{"id":11544,"date":"2015-06-03T18:57:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T22:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11544"},"modified":"2015-06-03T18:57:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T22:57:47","slug":"dvd-wife-for-a-night-moglie-per-una-notte-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=11544","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Wife for a Night \/ Moglie per una notte (1952)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"WifeForNight\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Good<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>Ivy Video<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a01 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 February 10, 2004<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Comedy<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Taking advantage of a stranded count’s eye for female beauty, a wily father gets a courtesan to impersonate his daughter-in-law, in the hopes of some noble cash from the lecherous count for the son’s opera.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Musical Short (11:18) \/ Cartoon: “Report On Love” (13:15)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Mario Camerini’s perhaps better known for his mythic film versions of Ulysses<\/strong> (1955) and the Kali Yug diptych from the Sixties, he certainly proved himself an able comedy director with his adaptation of the Anna Bonacci play (\u201cL’Ora della Fantasia\u201d) about crazy confusions, and the bubbling ribaldry between sex-starved men and corseted beauties.<\/p>\n

The first reel of the source print for this DVD has a few nasty breaks early on, affecting the film’s already break-neck pacing, but the remaining reels are in good shape and the original English subtitles (non-removable) follow much of the rapid-fire dialogue which bristles with bawdy wit.<\/p>\n

With Gina Lollobrigida swaying between the normally homely wife, and formerly closeted babe; Gino Cervi buzzing as the scheming, egotistical count; Nadia Gray as the wise courtesan, sometimes reflecting sadly on her chosen career path; and Armando Francioli as the serious composer tortured by the wife-swapping charade, the whole film feels like a crazy Billy Wilder ride \u2013 which is not surprising as Wilder would adapt Bonacci’s play in 1963 as Kiss Me, Stupid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alessandro Cicognini’s music ably flips between underscore and the blossoming opera (constructed in two unadorned acts), and Aldo Giordani’s cinematography shows off the film’s fine set d\u00e9cor. (Viewers should also look out for a naughty visual gag, involving an argument, and the naked male extremities of a framed painting that Camerini keeps reframing in the upper right corner.)<\/p>\n

In tune with the sexy subject matter, Ivy Video has added two shorts that precede the film. Like other \u201cSaturday Matinee\u201d entries, the DVD starts off with the Rome Symphony Orchestra performing Rossini’s \u201cBarber of Seville,\u201d and Beethoven’s \u201cPrometheus Overture.\u201d Visually, the set design recalls the famous \u201cStreet Scene\u201d prologue of Fox’s early CinemaScope comedy, \u201cHow To Marry A Millionaire,\u201d that had composer Alfred Newman conducting the studio orchestra, while cameras swoop, pan, and track around the musicians. Though full frame and in black & white, the short uses sufficient montage to convey a formal musical performance for filmgoers.<\/p>\n

The second short (which can also be played separately, or as a lead-in to the feature film) is a tongue-in-cheek educational piece on the Kinsey report, produced in 1954. Using stylized graphics and live-action footage of ersatz subjects, the black & white short pokes fun at the meaning of monogamy and fidelity according to Mr. Kinsey, and functions as a suitable lead-in to the DVD’s main feature.<\/p>\n

An excellent example of a lost treasure, Wife For A Night<\/strong>\u00a0is available separately, or as part of a 3-disc set titled \u201cItalian Babes of Yore,\u201d which also includes Girl With A Suitcase<\/a><\/strong>, and Too Bad She’s Bad<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2004 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a>\u00a0 — Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though Mario Camerini’s perhaps better known for his mythic film versions of Ulysses (1955) and the Kali Yug diptych from the Sixties, he certainly proved himself an able comedy director with his adaptation of the Anna Bonacci play (\u201cL’Ora della Fantasia\u201d)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[3691,3684,3692,3689,3690,3688,3687],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-30c","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11560,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11544\/revisions\/11560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}