Biography
Italian film composer Alessandro Cicognini scored numerous neorealist films of the late '40s and the '50s, but he is especially known for providing music for some of Vittorio DeSica's most famous films. Before Cicognini and DeSica first worked together in 1946 on
Shoeshine, the composer had scored films for
Alessandro Blasetti and
Mario Camerini in the late 1930s and early '40s. Cicognetti's second film with DeSica was the director's neorealist classic Il Ladri Biciclette/
The Bicycle Thief (1947). Other DeSica films featuring Cicognini's music include Milagro en Milan/Miracle in Milan,
Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954), and Gold of Naples (1957). Through his retirement from Italian films in 1965, Cicognini worked with other directors too, including
Mario Monicelli and
Luigi Comencini. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide