R.I.P. Gina Lollobrigida

[Reza]

Beat the Devil is a film I never liked despite its great cast.

Do give it another try. One of the great black comedies and Jennifer Jones is hilarious.

[Big Magilla]

De Sica's Bread, Love and Dreams was her breakout hit in America and is worth a look. Beat the Devil is a film I never liked despite its great cast. Come September is decent but the second film she made with Rock Hudson, Strange Bedfellows is garbage.

I also liked her in Basil Dearden's Woman of Straw opposite Sean Connery and Ralph Richardson, and the aforementioned Buena Sera, Mrs. Campbell. She had a great second career as a photographer and ran for the Italian Senate just last September. She accomplished more than most actresses off the screen.

[Reza]

I'm surprised none of you seem to have watched Gina in her Italian films. Of her Hollywood output her best were Beat the Devil (1954) and Come September (1961) but she was sensational in many Italian films. Check her out in Alina (1950), La provincial (1953), La romana (1954), Bread, Love and Dreams (1954), La donna più bella del mondo (1955), La legge (1959) & Venere imperiale (1962).

[Big Magilla]

Bunoa Sera, Mrs. Campbell was probably her highest profile American film. The story was later adapted for Mamma Mia

I thought I remembered this being the case (never saw either film, to know personally). but there's no acknowledgement of it in the IMDB credits -- the screenwriter of Mamma Mia! is the only name cited (no source material), and the writers of Mrs. Campbell don't have this adaptation show on their page (something IMDB is usually pretty generous with). Same on IBDB for the theatrical version. It's as if Catherine Johnson dreamt this up on her own.

I know, but to quote Wikipedia on their Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell page:

The United Artists release was filmed at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome. It served as the basis for the unsuccessful 1979 stage musical Carmelina. Some critics have also speculated that the 1999 stage musical Mamma Mia!—and, by extension, its 2008 film adaptation—are based on Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, although the musical's book writer, Catherine Johnson, has denied any connection.

She can deny it all she wants but the basic situation is the same - the only difference being that Mrs. Campbell was a made-up name taken from a can of Campbell's Soup and that Lollo's character knew which one of the three was the real father although she was getting support for her daughter from all three.

[danfrank]

Well, she was quite a stunning bombshell. This is where I miss Marco on this board. He would have some choice and informative words to say. I don’t miss other parts of Marco, though.

[Mister Tee]

Bunoa Sera, Mrs. Campbell was probably her highest profile American film. The story was later adapted for Mamma Mia

I thought I remembered this being the case (never saw either film, to know personally). but there's no acknowledgement of it in the IMDB credits -- the screenwriter of Mamma Mia! is the only name cited (no source material), and the writers of Mrs. Campbell don't have this adaptation show on their page (something IMDB is usually pretty generous with). Same on IBDB for the theatrical version. It's as if Catherine Johnson dreamt this up on her own.

[Big Magilla]

Bunoa Sera, Mrs. Campbell was probably her highest profile American film. The story was later adapted for Mamma Mia but the original with Lollobrigida was better largely because of her.

[Mister Tee]

I only recently watched Trapeze, which was arguably her most legit credit. What else? -- Come September, the only other movie I ever saw her in? Yet everyone knew her name in the early 60s, perhaps because the name itself was so mellifluous. Or simply because she was a Bombshell, which was all it took to be a well-known actress in that late 50s/early 60s pre-feminist era.

I put her in that same category where Dick Cavett long ago slotted the Gabor sisters: famous for being famous. Hardly even a footnote to film history, but another part of my childhood slipping away.

[Big Magilla]

The legendary Italian actress was 95.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebr ... a924386b3e