The Italian Cultural Heritage Foundation of Santa Barbara announces two new appointments with Cinema Italiano Classico, the series of Italian films open to all the Italian film lovers! For 2013, the organization has chosen a mix of genres that goes from comedy to drama, and includes a homage to Spaghetti Western.

Last March 8, the Fe Bland Theatre hosted Three Men and a Leg (1997), one of the most loved comedies of the Nineties, featuring the trio Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo. The movie focuses on three clerks who work in one of the many hardware stores owned by the father in law of two of them. The journey from Milan to the southern town of Gallipoli is supposed to deliver Giacomo, who is going to marry the third of the boss's daughters. With them in the journey are also the boss's beloved dog and a new investment, a precious modern sculpture in the shape of a leg. Soon the trip takes some unplanned turns, delivering lots of laughs. The film is still considered one of the funniest Italian comedies of the last years.

The next appointment is a step into the past: Il Mafioso (1962) by Alberto Lattuada will screen on Friday, March 15. Considered one of the first Italian films to look frankly at the Mafia, it will tell the story of a good-natured factory supervisor (interpreted by great Alberto Sordi) who lives in Milan with his Northern wife and daughter; when he returns to his native Sicily, a decade's old oath forces him to fulfill a nightmarish obligation. The movie was almost forgotten for a long time, and only recently its artistic and cultural value was rediscovered. Il Mafioso will be presented in Italian with English subtitles.

Lastly, a milestone of Spaghetti Western; the choice for Friday, March 22, is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) by Sergio Leone. The film stars a young Clint Eastwood and features one of the most famous soundtracks composed by Ennio Morricone. Third and last episode of the "Trilogia del Dollaro", it follows a bounty hunting scam who joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery. The film will be presented in English.

The movies will be introduced by Anna Brusutti, Cinema Italiano Artistic Director and UCSB's Film & Media faculty.

All the screenings will take place at the Fe Bland Theater - SBCC West Campus, 721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara (CA), and will begin at 7:30pm. Admission is free. For more information visit http://italianheritagesb.org or call (805) 969-1018.