Sophia Loren

From the creative team behind the Oscar-winning Broadway adaptation of Chicago comes a lavish feature take on the Tony award-winning musical inspired by Federico Fellini's whimsical classic 8 1/2. Directed by Rob Marshall, Nine details the effort made by world-class filmmaker Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) in realizing his latest cinematic vision while simultaneously balancing his relationships with the many passionate and influential women in his life, including his mistress, Carla (Penélope Cruz), and wife, Luisa (Marion Cotillard). Original lyricist and composer Maury Yeston serves as co-executive producer for the filmed version of his own 1982 Broadway hit. Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Fergie, and Judi Dench co-star in the Weinstein Co. production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A mother who thinks of marriage in terms of business butts heads with a daughter who has her own unusual ideas about love in Lina Wertmuller's screen adaptation of Maria Orsini Natale's historical novel. Francesca (Sophia Loren) was a woman of common birth whose beauty and charm so entranced Prince Giordano Montorsi (Giancarlo Giannini) that he took her hand in marriage in the 1890s. Francesca and the Prince had a baby, Federico, and when the boy became seriously ill, Francesca pledged to the Lord that if her son was spared, she would adopt a needy orphan. Federico recovered, and true to her word, Francesca and the Prince adopted a nine-year-old girl, Nunziata. Years later, Nunziata has grown to become an attractive young woman, and Francesca watches over the Prince's financial affairs, having learned a thing or two about business from helping her father manage his thriving pasta company. Francesca does a fine job of handling the royal accounts, but when one business deal goes spectacularly sour, the Prince decides he should mind the books from now on; he proves to have no skills for the task, and the royal family is soon in dire financial straits. Eager to put the family back on its feet, Francesca begins to broker a marriage between Federico (Raoul Bova) and the daughter of a wealthy shipping tycoon. However, Federico is less than enthusiastic about the idea, largely because he's fallen in love with his adopted sister Nunziata. Francesca is appalled at this and overrules his objections, but after Federico goes to the altar, Nunziata begins arranging a lucrative wedding of her own; Nunziata's plan is to collect a large dowry, and use the money to fund a competing pasta company that will put her mother's firm out of business. Francesca e Nunziata was produced for Italian television, but received theatrical release abroad. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A prominent French surgeon of Jewish heritage (Phillippe Noiret) suffers a massive heart attack in the film's prologue and as his life hangs in the balance, scenes from his life growing up in Algiers flash by. The resulting drama recalls his life and in so doing pays homage to the contributions of his Mamma Titine (Sophia Loren) in giving him the strength and skill to overcome poverty and the stigma of his religion in his homeland. The ailing Joseph Levy's reminiscence begins when he was a 13-year-old student during WW II. Though one of the brightest in his school, he is expelled following the enactment of new anti-Semitic laws. With somewhat of a struggle, he is able to be put back into school. At home, Levy seems to be Mamma Titine's favorite, even though he has four other siblings. She is a strong, supportive woman who without complaint raises her children alone while her husband works in the Paris civil service under a false name. Though an essentially honest woman, Titine will stop at nothing to ensure that she meets her children's emotional and physical needs. As the months pass into years, Joseph gradually comes of age and learns subtle ways of rebelling. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This large, sprawling comedy directed by Robert Altman concerns a variety of romantic and personal intrigues that intersect against the backdrop of Paris's annual "Pret-a-Porter" fashion extravaganza. With 31 principal characters and a number of cameos from well known models, designers, actors and actresses, there's far too much going on to describe the film in a limited space, but Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins get stuck in a hotel room together, Danny Aiello wears a dress, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni reignite their old passion (or at least try to), Stephen Rea humiliates a number of female journalists, Kim Basinger often looks dumbfounded, and Lyle Lovett plays a Texan (talk about imaginative casting!). Originally called Pret-a-Porter, this underwent a last-minute title change when the distributor discovered very few Americans understood what the French phrase means, with the English translation taking its place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sophia Loren and Sydney Penny appear here as a mother and daughter fleeing the dangers of urban Rome during WW II. They head to the mountains but find things are far from safe. ~ All Movie Guide

This three-hour TV movie stars Sophia Loren as New Yorker Marianna Miraldo. Hurt and angered by her son's cocaine addiction, Marianna discovers that a close friend also has ties with the drug scene. After several of her imprisoned friend's associates try to contact him through her, the DEA persuades Marianna to aid them in an undercover operation headed by cop Bobby Jay (Billy Dee Williams). Despite the "don't get involved" admonitions of her husband (Hector Elizondo), Marianna agrees to cooperate with the DEA, if only for the sake of her son. This fact-based film, which first aired September 24, 1986, concludes with the feds closing in on a $3.5 billion cocaine ring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television biography chronicles the life of Italian actress and beauty Sophia Loren, from her childhood in Naples to her international stardom. Joanna Crawford adapted the screenplay from A.E. Hotchner's biographical book. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

After a beautiful woman's husband is murdered by the Sicilian Mafia, she is romanced by both an attorney and a local crook while maintaining her proper image. This Italian film stars Sophia Loren, Giancarlo Giannini and Marcello Mastroianni. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

What if General George S. Patton didn't die in a car accident, as history tells us, but at the hands of a paid assassin? That's the premise of Brass Target, another in a series of espionage thrillers, like The Eagle Has Landed, that speculates on the fates of real-life figures from World War II. Robert Vaughn, Ed Bishop, and Edward Herrmann are three Allied officers in occupied Germany who steal Nazi gold with the help of OSS officer Patrick McGoohan. Patton (George Kennedy) personally supervises the investigation of the theft, assisted by Major Joe DeLuca (John Cassavetes). Soon, however, a professional assassin (Max Von Sydow) is on their trail, Patton is killed on the orders of his own staff, and only DeLuca and his lover (Sophia Loren), who is also involved with the assassin, are left alive for the finale. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In this subpar Canadian film, Sophia Loren is Angela, a prostitute who has decided to become a waitress after she gets pregnant by Ben Kincaid (John Vernon) and needs a better way to support her baby. When Ben gets back from service in the Korean War, he does not believe Angela's little boy is his, and after he starts working for his old mob boss, he says he cannot continue as long as the boy is in the house. So his boss Hogan (John Huston) has the child kidnapped, which triggers Angela to seek revenge, and she informs the police about Ben's planned robbery. He is caught and goes to jail for more than two decades, and when he gets out, his only goal is to get even. Meanwhile, Angela has worked her way up to the ownership of an elegant restaurant and has fallen in love with handsome young Jean Labrecque (Steve Railsback), who delivers meat to the kitchen -- without either knowing at the time that they are mother and son. With dim lighting, a dim script, and dim chances, this turkey was quickly made into dim-sum and shelved in video cassettes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this film, an Italian hooker ends up as head gangster after her mobster boyfriend commits a murder and tries to cover it up. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide