Suso Cecchi d'Amico 1914-2010

The Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico, who worked on scripts including Bicycle Thieves, Roman Holiday and Jesus of Nazareth, died last week at the age of 96.

There is an obituary in The Guardian by John Francis Lane.

In 1948 she was one of several scriptwriters who shared credits with De Sica and Cesare Zavattini on Bicycle Thieves, based on Luigi Bartolini's novel, which followed an impoverished man who searches for his stolen bicycle with his young son. Suso recalled: "Zavattini would have probably ended the film like the book, with the father and son returning home defeated. I suggested the idea of the father in desperation trying to steal a bike himself ... After being humiliated in front of the kid, a new bond is born between them."