New York is rolling out the welcome mat for Italy’s greatest comedian, Antonio De Curtis — their version of Charlie Chaplin — with the US debut of “Totò and His Naples.”
De Curtis, also known as Totò, is being celebrated in an exhibition showcasing the Neapolitan comic legend’s nearly 100-film career at the Italian American Museum in Little Italy now through Aug. 29.
“He’s considered in Italy one of the most amazing actors of the 20th century,” Claudio Pagliara, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, told The Post.
“He was portraying this face of Naples that was full of problems, but with an energy and an optimism about the future that made him so popular, not only [in] Naples, actually, but in Italy and among American and Italian-Americans that now live in New York,” he explained.
The show — presented with the cooperation of the Italian Cultural Institute and Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs — doubles as a love letter to Little Italy itself, which took in millions of immigrants from the south of Italy to New York to build a better life over two centuries.
Born in Naples’ gritty Quartieri Sanità neighborhood, Totò — nicknamed il principe della risata, the prince of laughter — dominated Italian comedy from 1922 until his death in 1967.
Pagliara explained that Totò was known amongst the people as a comic, but was simply an afterthought to the critics until filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini cast him in a 1960s art film that moved him into a high-profile star.
“The first part of his life was loved only by the people,” Pagliara said.
“In the second part, critics recognized that he was a very great, exceptional actor,” he said.
The exhibit features colorful costumes from his films, rare personal documents, photography and film clips spanning his storied career, and of course, Totò’s signature bowler hats.
Similar to Chaplin’s trademark cap, Totò’s hat is described as a legendary artifact that needs no introduction to anyone who knows him.
“Immediately you look at that object and you think of Totò,” Pagliara said. “He was always wearing a hat.”
The show, which also marked Naples’ 2,500th birthday, is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and runs Thursday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. at 151 Mulberry St.
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