Anita Ekberg Movies

It's Bob Hope as phony explorer Matt Merriwether, who promotes himself as an expert on the dark continent, basing his exploration of the African subcontinent on old diaries of his uncle. When an American space capsule crashes in an uncharted region of Africa, Merriwether, based on his alleged expert knowledge of the region, is selected to recover the capsule. Joining Merriwether and his pre-Kervorkian suicide kit, is security agent Frederica Larsen (Edie Adams). Hot on their heels are Russian agents Luba (Anita Ekberg) and Dr. Ezra Mungo (Lionel Jeffries), who want to get to the space capsule first. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Released in the US by 20th Century-Fox, Boccaccio '70 is a compendium of short subjects directed by three of Italy's top filmmakers. Each story is written in the style of the famed Italian essayist Boccaccio, albeit told in contemporary terms. First up is "The Raffle", written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica: Sophia Loren (wife of Boccaccio '70 producer Carlo Ponti) plays the sexy operator of a shooting gallery, who offers herself as first prize to the best shot. In "The Job", written by Suso Cecchi D'Amico and directed by Luchino Visconti, Romy Schneider carries a torch for her philandering boss Tomas Milian. The final segment is "The Temptation of Dr. Antonio", directed by Federico Fellini and scripted by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli; in this one, Anita Ekberg is an image on a poster who comes to life for the benefit of a drooling middle-aged professor (Peppino De Filippo). A fourth episode, "Renzo and Luciana", directed by Mario Monicelli, was cut from U.S. release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sword and sandal epic set in 217 AD follows the exploits of a courageous gladiator who is taken prisoner on behalf of the Queen of Palmyra. To win her confidence, the gladiator pretends to hate his Roman masters, but as soon as she trusts him, he has his soldiers take her prisoner. Because he has fallen for her, the gladiator has her released and then saves her by claiming that her crimes against the Empire were precipitated by her counselor. Fortunately, the Senates believe it and romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two years before Hitchcock terrified audiences with the shower scene from Psycho, audiences recoiled at the shower scene in this dark and decidedly twisted psychological thriller. The tale of terror centers on an exotic dancer (Anita Ekberg) who is terrorized by a knife-wielding homicidal maniac. She is cut up but not seriously hurt as her step brother bursts into the bathroom and shoots the killer before he finishes. Unfortunately, the slasher escapes. Time passes, and while the physical wounds, heal, the psychic wounds continue to haunt the poor dancer, who must go to a psychiatrist for help. When a reporter hears about the case, he suspects the work of a serial killer and starts investigating. He finds that each of the killer's victims are given a horrifying sculpture of a woman screaming. Meanwhile, the girl's doctor finds himself falling in love with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Anita Ekberg amply fills the title role in the offbeat western Valerie. Clearly inspired by Rashomon, the film offers contradictory flashbacks during a lengthy trial. The defendant, Civil War hero John Garth, Sterling Hayden, is accused of seriously wounding his wife Valerie and murdering her parents. At first, the jury's sympathy is with Garth, who claims that his faithless wife was running off with preacher Blake (played by Ekberg's then-husband Anthony Steel) and that the death of his in-laws was accidental. But as testimony proceeds, it is revealed that the highly respectable, much-beloved Garth is a beast in human form. The complicated outcome of the trial has so many twists and turns that it would be criminal to reveal any one of them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Victor Mature stars in this European-based crime thriller. Mature is an FBI agent on the trail of a drug smuggling operation, following his quarry all over the Continent (with accompanying pretty pictures of Portugal, Spain, France etc.) The criminal mastermind (Trevor Howard) is something of a lunatic, who has already strangled Mature's sister to death just for the hell of it. Anita Ekberg plays Howard's luscious courier; as usual, her "acting" consists to breathing heavily in a low-cut dress. The title Pickup Alley was the invention of Columbia's New York office: The film's original British title was Interpol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Gruber's novel The Lock and the Key was adapted for the big screen by Burt Kennedy as The Man in the Vault. William Campbell stars as a locksmith who is forced to work for a gang of thieves. The bad guys want Campbell to make duplicates of the keys to a safety deposit box containing nearly a quarter of a million dollars. As if this wasn't enough for our hero to worry about, he has to choose between his mercenary sweetheart Karen Sharpe and gang moll Anita Ekberg (poor fellow!) The film benefits from its on-location photography in and around Beverly Hills. Man in the Vault was produced by John Wayne's Batjac company, and directed by one of the Duke's favorite coworkers, Andrew V. McLaglen (son of frequent Wayne costar Victor McLaglen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made their last joint film appearance in the girl-filled musical Hollywood or Bust. The thinnish plot finds inveterate film fan Jerry making a cross-country journey to Tinseltown for the purpose of meeting his favorite screen star, the buxom Anita Ekberg (the film's title, need it be added, has a double meaning). Dean goes along for the ride, hoping to expand his bankroll during a Las Vegas stopover. The boys are joined by a third traveller, an enormous Great Dane named Mr. Bascomb; along the way, the trio becomes a quartet when pretty Pat Crowley hitches a ride. The finale takes place in Hollywood, naturally, as Jerry wreaks havoc at a film studio which looks suspiciously like Paramount. All reports indicate that Hollywood and Bust was an unhappy shoot, with Jerry Lewis behaving so obstreperously that director Frank Tashlin ordered him off the set and told him to go home until he learned to behave himself; to this day, Lewis cannot bring himself to watch the film. Happily, the animosity between the two stars never comes across on screen, and as a result Hollywood or Bust is a most enjoyable diversion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Wayne teaches those dirty Commies yet another lesson in Blood Alley. Wayne plays a veteran seaman who comes to the aid of Lauren Bacall, the daughter of a missionary doctor killed by the Red Chinese. It takes no little persuasion, but Bacall finally convinces Wayne to smuggle a group of villagers past the Communist forces and into the safe harbor of Hong Kong. Though there are many close calls, Wayne proves to be a shade smarter and more resourceful than the minions of Mao. Lauren Bacall plays her stock character with cool professionalism, though this sort of fare isn't really her cup of tea. Far better within the framework of the film are Paul Fix, Berry Kroeger, and Anita Ekberg, who aren't the most convincing "Chinese" in the world but who seem to fit right in with the blood-and-thunder proceedings. A. S. Fleischman adapted the screenplay of Blood Alley from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Susan Hayward pulls out all the stops, and then some, in this cinemadaptation of singer Lillian Roth's autobiography I'll Cry Tomorrow. In as harshly realistic a manner as possible in the still censor-dominated Hollywood of 1955, the film recounts Roth's rise to fame, her precipitous fall and her tearful comeback. The fact that Roth loves not wisely but too well is only part of the problem (only two of her eight husbands are portrayed in the film); contributing factors to her self-destruction also included her witchlike "stage mother" (Jo Van Fleet) and the pressures of fame and fortune. The principal reason for Roth's fall from the height of fame to the depths of squalor and despair is booze -- at least until she begins to pull herself together with the help of Alcoholics-Anonymous representative Burt McGuire (Eddie Albert). The story concludes with a testimonial staged in Roth's honor on the TV series This is Your Life (the original of which still exists in kinescope form). Having been personally coached by the real Lillian Roth, Susan Hayward does an excellent job of copying the singer's unique style. Though Hayward did not win an Oscar for her performance, she did cop the "Best Actress" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An outdoor adventure musical comedy, Take Me to Town features Ann Sheridan as Vermilion O'Toole, a barroom singer with a shady past who has taken refuge in a small timber town in the Pacific Northwest. She's on the run from a federal agent, Ed Daggett (Larry Gates). Just out of town lives Will Hall (Sterling Hayden), a logger and preacher who is widowed and raising three children. The children meet O'Toole and try to hook her up with their father -- because they want a mother to care for them. This arouses the jealousies of Mrs. Stoffer (Phyllis Stanley), a widow who was hoping to snare Hall herself. Hall comes to prefer O'Toole, but she must overcome the resentment of the local townspeople, who think she's a floozy. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide