Ennio De Concini

Italian screenwriter Ennio De Concini is credited with over 150 titles in almost all genres. When he was part of the anti-fascist resistance of World War II, he met legendary director and screenwriter Mario Monicelli. Following the war, he was broke and unable to find anyone to stage his plays. Monicelli took him under his wing and helped him get a job as an assistant on director Vittorio De Sica's first major picture, the neo-realist drama "Sciuscia." From there, he was able to forge relationships with more major directors, such as Dino De Laurentiis, Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergio Leone, and Mario Bava. His 1961 film, "Divorce - Italian Style," won him and his co-writers, Alfredo Giannetti and Pietro Germi (who also directed) the Oscar for best original screenplay. The film, which starred Marcello Mastroianni, told the story of a wealthy Sicilian plotting a way to murder his wife so he can marry a teenage girl. De Concini also tried his hand at directing, earning credits on several films like the 1973 drama, "Daniele e Maria," starring Peter Firth as a youth with learning difficulties, and "Hitler: The Last Ten Days," which starred Alec Guinness. De Concini admitted, however, that writing remained his first passion, and he didn't have much interest in a script after it was written.