Ferzetti made his screen debut in "Via delle Cinque Lune" (1942) under the directorship of Luigi Chiarini, featuring actors such as Luisella Beghi, Olga Solbelli, Andrea Checchi, and Gildo Bocci. Uncredited for his next role in "Bengasi", he was credited for Flavio Calzavara's "La contessa Castiglione" (also from 1942). He then took a break from film acting, instead making a succession of theatrical appearances until a small role in "Lost Happiness" ("Felicità perduta", 1946) and Riccardo Freda's "Les Misérables" (uncredited, 1948). After a small role as a pilot in "Flying Squadron" ("Rondini in volo", 1949) and a role in "Sicilian Uprising" ("Vespro siciliano", also from 1949), a historic film set in 1282 during the War of the Sicilian Vespers, he appeared alongside Elli Parvo, Piero Lulli, Charles Vanel, and Marcello Mastroianni in Luigi Capuano's "Vertigine d'amore" and "Fabiola" (both from 1949) as Claudio. The antiquity drama, set in Rome, was warmly received.