Rossana Podestà Movies

The misleadingly titled Italian comedy Luxury Girls is set in an exclusive Swiss finishing school. Rambunctious American lass Lorna Whitmore Susan Stephan is enrolled in the school by her wealthy parents. Before long, Laura has set the institution on its ear with her precocious behavior. Her female partners-in-"crime" spend their waking hours thinking of men and how to trap them, rather than concentrating on their schoolwork. There are a few attempts along the way to inject a note of seriousness now and then, but for the most part Luxury Girls is a chucklesome romp. While the cast is largely comprised of unknowns, Jacques Sernas does box-office duty as a commoner passing himself off as an aristocrat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rossana Podesta may not quite possess the face that would launch a thousand ships, but she is otherwise convincing in the title role of Helen of Troy. Filmed in Italy, this super-epic costars Jacques Sernas as Paris of Troy, who sails to Sparta to secure a peace treaty between the two powerful Greek city-states. When he falls in love with Helen, Queen of Sparta, Paris loses all sense of diplomacy. Helen is willingly "abducted" by Paris and spirited off to Troy, thereby sparking a long and bloody war, which culminates with the legendary Trojan Horse. Torin Thatcher costars as warrior leader Ulysses, while Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays Priam, the pacifistic king of Troy who is overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his control. Also on hand is Stanley Baker as Achilles (who ends up with an arrow you-know-where) and Niall MacGinnis as Helen's husband Menelaus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Since the Italian Homo Eroticus was released to the US as Man of the Year, this video version is available under both titles. Lando Buzzanca plays the servant to dazzling socialite Rosanna Podesta. His duties go far beyond carrying tea on a silver tray. Fact is, Rosanna is what you might call insatiatable. Pretty soon, Buzzanca is wondering where his next reserve of energy will be coming from. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Marco Vicario's sequel to his own Sette Uomini d'Oro, this similarly lighthearted crime film begins with The Professor (Philippe Leroy) and his men captured by American agents during a plot to steal a vault from a moving train. They are assigned to kidnap Castro-like Latin dictator Enrico Maria Salerno in order to avoid prosecution, and The Professor uses the mission as a convenient excuse to jack $7 million in gold from a nearby ship. Rosanna Podesta returns as the sexy Giorgia, and Vicario fills the film with campy setpieces including flying jet-packs and a bizarre ending circling back to the start of Sette Uomini d'Oro. Armando Travajoli's score is typical of its time, featuring a breathy female voice humming "oo-wah" to elevator music. This sequel seems unfocused compared to its tightly-knit predecessor, and is slightly disappointing as a result. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

A so-so drama with uneven acting, this is a tale of three women and one man trapped on a deserted island in World War II after a shipwreck. Christian Marquand is Patrick, the lone man who cannot but develop a relationship with all three women. Their fates are not what might be expected, as the women slowly reveal their true natures. One tries to get to another island to find help, and one turns out to be pathologically homicidal. She kills the only other woman, leaving two choices for her murderous inclination -- herself or Patrick or both. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Egypt, The Golden Arrow stars yesteryear's beefcake Tab Hunter as a bold Arabian Nights bandit. He discovers that he's actually the son of a Sultan, and that his kingdom is in danger. In order to save his people and restore his throne, the Tabmeister must locate a magic golden arrow. Or, if you prefer, he must locate "la fraccia d'oro", which was the original Italian title of this film. The Golden Arrow lets us know halfway through that it's not to be taken seriously (as if we had up till then) by offering us two comic genies: One skinny, one lazy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this grim Emilio Fernandez-directed character study translates to The Net. On the lam from the police, Antonio (Crox Alvaredo) and Jose Luis (Armando Sylvestre) find refuge in a friendly seaside village. The two fugitives set up housekeeping with their mutual girlfriend Rossana (Rossana Podesta). This set-up can't possibly last, and it doesn't. When Rossana indicates that she prefers one of the men over the other, it's the beginning of the end for all three. Well-photographed on location, La Red was one of Mexico's entries at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A novel by Valerio Zurlini was the basis of the Italian Le Ragazze di Sanfrediano (The Girls of San Frediano). The story deals with the amorous escapades of handsome garage mechanic Bob (Antonio Cifariello). The first name in Bob's little black book is the tempestuous Tosca (Rosanna Podesta, who that same year played the title role in Helen of Troy). Before long, our hero throws Tosca over for a chorus dancer (Giulia Robini), a schoolteacher (Luciana Liberati) and a dress designer (Corinne Calvet). Through it all, Gina (Marcella Miriani), a girl who lives in Bob's apartment building, silently carries a torch for the grease-monkey Lothario. Just guess who Bob eventually winds up with. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Non Scherzare con le Donne is set at an Italian seaside resort. Self-styled Romeo Marco Vicario combs the beach for romantic perfection. He goes from beautiful girl to beautiful girl, always achieving sexual satisfaction but never attaining true happiness. Little does he know that the "right" girl has been in view all along, studiously ignored by the thickheaded Vicario. Handled in a disarmingly improvisational fashion, the film possesses an indefinable charm that appeals to moviegoers of all nations. It became an American Late Show staple in the 1960s under the title Don't Trifle With Women. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Italian feature caters to a self-congratulatory stereotype of male virility which many an Italian male might fantasize as being true for himself. Paolo is from the lower ranks of the Sicilian nobility, and he shares his grandfather's penchant for beautiful women. Indeed, he proved his readiness for bedroom sports at age 10, when he beat his grandfather to the bed of a lovely young new house servant. As a grownup, Paolo (Giancarlo Giannini) now lives in Rome and cuts a wide swath through the female population of that town. Though the depiction of his succession of conquests is repetitive, one of the film's highlights is the great beauty of the numerous women he has encounters with. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This fast-paced western, geared entirely to the small-fry, was the first in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" series to star Allan Lane. Lane had taken over from William Elliot, who had been promised A-westerns only by company president Herbert I. Yates. Ryder and his young Indian pal Little Beaver (Robert Blake) come to the aid of Ryder's stout aunt, "The Duchess" (Martha Wentworth), whose crusading efforts to open up a privately owned toll-road for all travellers has put the elderly rancher in danger from a powerful if corrupt civic leader, newspaper publisher Crawford (Barton MacLane). The second in the Lane "Red Ryder" series to be filmed, Santa Fe Uprising was substituted for a weaker entry in order to give the new Ryder the best possible chances for success. Wentworth, whose character name as depicted by series creator Fred Harman was, interestingly enough, "Martha 'The Duchess' Wentworth," replaced Alice Fleming in the role as Ryder's indomitable aunt. Lane, Blake, and Wentworth went on to star in six more "Red Ryder" westerns before the series moved over to Eagle-Lion (the former PRC) where the roles would be played by Jim Bannon, Don Kay Reynolds, and veteran B-western actress Marin Sais. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide