After meeting director Goffredo Alessandrini she received her first screen role in "The Blind Woman of Sorrento" ("La cieca di Sorrento", 1934) and later achieved international attention in Rossellini's "Rome, Open City" (1945), which is seen as launching the Italian neorealism movement in cinema. As an actress she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of "earthy lower-class women" in such films as "L'Amore" (1948), "Bellissima" (1951), "The Rose Tattoo" (1955), "The Fugitive Kind" (1960) and "Mamma Roma" (1962). As early as 1950 "Life" magazine had already stated that Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo".