The Shortest Day (Il giorno più corto)

A send-up of the 1962 war film The Longest Day, Sergio Corbucci's 1963 comedy The Shortest Day was made in Italy, where it is called Il giorno più corto. Titanus produced this parody and buddy comedy, which lasts roughly 91 minutes. The screenplay is by Giovanni Grimaldi, Bruno Corbucci and Sandro Continenza.

The leads are Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, the popular comic duo, with Totò, nicknamed the prince of laughter, also prominent. The story is set during the First World War and relies on the pair's comic chemistry. What sets the film apart is its supporting list: dozens of well-known performers from Italian, European and even American cinema appear in brief roles, among them Gino Cervi, Annie Girardot, Ugo Tognazzi, Aldo Fabrizi, Amedeo Nazzari, Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo, Gabriele Ferzetti, Tomas Milian and Renato Salvatori.

They worked for free to save the production company, Titanus, from bankruptcy. Like The Longest Day, famous for its huge ensemble, the film leans on stars' brief appearances, and this small comedy came to be remembered as a show of solidarity within Italian cinema of the time. It was shot in 1962 and released in 1963.