Searching for copy of 1968 Italian film, Colpo di Sole (1968). How should I look?

I'd say your best bet would be to get on the phone with these guys at Rete 4. Stress the fact that you are ready and willing to pay for it. They may or may not be willing to sell you a copy, but you can ask them about archives and such, which they'd most likely be happy to help you with. 

Good luck! 

I would start with www.imdb.com to find out the publishing company and perhaps even a link to online purchase.

if not, google in "Coplo di Sole"+"buy".

The publishing company's site, should usually have links to online stores that sells their movies 

The publishing company went out of business in the early 70's.  It is not available for purchase on the Internet; believe me when I say I have looked and looked hard.    Thanks for the response.

You should search on www.dvd.it. This is the biggest Italian on-line store. If they don't have it listed, then the film has not yet been published. 

The distribution company that holds all rights for this movie is  Movietime Srl, Italian Film Distribution.

Movietime SRL.

Via Nicola Ricciotti, 11
00195 Rome (Italy)
Tel. +39 06.3226709
Telefax +39 06.36000950

I suggest you write or call Stefano Libassi, he's the president of the company.  Explain the situation to him, and ask  for a screener copy. Don't expect a stellar quality though.  Also, be aware that they might supply you with PAL version of the film, which is not easy playable in US. But you could find a shop that will make a system conversion for you.

Here are some emails of key people there:

stefano.libassi@movie-time.it
maddalena.bianchi@movie-time.it
lorena.libassi@movie-time.it
fiorella.gubbiotti@movie-time.it
barbara.varani@movie-time.it 

Aspalex, thank you very much for your help.  I really do appreciate it.

 Your post reminded me that I, too, had come across the movie-time.it website about nine months ago.

I used the website's form to inquire about the movie, and they wrote back to me:

Dear David,

first of all thank you for your interest in our Library.

We are sorry to inform you that we are a company of distribution. We license
rights of exploitation and cannot give you material to the film. We can just
suggest you to contact the Italian cinematheque, maybe they can help you.

Thanking you for your kind attention,

best regards.

I take it from that email that they do not actually warehouse the movies; they're only a publishing clearance firm.  However, my non-existant Italian, and their far superior but limited English leaves that up to question. 

 I wrote back asking for information on the "Italian cinematheque," and how I could contact them, but they did not respond.

 I will, of course, write (and have someone translate), an email to the people above in hopes of getting a helpful response.  Does anyone know what the Italian cinematheque would refer to?  How to contact them?

Thank you!

I'd suggest you call Stefano at Movitime and talk to him. Just ask for a screener. He used to be a nice guy, when I first met him 15 years ago. 

David,

You are right. Movietime is not the wharehouse, but (!) they have an exclusive access to all material related to this film: production photographs, sound and film elements, video masters etc. It is a simple matter for them to order a screener dub from a video master. Of course it is going to cost much more than a regular DVD or videotape, somehing in the area of US$50-100.

They attend all major film and TV markets, and they speak good English, so you can write to them in English without worries about your Italian.