In 1970 he enjoyed a large musical success with the Ettore Petrolini's song "Tanto pe' cantà"; the song premiered, out of competition, at the Sanremo Music Festival and it peaked at third place on the Italian hit parade. In 1971, he made his feature film debut as Director with the semi-autobiographical Between Miracles, with which he got almost unanimous critical acclaim, winning the Best Film Work Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Italian Golden Globe for Best First Feature, two Silver Ribbons (for best screenplay and best original story) and a special David di Donatello. In 1972 he got a major television success playing Geppetto in the Luigi Comencini's adaptation The Adventures of Pinocchio. In the 1970s and early 1980s he continued alternating high-profile works and less ambitious comedies; among the most successful performances of the time, the emarginated immigrant of Bread and Chocolate (1973), the idealist worker of We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974), the old shanty town patriarch of Down and Dirty (1976), the Vatican's magistrate of In the Name of the Pope King (1977), the abusive coffee-seller in Café Express (1980).