Catherine Spaak Movies

In this sympathetic biography of Claretta Petacci, Benito Mussolini's mistress of 10 years, the Petacci family is a primary source of information -- which introduces a definite bias on how she is viewed. Claretta met Mussolini in the mid-'30s and remained with him after he was dismissed in 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel (American and Allied forces invaded Sicily and started north to Rome at that time). Claretta's family also fled to the north, where Mussolini was set up in a puppet dictatorship by the Germans until the end of the war. Photographs of Mussolini and Claretta hanging from a gas-station pole in 1945 while crowds stare at their bodies were disseminated worldwide, yet information on them has been kept in the classified files of the Italian government. In this docudrama, Claretta is played by Claudia Cardinale and Claretta's younger sister Miriam Petacci, still alive in 1984, plays herself as she "meets" with a television reporter (Catherine Spaak) at Claretta's tomb to talk about her famous sister's life. Claretta and Mussolini (Gabriele D'Annunzio) first get together on the estate of a poet who supported Mussolini and were not separated once they became lovers. U.S. Army newsreels add verisimilitude to the story, but the script is too superficial and the treatment too overtly sentimental to sustain interest and may even alienate some viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A good idea is taken to the well one too many times in this routine comedy by Luciano Salce. Paolo Villaggio is Arturo, the bank teller of the title, and Catherine Spaak is his put-upon wife Elena. Arturo's problem is that he does not have enough money to keep his head above water and so that is his wife's problem too. The maid no longer works because she has not been paid in living memory, and Elena is forced to scrub the floors. Then Arturo brings in his mistress to shore up their finances. After he fails in his objective (she moves in but cannot help that much), Elena brings in her lover to help out. After he arrives, his wife also moves in with her lover. At that point, who is sleeping with whom becomes a question of mathematical complexity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Dede (Lando Buzzanca) has some problems in this Italian sex comedy. His wife is very domineering, his mistress is sexually insatiable, and he is the proud "keeper" of a very athletic young woman who is his sex slave. The problem? Even with all the variations on sexual hierarchy (submission, equality, dominance) available to him, his attentions wander to yet more women. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This erotic sexploitation feature concerns a couple and their pursuit of sexual fulfillment with each other -- and their mutually agreed upon third bed guests. Lesbian love angles includes the woman's step-daughter. Alberto (Jean Sorel) is soon left alone when the women decides his services are no longer required. After acting on his erotic fantasies, he is left alone and driven to madness when his girlfriend marries another after leaving with her lesbian lover. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The literal translation of this Italian title is "He's My Husband, I'll Kill Him When I Please." A young woman is married to a man in his 70s. To make sure his wife is taken care of after his death, the husband tries to arrange her marriage to a friend of his. When the young bride discovers this, she plans to hasten his imminent demise. She takes up with a beatnik and goes about planning her husband's murder as if she were merely making out a grocery list of needed items at a convenience store. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Made in Italy is a multistoried film, set...in Italy, of course. An all-star cast appears in brief seriocomic vignettes about rich and poor, tourist and native. Director Nanni Loy exhibits the realistic and somewhat earthy technique he'd used on his earlier documentaries, with heavy emphasis on ironic punch lines. Filmed in 1965 by a Franco/Italian production team, Made in Italy received the best possible exposure upon its 1967 American release when clips were showcased on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Best bit: The "give to the poor" poster in an impoverished Italian mountain village. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Italian romance, a young woman with a love for loving begins masquerading as her roommate so she can have more affairs. Her roomie is a stewardess and is seldom at home, so her ruse works well. One of her lovers is a high-ranking official at the Vatican and another works as a dentist. To keep from having an embarrassing overlap of lovers, she has created a special schedule in which she allots three days a week for each of the lovers. The final day she reserves for her college sweetheart. Mayhem ensues when the men discover the truth. Fortunately, the charming girl is able to convince each one that she loves him and him alone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A betrayed wife decides to teach her philandering husband a lesson in this riotous farce. Marta (Catherine Spaak) discovers that husband Franco (Nino Manfredi) has been stepping out with her own best friend (Maria Grazia Buccella), and gets revenge by inventing an imaginary lover. Franco takes the bait, leading to improbable but hilarious complications. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Horst Bucholz plays Dino, a painter who realizes he has no artistic vision and decides to move back into his wealthy mother's (Betty Davis) home. Just before he does this, however, he falls in love with beautiful and self-serving Cecilia (Catherine Spaak). Though Dino diligently attempts to convince her to marry him, she refuses, but offers to be his lover until someone better strikes her fancy. When that becomes an actuality, Dino does not fare well under the emotional trauma and has a nervous breakdown. With the help of his mother, Dino recovers to find he may not be completely devoid of talent after all. Based on La Noia, an Italian novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

This uneven remake of the 1950 Max Ophuls feature from the play by Arthur Schnitzler takes place in Paris just before World War I instead of Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. A soldier (Claude Giraud) sleeps with a prostitute (Marie Dubois) before he seduces Rose (Anna Karina), and a willing but married Sophie (Jane Fonda). A night of drinking finds the soldier back with the prostitute again in this feature directed by Roger Vadim. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Three different takes on love are presented in this episodic Italian film. The first story begins as a prostitute is involved in an auto wreck and ends up in a body cast. While recuperating, she attempts to seduce a young priest preparing to take his final vows. He does not succumb and instead tries to save her. By the story's end, she has become a nun, and he has left the clergy. The second tale follows a widow as she takes her husband's corpse back to Sicily. En route she makes a few new friends who turn out to be those who killed her husband, who unbeknownst to her was a notorious mafioso. In the last story, a young woman marries a troubled middle-aged man. To help him, she suggests he take a lover. She then finds out he has had one for a long time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Italian nuns raise a quiet ruckus to stop a major airline from flying over their village in this gentle comedy. They are upset because the noise from the jets creates a vibration that is threatening to crumble a much-revered ancient fresco. It also interferes with the quiet of their cloistered lives and so the Mother superior and two of her underlings journey to Rome to have a chat with the owner of the airline. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide