Edda Soligo Movies
The title character, played by Claudia Cardinale, is a young woman who heads out alone to the big city after being dumped by her lover. She is befriended and protected by her ex-suitor's younger brother Jacques Perrin, who eventually becomes her new romance, despite the difference in ages (Perrin is 16, while Cardinale is...somewhat older). When Cardinale begins a new relationship with a musician, she tries to let Perrin down easily, but the young man is too headstrong for that. When they finally do part, Perrin gives Cardinale a large sum of money as a farewell gift. Despite the fact that Claudia Cardinale subsists off the kindness of strangers in this film, Girl With a Suitcase (originally La Fille de La Valise in France and La Ragazza Con la Valigia in Italy) treats her character with warmth and sympathy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Jacques Perrin, (more)
Jules Dassin, blacklisted during the McCarthy era, directs this routine, ostensibly romantic tale that really courts an underlying theme of the misuse of power. Based on a popular French novel and set in a small Mediterranean town, the story involves a small group of men and the woman several of them desire. The men gather around in the local tavern each evening to play a rather vicious game called "The Law." One man is chosen to dictate to the others, and they have to do what he says, no matter how humiliating. Marietta (Gina Lollobrigida) is the gorgeous servant of Don Cesare (Pierre Brasseur), desired by Francesco, the son of a crime boss (Yves Montand), and by her brother-in-law. She herself has fallen in love with Enrico (Marcello Mastroianni), a poor engineer. Determined to get a dowry and thereby be able to marry Enrico, Marietta turns the tables on the men who play "The Law." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Pierre Brasseur, (more)
- 1940
This Italian comedy was originally released under the poetic title Belle O Brutte Si Sposen Tutte. Giuseppe Perelli plays Ruggero, the irresponsible nephew of wealthy American Matteo (Armando Magliari). Having convinced his uncle that he's been attending medical school, Ruggero has actually been spending his allowance on women and gambling and women and liquor and women. When unk shows up in town, Ruggero and his buddy Jojo (top-billed Umberto Melnati) strive to convince the old man that the two of them are operating a busy medical clinic. None of the ensuing complications come anywhere near to explaining the film's title: but then, the Marx Brothers' Horse Feathers and Duck Soup weren't terribly relevant titles either. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Umberto Melnati, Maria Denis, (more)
