Armando Trovajoli Movies

Normally, an actor or actress in a foreign-language film was not the ideal candidate for an Academy Award, inasmuch as his or her English-language "performance" was often dubbed in by an anonymous third party. Such was not the case of Sophia Loren in Two Women (La Ciociara), who did her own English dubbing. Adapted by director Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini from the novel by Alberto Moravia, Two Women is the semi-neorealist account of widow Cesira (Loren) and her teenaged daughter, Rosetta (Eleanora Brown), as they struggle to survive in war-ravaged Italy. A conventional romantic triangle between mother, daughter, and Michele (Jean-Paul Belmondo), is barely under way when the war rears its ugly head once more. Seeking shelter in a bombed-out church, Cesira and Rosetta are attacked and raped -- a horrifying sequence, capped by a freeze-frame close-up of Rosetta, her face a taut mask of terror (this image was enough to prompt a virulent "anti-smut" editorial in The Saturday Evening Post). Once they've recovered from this appalling experience, mother and daughter are offered a ride back to Rome by friendly truck driver Florindo (Renato Salvatori). Though Cesira had hoped to keep her daughter from compromising herself as a means of survival, she is crushed to discover that Rosetta has given herself to the truck driver in exchange for a pair of stockings. When Cesira and Rosetta finally reconcile, it is a grievous occasion, mourning the death of their mutual love, Michele. A last-minute replacement for Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren brought hitherto untapped depths of emotion to her performance in Two Women; she later stated that she was utilizing "sensory recall," dredging up memories of her own wartime experiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In keeping with the film's title, most of the characters in Le Diciotenni are 18 years old. The story takes place in a girl's finishing school, populated entirely by knockout beauties. One of the girls (Marisa Allasio) faces expulsion because her father has been known to consort with criminals. Even so, the film maintains a lighthearted tone throughout, especially when it deals with affairs of the heart. Le Dicioetteni is a remake of a successful early-1940s film of the same name, which in turn was adapted from a popular stage comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sophia Loren was still in the "Anna Magnani" phase of her career when she starred in La Donna del Flume (The River Girl). Sophia is cast as Nives, the girlfriend of capricious cigarette smuggler Gino Lodi (Rik Battaglia). When Gino deserts her, the impregnated Nives is soured on all men, including the "right" one, a likeable police guard (Gerald Oury). The first half of the film plays for laughs, while the second half evolves into a lachrymose soap opera. Through it all, Sophia Loren looks like a million lire--and she even gets to sing and dance! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Italian bedroom farce, the lusty "Queen of the Nile" is determined to be with her lover, Marc Antony, before he heads off to war. Unfortunately, she has been assigned a new guard. She made love to her previous guard and he ended up executed as had several guards before him. Her new guard does not know this. To see Marc, she has a slave girl impersonate her while she sneaks out. Upon her surreptitious return, she sees the guard making love to her double. The other guards are surprised to see the fellow alive the next day. He proves a useful fellow by saving the queen from a killer. He then saves the queen's imposter from the dungeon. Though the queen tries to seduce him, the guard finds life more appealing than love and demures. Instead he and the slave escape together where they make happy love for many years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally released as Trattedella Blanche, Girls Marked Danger offers a voyeuristic glimpse at the subrosa world of 20th century white slavery. Veteran Hollywood heavy Marc Lawrence plays a vice lord who recruits innocent young Italian ladies for his nefarious purposes, on the pretext of hiring them to be cabaret dancers in South America. Despite the fact that none of Lawrence's "girls" ever return home, the new candidates suspect nothing as they sign up for the tour. Since the plot and outcome of Girls Marked Danger are predictable, the film justifies its 78-minute length by concentrating on the backgrounds of some of the unfortunate lasses. The most tragic of the ladies is played by Eleanora Rossi Drago, who is not only brutally beaten and mishandled, but ends up dying in childbirth. The nominal romantic lead is played by Sophia Loren, who tends to be upstaged on this occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide