Lady L

Blake Edwards' THE PINK PANTHER (1963) not only made an international film superstar of Peter Sellers and created a popular cartoon character but also made star-studded comedy extravaganzas a fashionable commodity in the film industry for the rest of the decade. In retrospect only a handful of these proved to be as successful and as durable and, alas, the film under review here is definitely not one of the lucky few. Frankly, LADY L has been shown so incredibly often on TV in my neck of the woods in the last 20 years or so that I can't believe I had never watched it from beginning to end until now! The credentials were unquestionably promising, even mouth-watering: Sophia Loren and Paul Newman in a Peter Ustinov-directed comedy epic (who even has a cameo as a Bavarian prince) also featuring David Niven, Claude Dauphin, Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, Marcel Dalio and Cecil Parker; indeed, how could it possibly miss? Well, a lame misfire it most certainly turned out to be with only the occasional bright spot provided by (surprisingly enough) Dauphin - as a befuddled but dogged Police Inspector on the trail of anarchist thief Newman (who was never comfortable with comedy and this is no exception) - and, even less frequently, by Noiret as a lecherous Minister of the Interior. Both Piccoli and especially Dalio are criminally underused and even the usually reliable Niven looks bored in his rather thankless role as a dying aristocrat who takes Loren under his wing.

Which brings me to Lady L herself: beautiful as she is, I've never been particularly impressed with Loren's acting capabilities (particularly in her international ventures) and since Sophia is the whole show here - metamorphosing from a timid Italian laundress to a ravishing British lady to a cantankerous 80-year old celebrity - the film's success (or lack thereof) is clearly subject to one's impressions of her. Even so, its real death-knell is the sheer fact that, for such a conglomeration of talent, big-budget and comic potential, LADY L is a witless and distinctly unmemorable enterprise. Apparently, the film was originally to be helmed by director George Cukor and was intended for Gina Lollobrigida, Tony Curtis and Sir Ralph Richardson...which I don't think would have improved matters all that much!

This film was directed by and the screenplay was written by Peter Ustinov. You even see him in a bit part as a Prince and he's apparently dubbed his voice into the film a few times.

"Lady L" begins in what appears to be about 1965. Everyone in this English tableau is celebrating the 80th birthday of their beloved Lady (Sophia Loren). Soon she begins talking about her life story for a biographer and the movie begins in earnest. About 60 years earlier, Louise (Loren) is a laundress who works for a house of ill repute. Along the way, she meets a handsome revolutionary, Armand (Paul Newman) and she inexplicably falls for him. I say inexplicable because apart from being handsome, there's never an apparent reason for her loving him--even after he neglects her and spends most of his time plotting to kill nobles since he's an anarchist. There also isn't much chemistry between them--just a woman putting up with a neglectful man. Along the way, she also meets the nicest Duke you could imagine (David Niven). He gives her everything, treats her like a queen and loves her...yet, she still holds on to her love for Armand during much of the film. It never makes any sense whatsoever....but at least the leads look nice and the film obviously cost a lot to make because of all the great costumes and sets. However, like a pie made out of just meringue, this film looks great but never really satisfies--much of it also because the humor never really pays off. A lovely looking misfire.

I had stayed away from this film because the critics panned it so viciously. Serves me right, because it was absolutely wonderful from beginning to end. Ustinov punctuates the rich satire in the script just perfectly with his grandiose direction. The cinematography is lush, and Sophia is outrageously good, as the strongly principled woman ahead of her time, who sees and is amused by all the rich ironies of life. Cecil Parker gives the movie it's opening tone and it never misses a best. But the writing is the strongest single aspect of the work, always remaining true to its characters, while making pungent observations on UK moral codes, class struggles, the battle of the sexes, the institution of marriage, and many others. Enjoy! 10/10

Viewing this movie after a 30-year gap, I realize I need to appreciate the movie as a Peter Ustinov film rather than as a Sophia Loren film. While Sophia Loren is a delight for the eyes with her hour-glass figure, she proves that she cannot act competently as an elderly lady--her hoarse voice is as phony as phony can be.

Ustinov and Romain Gary carry the film. I have had the good fortune to have met Ustinov as a film critic in 1984 and discussed the few films he had directed. He was delighted as a small boy that someone remembered that he was once a director as most people recall him as actor. Ustinov the director is a superb wit and his visual digs at French and Russian society are hilarious (Romain Gary, I guess, contributed to the verbal digs at the Poles). Ustinov and Gary do not even spare the British. The farcical comedy is at its best in the opening 15 minutes with some good camerawork and some fine, witty dialogues.

Ustinov is not a top notch director but he can provide sufficient material for the laughs to keep flowing. For instance, he does not show the face of Paul Newman as the car driver, but the audience can guess that the director is hiding a crucial fact. The brothel scenes, the escape in the balloon, the actions of the police, are orchestrated with admirable finesse for a director who is detailing a farce.

That Carlo Ponti allowed Ustinov to direct this venture is a credit to Ponti as the outcome was more rewarding for Ponti's wife Loren than for Ustinov for the average viewer. The French actors were superb: Phillipe Noiret, Michel Picolli, Claude Dauphin, Jacques Dufilho, and Marcel Dalio. Claude Dauphin stood out as the best among the range of French talent.

The images of a prince playing with a bomb as though it were a plaything reduces the farce to absurdist black humour as is the choice of the assassin's dress (a priest's cassock!). So is the coughing signals alerting members of the police force during a concert. It is fun that can be enjoyed at all levels--thanks to Ustinov and Gary more than due to the contributions of the formidable line-up of actors.

Sophia Loren is cast in the title role of Lady L whom we first see like Jeanette MacDonald as an 80+ woman who with some prodding from her dear friend poet Cecil Parker is about to tell her scandalous life story. Believe me this woman has seen things and done things that would shock the proper British society that she's married into. MacDonald in Maytime had a story to tell in flashback and come to think of it so did James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Back in the day Sophia was a laundress and one of her main clients was a prominent French brothel and it was there she met thief and anarchist Paul Newman and her later husband David Niven who provided a title and the good life in the United Kingdom. How both effect her life and story is the basis of Lady L.

Loren while in old lady character sounds a lot like Martita Hunt, I wouldn't be surprised if she dubbed her, if not Sophia does a real good imitation. Newman is not quite right for the part, they should have gotten someone really French like Yves Montand.

As for David Niven he just saunters through the film as David Niven. His good friend Peter Ustinov both wrote and directed Lady L and Code restraints being what they were Niven if it were done today would be more explicitly gay. That would far better explain his position and the relationship that develops afterward between all three of the principal characters.

Lady L is not bad, but it suffers from some miscasting and too much Code imposed discretion.