The Golden Age of Pizza Cinema: Italian-American Summer Slices

Iconic Pizzerias from 80s movies, and why Italian Cinema needs it's own Pizzaissance

As we march steadily past 90-degree days and closer to the season of allspice, I’ve taken to clinging to quintessential summer pastimes. Packing sandwiches and heading to the beach, walking to get ice cream cones after dinner, and cooking with the seasonal blueberries and tomatoes from local farms. 

For as long as I can remember, making and eating pizza, too, has been a summertime act. In childhood, my siblings, friends, and I would all take turns getting our questionably-washed hands into a bag of mozzarella shreds and sprinkling handfuls atop a round of dough. As a young, broke hooligan living in New York City, I’d often order a large pizza and eat a slice for each meal in those last few summer days before a paycheck arrived. (If I ran out, $1 pizza slices were one of the only viable fallbacks.) And now, in a post-COVID world, I have two pizza dough recipes down to a science: One, my attempt at a Neapolitan style slice (in a style similar to how Keste teaches its cooks). The other, a much more nostalgic, American take on the pizza pie. 

In the colder months, I’ll still experiment with other recipes too, to varying degrees of success. But in the summer, having a quality slice of pizza is too important. Too key to the experience of a nice summer day. Indeed, in the summer, I must rely on my trusty techniques that consistently bring a solid pizza into my life. 

There is certainly no shortage of pizza in film history. Particularly, there was a period stretching from the late 1970s through the 1990s in which pizza was running amuck. The interest in the dish amongst filmmakers of this era was palpable. 

But did the great filmmakers of the 70s, 80s, and 90s actually like pizza? That’s an entirely different question. To answer it, let’s look at a few examples of this cinematic pizza phenomenon 

---

---

Pizza in American Cinema of the 70s, 80s, and 90s

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

In this Sidney Lumet classic, Al Pacino and John Cazale play two amateur bank robbers who accidentally end up taking a group of bank employees hostage during the dog days of summer in Brooklyn. The film is ahead of its time in many ways: both a great character study, a analysis of misinformation and lack of mass critical thinking during public events (imagine Twitter/X being around for this robbery), but what I want to focus on is the pizza.

During hostage negotiations with the police, the bank robbers ask for pizzas. When the pizzas arrive, the delivery guy garners the attention of onlookers, and the fame instantly goes to his head. 

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

This film opens with John Travolta walking the streets of Bensonhurst,Brooklyn, picking up two slices of pizza, stacking them on top of one another, and eating a double-decker slice on the streets. Legendary. (Until last year, hungry patrons could walk into Lenny’s Pizza and grab a slice just as Travolta did. Alas, the restaurant closed its doors in 2023.)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Oh, to be a teenager in the 1980s working a minimum wage job. At this point, I’m convinced minimum wage in 1982 supported these kids through college, but I digress. Justified or not, the high schoolers in this film have a love/hate relationship with their summer jobs slinging pizza and fast food. And when they’re not serving up slices to paying customers, they’re ordering pizza delivery straight to the classroom. Directed by Amy Heckerling, the film’s pacing screams 80s, but was the perfect tool to sharpen her teenage sensibilities in anticipation of Clueless.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

In this same year, Steven Spielberg released his hit classic E.T. Telling the story of a little boy named Elliot befriending an extra-terrestrial, the film has… an odd take on pizza. In one scene, Elliot is enlisted by his older brother and friends to collect pizza from the delivery man. On his way back up the driveway, pizza box in tow, Elliot hears a strange noise coming from his shed, and ends up stepping on the pizza box. 

If you can spare a few minutes for a good laugh, I highly recommend watching this clip and then reading this Reddit post from a few years back, outlining the laughable absurdity of the way the characters treat pizza in the film. (We still love you, Spielberg!) 

Mystic Pizza (1988)

Set in Mystic, Connecticut at a pizzeria you can still visit today, Mystic Pizza has less to do with pizza than the friendship of three young waitresses working their summer jobs. Even so, one high-stakes scene shows a critic trying their Mystic special pizza, and it’s a nail-biter. 

Do the Right Thing (1989)

The weight of putting this film on this list isn’t lost on me. The best film involving pizza to date, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing follows the tensions between Italian pizzeria owners and the predominantly black community they serve in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. When one character, Buggin’ Out, complains that there are no photos black people on the pizzeria’s “Wall of Fame”, the pizzeria owner Sal declares the wall is only for pictures of Italian-Americans. Tensions rise, ultimately culminating in a tragedy. Underscored by some of the most saturated, stunning shots captured on film, Do the Right Thing starts with seemingly minute disagreements over the price of a humble pizza slice. 

Home Alone (1990) + Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Obviously there’s famous pizza scenes in both of these films, but I believe the pizza in Home Alone 2 is one of the most glorious, visceral food shots ever to be captured on film. Unlike Spielberg, director Chris Columbus seems to have intimate knowledge with a child’s adoration for pizza. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

By the 90s, pizza in movies is camp. Films like 1988’s Killer Klowns from Outer Space and other campy horror flicks were featuring pizza deliveries across suburbia. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, in order to set the scene — 1990s New York City — the film opens with over-the-top shots of nearly every adult on the streets of Manhattan eating a classic cheese slice. 

Wayne’s World (1992)

Before kale became a popular superfood, Pizza Hut was one of the biggest purchasers of kale in the U.S.A., garnishing their famous buffets with the leafy green. In my mind, I like to believe Pizza Hut was also one of the biggest proponents of product placement and movie-food partnerships. From plastic toys promoting the latest Disney film to product placements in films, no pizzeria does public relations and marketing like Pizza Hut did in the 90s.

The Net (1995) 

By 1995, the golden age of pizza was tapering off. Here, we see “hacker” Sandra Bullock ordering a pizza via a website on the internet. Across internet forums, you can find anecdotal accounts of folks in 1995 cinemas chuckling at the idea of ordering a pizza online. Beyond the signs of the times, this film bridged the gap between 80s-pizza-cinema and the new millennium. (p.s. More M&M and pizza moments can be explored via The Princess Diaries, here.)

Evidently, this newsletter is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every pizza moment in cinematic history. Rather, it’s a look into pizza’s popularity, and whether the movies just may have helped the dish become the staple it is today. 

---

Naples, Italy? Fuhgeddaboudit

What about pizza in Italian cinema? Surely pizzas were appearing on Italian silver screens much sooner than in America, correct? Here’s what I know: 

Many pizza-lovers may know there is evidence to suggest the dish was a popular food amongst lower-class individuals in the Naples area for thousands of years, long before the unification of Italy. In the 1880s, it seems pizza was still a local Neopolitian dish. Though this story is in question, popular belief says Queen Margherita of Savoy helped popularize the dish in the late 1880s, and pizza became trendy in Italy. Whether true or false, this rumor took hold in the 30s and 40s, and contributed to pizza’s widespread popularity across Italy and, as southern Italians began immigrating, across the globe.

For more trivia regarding pizza’s journey to the U.S., and its contribution to drive-in movie theater culture specifically, check out Film Flavor’s deep dish, here…

The Pizza-Filled History of Drive-in Movie Theaters

So, why the history lesson? Truth to be told, while I sadly haven’t had a period of months to research this, I had a hard time finding examples of pizza in earlier Italian cinema. Here are a few: 

---

The Gold of Naples (L'oro di Napoli) (1954)

One of the first and most notable examples is Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold of Naples, in which Sophia Loren plays a pizza slice slinger who attracts customers by offering the option to purchase on credit. Antics ensue after she loses a ring (potentially in pizza dough), and someone dies after eating said pizza. Considered to be Sophia Loren’s “breakthrough” role, the film, the film depicts pizza as a street food, not dissimilar to the hot dogs and pretzel stands of today’s New York. 

A Drama of Jealousy (and Other Things) (1970)

(also known as Dramma della gelosia (tutti i particolari in cronaca, A Pizza Triangle, or Jealousy, Italian Style — I wish they could pick a title!) 

Directed by Ettore Scola, A Drama of Jealousy (and Other Things) is unhinged in every way. Every shot of this film could be a painting. Plotting a love triangle between a florist, a married construction worker, and a pizza cook, the film is just delightful. The inciting incident involves the cook sending the florist a heart-shaped pizza. Talk about whimsy! 

Starring three Italian greats, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini, and my personal favorite, Marcello Mastroianni, this film is a must see for a late-summer pizza-eating evening. 

(Note to Self: I need to write an entire piece about food and jealousy, because boy oh boy, do they go hand in hand, particularly in European cinema.) 

Honorable Mention: The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette or The Bicycle Thieves) (1948)

To state the obvious: Anyone interested in Italian cinema has seen 1948’s The Bicycle Thief. Another Vittorio De Sica classic, the film portrays a father and son asking for pizza at a restaurant, only to be told the establishment does not serve pizza. In both The Bicycle Thief and The Gold of Naples, pizza is portrayed as the food of the lower class. Ironically, by including pizza in these films, it likely helped the dish skyrocket into the cultural zeitgeist. 

---

In Case You Missed It…

The Princess Diaries is the Ultimate Girl Dinner Film

The Pizza-Filled History of Drive-in Movie Theaters

Cinema's Silly Little Archetypes

p.s. I’m gathering a list of Italian-American films over on the Film Flavor letterboxd. Check it out here.

---

Want more movie food? The #1 way you can support Film Flavor is by subscribing and sharing this post with friends via the buttons below!

Leave a Comment and let me know: What’s your favorite pizza moment in a film?

With gratitude,

—

Via Marsh