Vittorio De Sica

[Ann Harding]

You are right to think about Chaplin. Mercader tells a story about De Sica and Charlie. He went to Hollywood in the 50s on the lookout for a new production with Selznick. He was invited to a dinner by Merle Oberon. They showed Umberto D. afterwards. After the projection, everybody congratulated De Sica, except Chaplin who stayed sitting motionless. Vittorio went to him: he was crying. He told him: 'A great film, de Sica!' He was then invited to visit his studio.


A nice picture of Chaplin and De Sica in Rome, in the 50s.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you for that post. Chaplin obviously felt the same way I did about Umberto D, it is a marvellous film.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've been reading a (mainly) portrait book on Sophia Loren, it did contain 10 pages or so of her life story. She made 8 films with Vittorio De Sica, so close did she become to him that he was like a surrogate father to her. Sophia Loren had been deserted by her own father, De Sica filled the role well. Marcello Mastroianni who she starred with a number of times becoming a good friend to her. I like the comedies they made with Loren, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and Marriage Italian Style, yet when De Sica made a similar kind of film Women Times Seven with Shirley Maclaine, I felt it fell flat.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched De Sica's Two Women a couple of days ago, I'm not acquainted with De Sica's work well enough to know if he returned to Neo Realism or if this was a one of, perhaps commisioned for Loren to have a real meaty part. I was simply blown away by everything about it, it's a real treasure of a film and shows how much in command of both comedy and tragedy that de Sica was.

[CineMaven]

EARRINGS: LOVE’S TALISMAN

...And then sometimes, movies make Love seem like the most tragic thing a person can experience.

Dagnabit, I’ve been Ophul’d again.

Now believe me, I got into ev’ry movie with the good sense my parents gave me. I want the story to make sense, I want the plot to intrigue me, I want the acting to be top-notch, or at best, believable.

I very much enjoyed ”THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE...” This ironic tale and Ophuls’ dizzying camera work sweeps me up in the tide of emotion and carries me along into this sad love story. I sought no escape.

A little white lie metastasizes into love...a love triangle. I’ve seen love triangles before. We all have. But I can’t remember ever feeling sorry for all three points of the triangle; Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer and Vittorio De Sica perfectly depict the role of Wife, Husband and Lover. And a little white lie will be Madame de’s downfall.

"I answered all your letters, my love. But I never had the courage to mail my replies." - Madame de...

PIERCED OR CLIP-ON, THESE EARRINGS ARE ABSOLUTELY SPOILED:



Max Ophuls, I love you. And for you I agreed to allow myself to be --entombed-- cocooned in the world of the Baroque; the frou frou world of fussbudgetry filled with ornate surroundings and bustles, top hats and horse & carriages. So I had to make sure I settled in quick with that b'cuz I was going to spend some time there. Ophuls shows us a life teeming with the hustle and bustle of activity what with maids and butlers scurrying amidst the high society set. It looked like a cast of millions with the activity of a Grand Central Station at five o'clock, quittin' time. There are fancy dress balls, government settings, railway stations and military field work with lots of folks milling about, engulfing these three tragic people. Even at the niece's house later on in the movie, there were a bunch of people hanging around.


MIRROR, MIRROR...

DANIELLE DARRIEUX: As The Wife, Madame Louise de..., she's kind of like a Gallic Scarlet O'Hara. No no, she doesn't have nearly as much of Scarlett's strength and fortitude, but she fiddle dee dees her way through life. Madame de... is the belle of the ball. All the men swoon over her. All the men want her. She's got closets and drawers of things; oodles and oodles of furs and jewelry and...things. (Zomeone has been taking very good care of Madame). She's vacuous, walks through life like a zombie. Is she even aware she is flirting? Poor gal's not even really in touch with her own feelings. She thinks in the moment. And in this moment...she must pawn some earrings to get some cash. In another moment, she'll fall in love.

CHARLES BOYER: As General Andre de..., The Husband. I must admit, I'm still a little gunshy when it comes to Boyer, what with the way he treated Ingrid Bergman in "GASLIGHT" but I can hear you all loudly say "Get over yourself, M'Ava!" Alright, alright...I'll let that go. (Sheesh!) When the General's told her earrings are missing, his search for them made me increasingly uncomfortable. Ophuls took a good five minutes of screen time to follow him search for these baubles. Five-minutes is a long time. It made me think of Hitchcock having us watch Norman Bates clean up that motel bathroom his mother went berserk in. So the length of time we spent watching him was uncomfortable. And, not only was I fearful that Madame de... would be caught in a lie (oooh, she was a practiced little Method Actress of a liar, as "Marnie's" Mark Rutland might say), but I felt the General was the possessive/obsessive-type. The diligence and detail of his search brought to mind Inspector Javert in "Les Miserables" or Lt. Gerard in "The Fugitive." (Madame, he's going to do to you what he did to Ingrid Bergman, look out girl!!) I would come to see how devoted and in love he was with her.

VITTORIO DE SICA: As diplomat Baron Donati, The Lover. He was so elegant, so dashing, so handsome...so courtly. I must correct myself. I earlier wrote that it took one moment for Madame de...to fall in love. That's not quite right. 'Twas The Baron who fell in love instantly when he saw her at the railway station's Customs section. I think Madame de...was intrigued by his attention at that point. Attention was her "key light." Fate went the Baron's way, when their carriage wheels entangle. They meet yet again at a ball and here is where love begins in earnest.


GOOD GOLLY! WHAT WAS IN THAT WALTZ?

The dance. It really was a dance of love wasn't it. "They share a dance, that leads to a night of dances, which leads to nights of dances." Very lyrically expressed by you, Grimesy. During the dance we can see Madame de... fall in love. Not with some MTV heavily edited montage. Simply, through one waltz...fall in love.


FALLING IN LOVE

We're watching it before our very eyes. And we spend a full five-minutes during that dance scene focused just on them. I wonder how long it took Ophuls to film that scene; a couple of weeks no doubt. The days between them meeting again on the dance floor shortened (from four days to two days, down to one day) and the passage of time was shown in an expeditious way as they stayed in one location. Or maybe time was standing still. Who knows, < sigh > when one is in love.

But this is not all tragic romantic romance. Ophuls manages to stick in a couple of bits of comic business that were just plain cute:

* the Pawnbroker/Jeweler's son sent up and down the spiral staircase with last minute requests from his father
* the opening and closing of the box seats doors at the Opera as the General looks for the earrings
* the General repeatedly opening the door ajar as he tries to usher the Jeweler quickly out of his office
* Even the son asks about her (oooh, that was sooooo cute)

But the main thrust of the story was the romance of it, and the choices that all three people make. These three Represent their Type. Somehow my mind wanders over to "A Place in the Sun" and The Ideal represented.

The Baron is the fly in the ointment. He's the one who stirs up the pot. Many men wanted Madame de...'s attention but it was the Baron who got it. It didn't feel impetuous to me (but perhaps it was) when he spots Madame de... and instantly falls for her. Sometimes love happens like that. He falls like a ton of bricks. At least he'd have more of a fighting chance with her since she would reciprocate his love, unlike with the General. The Baron pursues her, he woos her on the dance floor. Girls, he must be some dancer. And he waits for her. He doesn't rush things or pressure her. It's all very polite. Yes, there is a case to be made that she was another man's wife, and he should have moved on. I'm not making that case. I always think that case has to be made by the person who is married. She's the one who is married...she's the one who must send him away. I think she does give him one eensy teensy bit of warning when she says:

"I'd hate to see you caught up in my game."

I'm not arguing the point of what he should or shouldn't have done. I thought he was so romantic (did I mention dashing, handsome and courtly?? Or was that Donner and Blixen)? He attends a conference but fondles a flower she sent him that he has pressed inside his portfolio. He has gentlemen outside his office door clamoring to see him about big political matters of the day. Yet he sits in his office, writing letters to her and trying to find...just...the...right...words to say (with the help of a dictionary). He let affairs of state lapse a little, to take care of his own affairs. Wreckless? Unserious? Immoral? Others can make those judgments. To me...aaaah, he's a man in love.

The most astonishing thing to me was how those earrings were not only a "symbol" of their love but felt like they were love. Love, ITSELF. I felt I was actually looking at Love in its tangible form. (Remember Tom Hanks and "Wilson" in "Cast Away"? I sobbed when...well, I won't spoil it). How did that happen to me? How did I cross the anthropomorphic threshold? I give all praise to Danielle Darrieux's acting for imbuing those earrings with Love.

Madame de..., poor poor Madame de.... I felt sorry for her. She fell in love probably for the first time in her life and didn't know WHAT hit her. She probably never had a self-reflexive thought in her pretty little French head. I don't think she disliked the General. I don't know that it was a marriage of convenience. I don't know that we've been given enough evidence to speculate WHAT her marriage was based on. Judging by the Grand Canyon distance of their beds...you can draw your own conclusions about what their marriage has become.. I think she did try her best to run away from this Love and the Baron. Yet she did keep those earrings close to her. I think she took it as a sign when she got her earrings back. She was a conniving little thing. She came up with little lies and excuses at the drop of a hankie. But I believed she was in love.

I don't think I've ever seen a character as lovesick as Madame de.... Love _sick. Laying in bed, pale, listless, uncajoled by her husband; not eating breakfast. She literally was sick from Love (or its lack thereof). I felt sorry for her. She was as sick from Love as Camille was from tuberculosis.

Her taking that train journey (...she was away for three months) was an attempt to clear her head. And I think she gave it the good old college try. When she tore up the letters she wrote the Baron, and let those tattered bits of paper blow with the wind, that visual was stunning to me. All those bits of blowing paper turned into falling snow. (As a filmmaker, whew!!) Was that how expansive her love was? Did her love cover the Baron's landscape?



Her walk along the beach was the first time we see her in very wide open spaces. And alone. Let the girl breathe, for Pete's sake. (Heck, I was able to breathe). She could think without the Baroque clutter engulfing her. Again I just felt so bad for her...for her heart ache; for wanting her love and possibly realizing what she'd have to give up to get it. Did she even think that far? Okay, ohhhkay... probably not. But it didn't hurt her any less. Vacuous girls have feelings too! And maybe she did try to have it both ways. "If I can't have him, let me at least have the earrings...the memory."

This is my second time watching this film. And I played closer attention to Boyer's character, this time around. Usually in movies I'm oblivious to the person who's trying to keep the movies' young lovers apart. I want them dispatched and outta the way so love can bloom. (Yeah, I wanted to throw Shelley Winters over board myself so Monty & Liz could have their Love).

But I didn't do that this time. And that was probably a testimony to Boyer. His acting was impeccably on the right note. He was restrained. He played a man restrained, holding his tongue, biding his time to get his wife back. He faced her "condition" as if her Love was a malady. When she lies in bed, prostrate with lovesickness, he decides NOT to go out but help her conquer this...this infatuation or whatEVER she thought this was. He was tolerant of her. Very unusual. Remember when he was drawing the curtains on the windows? It felt to me like "The Heiress"...that he was going to keep Love out; she needed to be quarantined to protect HIS love. The girl was lovesick. With the last curtain he closed he quietly said he loved her. That wasn't so much for her, but for you and I to hear; he loved her.

I think of those men who marry the prettiest, most popular girl in town. They've got the girl everybody wants. (I'm not necessarily saying he goes after her because she is the prettiest, most popular girl in town). He must look like the big man on campus in the locker room. The ego boost must be tremendous to have the woman all the men want. I harken back to DiMaggio, or Sinatra, or Burton who had three of the most desirable women on earth. How did they deal with the clamoring of their attention? Was the reward of actually being the one to "have" her worth beating off all the attention she garnered? (I think of Mr. Rhett Butler too, though he's equally matched with Scarlett in the pheromones department). The General was pretty tolerant (...up to a point). He didn't mind her dance card being filled by other men. He probably kept a watchful distant eye on goings-on. Whenever he was ready to leave the ball, all he had to do was let her know...and they'd be gone. All nice and polite in High Society. Did he trust her? Did he own her? Did he make her over? (...And then there was the Mad Carlotta. Ha!) I don't know. He had position, power, wealth...three very tantalizing attributes for the likes of her. I can't help but think he treated her with the utmost respect. Yes, he had a mistress, not b'cuz man does not live by bread alone, but most likely the affair developed over time, after numerous "polite" coquettish marital rejections. I also strongly suspect that if Louise had crooked her little finger with true affection...he would have dropped on his sword, to his knees for her. What looked at first like a man who was going to get to the bottom of these missing earrings in his search at the Opera House, came to look (to me) like a little puppy who wanted to please his Master.

"Shall we have a serious conversation? I know neither of us are in the habit but I trust we’ll muddle through."

When he finally talks with her, it hurt to see how much a slave he'd been. We learn the depth of his feeling:

"You're trying to turn remorse into memories. Up until now, though I didn't play a large part in your life, I was the only one. There was camaraderie, even gaiety between us. You know Louise, I've never particularly liked the role you gave me to play. But I played along to avoid displeasing you. It's not what I would have chosen."

He should have left. That was his choice to stay, you scream, you shout, you protest...you say.

But he had to stay. He was in love with her.



My throat closed up, burned with suppressed tears when the General took Madame de... to the railway station for her "Assessment Journey." In that close little train compartment their silence was deafening. Their chasm was as claustrophobic as that compartment. He left words unspoken...not daring to speak, 'less it tip the delicate balance against him. That was the most poignant scene to me. I felt the sorriest for him. He had to let her go, and that killed me. Who hasn't been there. Have a party shutdown around you when you're the only two left because you don't want to say goodbye; saying goodbye when you're dying to say ANYTHING but. Poor poor general.



Madam de... comes back from her soul-searching journey (seven towns in five weeks) she can hold --out-- back no longer. I guess she's made the decision to be with the Baron, and their carriages meet in the woods and they finally can become one. Yay...love conquers all.


CAN THE GENERAL SUE THE PAWN BROKER FOR GETTING IN BETWEEN HIS MARRIAGE?

When those dadblasted earrings turn up again, truly knowing what they Represent, the Baron can take no more.

If he can't end the affair with her, he'll end it through the Baron.

And it was her very slight petulant arrogance at the end that did her in. She "cleverly finds" the earrings in her glove (after putting them there), wears them to the ball like Judy absent-mindedly putting on Madeleine Elster's necklace. She hides the incriminating evidence in plain sight on her ears for the last time.



...She lies to the Baron about who gave her the earrings. Was he looking for a reason to dump her? Was she a liability to his career? He was polite about stealing the affections of another man's wife and he wasn't intimidated by the General. He's confronted by the General that it was indeed HE who gave her the earrings as a wedding gift. Like a good lawyer, you never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. The Baron asks her who gave her the earrings?

It's Madame de...'s last little white lie that sinks her. Her cousin...her mother... WHATEVER. But did you see the Baron's body language change as she babbled on? I did. He couldn't keep up with her stories. She finally admits the truth, but it is too late. And in just that one < poof > of a moment the spell was broken...in him. He is no longer with her.

The one time she probably really felt something for another human being, she loses it. The other book end is put up on the mantle of this movie. She doesn't breeze into church this time like she did in the beginning of the movie, for a quick prayer on how she may gain something. There's going to be a duel, a duel she's responsible for and her prayers hold more gravitas.


A MAN'S GOT TO DO WHAT A MAN'S GOT TO DUEL

The journey of those earrings still has me reeling. Some might cynically say they come back like a bad penny. These eponymous earrings traveled with the irony of a Guy de Maupassant short story. Ilove the way Ophuls inverts everything. What are the serendipitous chances of all this happening in real life. I can only hope. The way these earrings...this Love, if you will, went back and forth speaks to: "if something is meant for you, it's for you." At times when the earrings show up, it is hauntingly romantic; other times it was kind of comical. I thought I caught some sardonic glances from the general. What is this, the twilight zone?

The earrings were just as much the star of the picture as our three human leads, and at the end of the day, the earrings of Madame de... probably wound up in a place where they could do the most good...or the least harm.

Max Ophuls is a fantastic director. I'm going to really seek him out and have a mini-film festival here at home. He has emotion and camera movement and irony and thought and depth to his films.

Max Ophuls...I don't love you.

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[charliechaplinfan]

Yikes, I need to come back to your post as the nippers need picking up from school, loved reading the first bit, you've been truly Ophul'd just like me not sure you've been completely Boyer'd or De Sica'd yet. I can't wait to read more, I'll be back in a few hours

[charliechaplinfan]

Now I'm back, I would love to join your Ophuls film festival, I love the layers and layers of meaning he puts into his films, he has a true feminine side that touches me. I would urge you to start a thread with your post, I'm sure there will be others to contribute who might not find it here under De Sica's thread. A thread about this movie or Ophuls in general would be lovely and I do so love to read your posts, they give me so much to think about.

I've watched Madame De twice but thinking about it, I think my DVD gets stuck quite annyingly in the middle and I don't remember her walk on the beach. The thing that struck me about this movie both times is that I don't like Madame De, having seen Letter to An Unknown Woman recently I can see how close companions Madame De and Lisa are, yet I do have sympathy with Lisa, despite the hurt she causes her husband but have none with Madame De, I think this is because of the lying, which may appear to be harmless but nevertheless causes destruction around her. Madame De reminds me of Madame Bovary both in terms of the main character and the way it is told, Emma Bovary's downfall isn't just that she is unfaithful but that she runs up debt behind her husband's back. It seems I can tolerate deceit when it is only in the name of an all consuming love but not the fripperies that go on around it or unnecessary cruelty to the husband. My surprise when I first watched Madame De was that I didn't feel an inch of remorse or sympathy for her, a feeling I know that isn't shared by all viewers. Danielle Darrieux is an excellent actress and I have to say at this point that if you haven't caught her and Boyer's other pairing Mayerling you must.

On second watching the General is the most interesting character in terms of motivation, I held my breath whilst he conducted a search for the earrings and felt so sorry for her but it was downhill from there in terms of sympathy for Madame De, yes he's quite austere and overpowering and we can see why there is a gulf between them. Yet, when he says that about the role she's given him to play we realise how much he loved her and still does. I tihnk he likes the attention she gets, as long as it doesn't tread on his territory, it's as you say he's the guy who won the most lovely girl in town and has had the puffed up pride because of it but he knows how hollow that pride is, they do not have a loving marital relationship and it seems the cracks have begun to show before we are invited into their lives. I like the General not just because Charles Boyer plays him but because I feel that he has a front that has developed through his loveless marriage and that underneath is something quite soft wanting to be loved and appreciated by the wife that only mildly tolerates him. I feel he's forced into the actions he takes by the moral code of the day, he has most of my sympathy.

The Baron is the one I don't remember as well, I really must watch it again and a copy that is not damaged so I get every single second. He is played splendidly by de Sica with the continental charm, so polished and so different to the General, I have sympathy for him, he can't help himself, I feel he really loves her and realises the consequences of their actions if she doesn't. He's charming and he falls for her, she still has it and I feel that she does love him but she lets herself and him down. I must say that I really like De Sica as an actor, like that other great director/actor Orson Welles he's as good acting as directing, here he's the perfect counterpoint to the General.

I'm going to watch Madame De again, like an onion I think there are many layers to be uncovered.

[CineMaven]

You don’t like Madame de... Well, probably a lot hinges on whether one likes the main character or not. I do see the similarities between Louise (Madame de...) and Lisa.Their falling in love doesn’t seem to be based on having a concrete day-in/day-out relationship. One is based on what she perceives the man to be, and the other on a love at first sight sighting.

It seems I can tolerate deceit when it is only in the name of an all consuming love but not the fripperies that go on around it or unnecessary cruelty to the husband.

...I see. The romantic (all consuming...that one Great Love) vs. the reality (Oooh boy...somebody’s going to get hurt).

My surprise when I first watched Madame De was that I didn't feel an inch of remorse or sympathy for her, a feeling I know that isn't shared by all viewers. Danielle Darrieux is an excellent actress and I have to say at this point that if you haven't caught her and Boyer's other pairing Mayerling you must.

Oh, I think I know others who share your feelings re: not feeling too sorry for the Countess. I did feel bad for her. The girl didn't know what hit her. I’ve never seen “Mayerling” but I’m kind of curious.

I like the General not just because Charles Boyer plays him but because I feel that he has a front that has developed through his loveless marriage and that underneath is something quite soft wanting to be loved and appreciated by the wife that only mildly tolerates him. I feel he's forced into the actions he takes by the moral code of the day, he has most of my sympathy.

I totally agree with you here and liked how you expressed it. I've read so many opinions in these past few days. This warrants another looksee for me too.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've not been well but I intend to rewatch Madame De to discuss it further with you, I also have Le Plaisir to watch too, Ophuls deserves an undistracted mind. I remember being puzzled the first time I watched Madame De, after the opening where we're convinced that Madame De is a little duplicious but that the General is a unkind man and he probably deserves it I was puzzled to see that it wasn't Madame de who redeemed herself in my eyes but the General.

Mayerling is one of my favourite romances, I bet you'll love it when you see it.

[CineMaven]

Sorry to read you're not well. Hope you're recovering nicely. Thank you for the suggestion of "MAYERLING."

[charliechaplinfan]

Well enough now to get some therapy from Max Ophuls and Charles Boyer

I got hold of the American release, this film does feel slightly different to me, my copy did get stuck and perhaps I missed something vital, it being 18 months since I last viewed Madame De I put it on again and I did locate some sympathy for Madame De, at the point where she says she suffers because of the life she led not because of the love she's feeling now. The first viewing I was full of Madame de, the second viewing the General so I kept a special eye out for the Baron this time. Fixed in my mind has always been the scene at passport control, it's partly comedy, he can't find his passport, he's taken by the bewitching creature he has seen. The Baron falls completely so quickly, not so quickly for her, I think it is part of her game, at first, the enforced absence of her husband, those dances, how close he holds her, so enchanting, I think that's when she falls under his spell. The tangible bit of their love, the symbol of it is the earrings. He loves her but when he finds the truth about the earrings he is deeply wounded, is she playing a trick on him? Is he just a plaything?

My sympathy is also raised because although she is bewitching little minx who is not above fainting to create a scene or avoid an unpleasant issue when she tries to distance herself and when he finds out the truth about the earrings, she becomes ill, her life strangle vacant without him. I don't believe Madame De has children, diamonds would go to children for sure and motherhood might ground her.

The General loves her but has been moved from her bed, if he ever resided there, did she ever love him, I don't think she lies to him, he knows what he is to her although she does try to coat it in their bedroom scene. Who gave her all those things? I think mostly the General, he didn't seem to be a man who would punish her for running up debts, rather he would pay them or hush them up and treat he like an indulged child. How many times does he pay for those earrings? It gives me the impression that he is from money and old family where honour is everything. All he has of his love is the love he has for her and the appearance to the outside world. He gives both lovers plenty ways to manoeuvre themselves out of trouble and to calm appearances yet when he does blow at the end and challenge the Baron, it's so unlike him, he must know that he is going to kill the Baron and know too what this will do to Louise. When the shot is fired, it hits her, through her heart, see her stop running, she can't even get to the top of the hill, desperate as she must be to know the outcome, mortally wounded like the Baron she falls with him.

Madame De is loved by her servants who seem to be in cahoots with her, the male servants are more in with the master. The opulence of her belongings, that tracking shot, the first in a long line, going through her things, don't you wish you could just trade places and take out all those things and touch them, try them on? Perhaps too my sympathy was pushed too far initially by a woman who likes least of all diamond earrings, that is one spoiled woman. How they change for her and how it wounds the General, for much of the film he is amused and not threatened by the presence of another man, I feel he's been there before but Louise has merely toyed with them but seeing the attachment to the earrings, the ones she casually sold to pay off some debts, her wedding present from him, that wounds him deeply. He's so sewn up like the soldier he is not to show it, he holds much in check but he does show it, albeit only a glimpse.

All the time the General explains himself to her, he knows he hurts her but he thinks she will forget, especailly without the earrings to remind her, he's wrong, she loves deeply and he has lost that little bit of her life, she sinks into sorrow and silence, an illness that he cannot lift her out of without giving her to the other man, something he can't do. How all three of them suffer.

Back to the Baron, why does he accept the duel, he must know too, I think he had it bad, life had no meaning without her. As a diplomat he is polished to be charming and retain face at all times but he's resigned to his fate and I don't believe he blames the General one bit. I find it easy to belive in de Sica as a lover, he's urbane, sophisticated, foreign and has the polish and appearanced that is important to her. Boyer as the husband, he's attractive to me, I'm not sure others would see this and perhaps that might cloud my view, I think he's the best thing since sliced bread, as they say over here, I don't think Madame De has a bad choice at home. Danielle Darrieux, I've seen too few of her films, more's the pity because I belive she's one of France's best. She melts into Ophuls view of Madame De so well that she becomes a creation of Ophuls and Danielle herself, the others work in an orbit around them.

Madame De has some of the best tracking shots ever to grace a film, first that search through her items and then all those lovely waltzes and that music that filters through, its at times whimsical, romantic, testing, the life blood of what is going on.

I can vouch for De Sica being extremely handsome in his early years, very much the matinee idol, I find it utterly amazing that he both directed some of my favourite films and was an actor who had a wide range of gifts.

[charliechaplinfan]

The DVD region 2 release isn't wonderful but possibly better than the VHS. I think you have summed up Shoeshine very well, what a shock to the system De Sica's neorealism is when we are used to Hollywood's films of the time.

[Ann Harding]

After that terrible Catene (1949, R. Matarazzo), I needed to see a good film. So I went to a cinema to see Pane, amore e fantasia (Bread, Love and dreams, 1953) a Luigi Comencini comedy with Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida. This delightful film takes place in a remote Italian village where the new Marshall Carotenuto (V. De Sica) is sent to head the local police station. He is a bachelor in a place where a single man cannot speak to a woman without being watched intensely. Maria (G. Lollobrigida) is the best looking girl in town, though the poorest. She gets constant pestering from all the men while being in love with a young carabinieri (policeman) who doesn't dare speak to her out of shyness. Poor Carotenuto is already ageing and would like to find a wife. He likes Maria but she prefers her young man. In the end, Carotenuto will marry the local midwife whom he was in love with for a while. The village atmosphere with the local priest and all the town gossips was perfectly described in the film. Lollobrigida gave a really good performance as the impulsive and wild Maria. De Sica was also perfect as the police officer who cannot stand loneliness anymore, but nevertheless will help his shy comrade to conquer Maria. A really nice Italian comedy worth investigating.

[charliechaplinfan]

It sounds utterly delightful, the kind of comedy that the Italians were so adept at making.