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TWO FAMILY HOUSE  
United States
1999 / 35 mm / Color / 104 min.

Unlike most of his family and friends, not to mention his neighbours in the 1950s Italian neighbourhood of Staten Island where he lives, Buddy Visalo is a dreamer. A crooner with untested talent, Buddy sang for his fellow soldiers when he was in the service during World War II. At one performance he was noticed by Arthur Godfrey and invited to audition back home in the States. Once he returned to Staten Island, however, Buddy was dissuaded from pursuing a showbiz career by Estelle, his pragmatic bride-to-be and her tradition-bound parents. But even though he settled down to a steady job, Buddy always harboured a dream of something better, and despite falling flat on his face in a series of business ventures, he hasn't lost his taste for a challenge. He buys a dilapidated two-storey house hoping to rent out the upstairs and set up a restaurant-bar downstairs where can sing for the customers. Unfortunately, he's already got a tenant, Jim, a belligerent old alcoholic, and Mary, his young pregnant bride fresh off the boat from Ireland. Buddy rounds up a few of his buddies to evict the couple, but just before the situation escalates, Mary goes into labour and a baby is born. Now, along with a nagging wife, Buddy is faced with confronting a neighbourhood rampant with intolerance.
Script:  Raymond DeFelitta.    Phot.:  Michael Mayers.    Ed.:  David Leonard.    Mus.:  Stephen Endelman.    Cast:  Michael Rispoli, Kelly Macdonald, Katherine Narducci, Kevin Conway, Matt Servitto, Michele Santopietro.    Prod.:  Anne Harrison, Alan Klingenstein, Filbert Steps.    Canadian Distributor:  Lions Gate Films.   
Raymond DeFelitta
Raymond DeFelitta has written screenplays for HBO, Universal, Largo, Lakeshore, RKO and other production companies, and he won a Nicholl Fellowship for his screenplay Begin the Beguine. He received an Academy Award nomination for his short film Bronx Cheers (1990). His feature debut, CAF� SOCIETY, was in the Director's Fortnight at the 1995 Cannes Festival and received a special commendation at the Deauville Film Festival.