Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Argentario has been considered an ideal location for cinema and television. From action films to classic Italian comedy, the promontory, for its natural beauties and scenic panoramas, has often been used in many Italian and international productions. Both Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole have always been frequented by most of the characters in the world film scene ranging from Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones to Brooke Shields. [87] A meticulous research by the Istituto Luce revealed that even Charlie Chaplin was an old visitor to the place.
Monte Argentario therefore appears in a considerable quantity of sequences, quoted or not, according to production needs. Among the most relevant films we can mention, for example, La mina of 1958 by Giuseppe Bennati, shot partly in the Ponti-De Laurentiis film studios and set in Porto Ercole, Spasmo, the 1974 thriller film by Umberto Lenzi, shot in Rome and the Argentario, I make the 1980 boat of Sergio Corbucci, a classic Italian comedy of the eighties, set in a relevant way between Porto Santo Stefano, Porto Ercole and the Marina of Cala Galera, The summer of my first kiss of 2006 Carlo Virzì, set and shot entirely at the Argentario and in the province of Grosseto, The Maddalena cantata of 2011 by Mauro Campiotti, a biographical film on the life of Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation, born in 1770 in Porto Santo Stefano.
Monte Argentario has been used in many productions to represent other places in Italy and in the world. The beaches and cliffs of the area were used in 1954 for the Ulysses by Mario Camerini with Silvana Mangano and Kirk Douglas and in 1960 and 1961 by the director Mario Costa for his adventure films La Venere dei pirati and Gordon , the black pirate. To these and other films of this period, it is worth credit for having preserved the images of the coast before the anthropization for tourism that took place in the sixties. Porto Ercole appears prominently in the film Camille 2000 of 1969 by Radley Metzger, with Nino Castelnuovo and Eleonora Rossi Drago, transposition of the Lady of Camellias in the age of sexual liberation. Some scenes of Nanni Loy’s Prisoner waiting for trial in 1971 are set in Porto Santo Stefano, with Alberto Sordi, who identify the location as the starting point from which the protagonist is transferred to the imaginary Sagunto prison, with a final view of the Fortress Spanish.
Always Alberto Sordi uses the scenarios of the place in the eighties to shoot some scenes and the final part of the traveling film Traveling with dad in 1982, with Carlo Verdone, and Tutti in of 1984, where the blue coast is represented by the coast of Sbarcatello, in front of the islet of Porto Ercole. The seventies see the promontory location of many film sets, such as An ideal place to kill in 1971 by Umberto Lenzi, Farfallon of 1974 by Riccardo Pazzaglia, with Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, and Il padrone and the worker of 1975 by Steno. In the dramatic film The last spring snow of 1973 by Raimondo Del Balzo, the place where the protagonists spend their holidays at the sea is Porto Ercole and, in the sea and in the hinterland of the Argentario, several scenes of Il Mr. Ripley’s 1999 talent by Anthony Minghella.
Even in the two thousand years Monte Argentario has been chosen as the location for several national productions. In 2007 Neri Parenti shoots some scenes of Christmas on a cruise, in 2009 Porto Ercole appears in a matter of heart, Francesca Archibugi’s film with Antonio Albanese and Kim Rossi Stuart, in 2012 Daniele Segre sets between Rome and Porto Santo Stefano Luciana Communist Castellina, film portrait of the journalist’s private life. In 2014 they shot in Porto Ercole, some scenes of the Italian comedy Sapore di te by Carlo Vanzina and part of the film Fratelli unico by Alessio Maria Federici, with Raul Bova, which takes place at the Argentario with the participation of many local extras.
In addition to the numerous film films, the promontory has been used in several television productions. To quote the Odyssey of 1968 by Franco Rossi, Piero Schivazappa, Mario Bava, where Monte Argentario appears in various scenes, including that of the meeting of Ulysses with the sirens, and the documentary film by David Bellini. heaven and earth of 2010, set in the Convent of the Passionists. Among the most relevant commercials on the other hand, we can mention those of TIM in 2000 and 2004 and the spot of Coca-Cola.
