Jessica

This sex comedy from 1962 isn't entirely without its charms, but some of the content is objectionable (even considering the period), and it gets awfully muddled and dull in its second half. On the positive side, there's Angie Dickinson puttering around on her Vespa on the windy mountain roads overlooking the sea in the gorgeous town of Forza d'Agrò, which was also one of the locations used in The Godfather. Sentimentally, I liked seeing 74-year-old Maurice Chevalier sing a couple of tunes, even if the degree to which is character, a priest, is involved in the sex lives of the villagers seemed a little odd. All the ogling of Dickinson early on gets a little wearisome, mostly because it just seems unimaginative, but the candor with which everyone talks about the libido of both sexes and how the wives decide to take a page out of Aristophanes and go on a sex strike made me smile.

On the downside, the film takes attitudes that haven't aged well, which in itself isn't surprising and something I'd normally try to accept and learn from, but it crossed a line with the spousal abuse humor. The men have a right to expect sex from their wives, you see, and so when they hold out, they can be knocked around, and some of them appearing with garish black eyes the following morning. One of the jokes is that the husband also has a black eye, but I found no solace in that. This was part of acceptable humor of the period, e.g. Jackie Gleason regularly threatening to sock Audrey Meadows in the kisser six years earlier on the TV show 'The Honeymooners,' but when it's clear punching actually has occurred and no big deal, it's tough to enjoy.

To some extent I probably would have excused the film for those moments, but it also goes downhill when it starts trying to maneuver Dickinson's character into a romance with a character played by Gabriele Ferzetti. I found the scenes between them bland and uninteresting, taking away from Dickinson's flirtation with the villagers or the dynamic with the wives, one of whom is played by Sylva Koscina, who is unfortunately underused. As it plays out, all of the bite and playfulness is sucked out of the film, leading to a rather humdrum ending.

Just watched this obscure movie on Amazon Prime with my mom. Angie Dickinson plays an American woman who's a midwife in Sicily. Her beauty and her sunny attitude attracts the men making their wives jealous. Priest Maurice Chavalier is trying to keep the peace and has his hands full, that's for sure! I'll just now say that Mom and I found this pretty entertaining with much humor and some drama sprinkled throughout as well as Mr. Chavalier warbling occasionally. So we say Jessica is worth a look.

Jessica is an American lady (Angie Dickenson) who has inexplicably come to a small Italian town to be their midwife. What is a super-hot American doing there?! And what is the town to do? All the men spend all their time lusting after her and the women spend all their time complaining that their men are lusting after sweet Jessica. The town priest (inexplicably played by the French actor, Maurice Chevalier) tries to get everyone to accept Jessica--but it looks like it's an impossible task.

"Jessica" is a comedy that never really hits the mark--and its script clearly could have used a lot more work before it was filmed. As a comedy, it was supposed to be funny but it wasn't. Sadly, it was just pretty dull and it isn't particularly charming. As a result, the film just drags despite nice scenery.

I saw this movie in the early sixties, and it was hysterical. Unfortunately, this movie has never been made for VHS or DVD. I wish they would put it out on VHS or DVD as it is a very funny movie about an American girl who goes to a Sicilian village and becomes the scandal of the town because all the women are sure that she is plotting to be with their husbands. Father Antonio is the town priest who is very funny. Jessica, the American girl, rides around on a motorbike which is very scandalous for a their small village. If they ever put this movie out on VHS or DVD be sure to see it if you have Sicilian or Italian ancestry, or if you just want to laugh a lot.

Great scenery and great girls! Pity Angie comes in about 3rd in the "glamour stakes"! It is a light-hearted romp though and is mildly entertaining. Chevalier does his usual bit in his usual style-talking to himself,the audience,his jeep,his god and his congregation,with a big cheesy grin(the old ,"I'm glad I'm not young anymore"routine. Oh golly,I've got to write more lines!How about,Angie's love interest,the titled "heavy" of the film,tortured by the memory of his wife's execution by the Nazis,has little more than a walk on,walk off role.I guess he is there to ensure a happy ending. Angie doesn't do to bad,from village midwife to grand dame in the château-in less than a year.Beats having the stuffing knocked out of you by a demented Michael Caine!