carlo Ninchi
Cinematography	Rodolfo Lombardi Ugo Lombardi
Edited by	Marcello Pagliero
Music by	Renzo Rossellini
Production companies	Imperator Film SAFIR Sovrania Film
Distributed by	Fincine
Release date	9 September 1946
Running time	91 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

The film originally went into production in 1943 with Rossellini as director under the title Scarlo Merci (Freight Yard). Rossellini planned to shoot at the railway yards in San Lorenzo in Rome, but these were hit by a heavy Allied bombing raid the night before filming was due to start.[3] He switched shooting to the comparative safety of the Abruzzo hills, but after the Fall of the Fascist regime financing dried up and Rossellini halted the shoot in September 1943. After the Liberation of Rome, Marcello Pagliero relaunched the production and took over direction of the film. Now retitled Rinuncia (Renunciation) it had had censorship issues and with several scenes cut it was finally released as Desire.[4]