Did you happen to record Monty Python’s Flying Circus when it was shown on PBS back in the 1970s?
Do you still have the tapes?
Is there a TIME-LIFE logo at the end?
If so, please write to me. Thank you!

THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASS

Appeasing Producers—Continued

La mia signora

(My Wife, 1964)

A true gem! Upon completion of Il disco volante, producer Dino De Laurentiis hired Brass to direct the two shortest episodes of this wonderful anthology film starring Mrs De Laurentiis, Silvana Mangano. This is a great example of writing and storytelling—punchy, tight, imaginative, and humorous. (Why can’t anyone write like this anymore?) And Alberto Sordi is in top form in these five rôles. Americans don’t seem to know Alberto Sordi. Well, suffice it to say that he was easily equivalent to Peter Sellers, but perhaps more physical (and not a real-life lunatic). He was discovered when he was still a kid, at an Oliver Hardy-impersonation contest, and later gained fame as Hardy’s voice in the Italian dubs—and anyone who truly likes Laurel and Hardy can’t be all bad, you know.

The fourth episode, “Luciana,” by Rodolfo Sonego and directed by Mauro Bolognini, concerns Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano who meet at an airport after their spouses depart on a flight that immediately has trouble and needs to return, but only after using up all its fuel. While the plane spends the remainder of the day making circles in the sky, Alberto and Mangano start to comiserate but soon begin to fall in love, only to return to their unhappy marriages once the plane lands again. It’s quite a touching 40-minute story. The third episode, “I miei cari” (“My Dear Ones”), inspired by a novella, is a blistering nine-minute story of a hospital visit, with a wife and mother-in-law nagging at Alberto for his shortcomings, rather than offering support. Perhaps my favorite episode was the second, “Eritrea,” written by Luigi Comencini and Marcello Fondati. It’s a wonderful 40-minute screwball comedy, with an onslaught of plot twists that will have your head spinning. But when it comes to sheer direction, as opposed to writing, I give the first honors to the two short Brass-directed episodes. (Or am I just being prejudiced?) The opening act, “L’uccellino” (“The Little Bird”), has Alberto Sordi as a madly jealous husband—jealous of his wife’s pet birds. The writing alone isn’t funny. The acting alone isn’t funny. Alberto’s facial expressions alone aren’t funny. The music by itself isn’t all that funny. But with all the elements put together, this seven-minute sketch is a scream. The closing act, “L’automobile” (“The Car”), is an eight-minute sketch about a husband and wife filing a report with the police about their missing Jaguar. The delivery by the two leads makes an already funny script funnier. Apparently realizing that nothing could improve upon the original, Brass blimped the cameras and used the actual sound recorded on the set in the final film. (The usual practice at the time, of course, was to re-record all the sound later.)

QUESTION NUMBER ONE: “Eritrea” uses a popular “twist” song that was also excerpted in Chi lavora è perduto. If you know what that song is, please tell me. I’m dying of curiosity. ANSWER: “Amore twist”! Thanks to Banca Dati del Cinema Mondiale for answering my question! QUESTION NUMBER TWO: Who dubbed Silvana Mangano’s voice in “L’uccellino”?

PERSONAL NOTE: The early 1960s were truly a different world. I have only the vaguest recollections of those times (I was four when this film was made), but this film, just like Fellini’s La dolce vita, drives me crazy because it really seems that I was there, but that I can’t completely remember exactly when or where or how. These two movies capture the period perfectly.

TECHNICAL NOTE FOR THE FEW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED: A few shots seem to have been masked in the camera, but the rest were masked in the lab at 1.85:1.

WARNING! The bootlegs available from Italian shops in Canada—and at least some of the bootlegs available through eBay—are incomplete! They cut “Luciana” down from 40 minutes to 20! Beware!

SOME FORM OF THIS MOVIE APPEARS TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET BY SOME FORM OF SUBSCRIPTION:
mininova: La mia signora [DivX-Italian]TNTILLAGE.ORG.

INFORMATION ON THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK LP IS AT:
Soundtrack Collector.

It was issued on video a few different times, many moons ago. But it ain’t easy to find — unless, maybe, you happen to be on the prowl in Italy’s video shops.

ANICA — Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali

Originally released on Thursday, 29 October 1964

EPISODE 1: L’uccellino (The Little Bird)

EPISODE 2: Eritrea

EPISODE 3: I miei cari (My Dear Ones)

EPISODE 4: Luciana

EPISODE 5: L’automobile (The Car)

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