Buona sera Madame Campbell

Absurd but fun little comedy enlivened by Gina's feisty performance in the lead.

The supporting cast is sprinkled with quality performers all giving good performances, even the usually obnoxious Silvers comes across well, but this is Gina's show and she carries the film easily. Most of the supporting players are simple types that the actors manage to flesh out the best they can. Telly Savalas and Lee Grant take theirs one step further and create a believably troubled couple who have spent so many years battling they fail to realize that what they both want is the same thing. On the surface they seem mismatched but because of subtle playing they expand the character beyond what was on the page.

Back to Gina, under the direction of the competent Melvin Frank, whom had guided her through Strange Bedfellows previously, she has a fine comic sensibility never betraying any doubt that the preposterous situation she finds herself in doesn't make perfect sense. And boy is she a stunner!

Full to the brim with beautiful scenery shot in glorious Technicolor, marred only by obvious but probably necessary process shots while Gina is driving, you'll want to jump a plane to Italy at the film's conclusion.

A potential seamy subject that could have devolved into crassness is handled with the proper light touch making this a genial farce and terrific showcase for Miss Lollobrigida.

One of the best comedies ever made, full of comic details, non-stop hilarity, one of those rare movies that can be seen again and again and it gets better every time. A comedy that doesn't insult human dignity or intellect, full of interesting characters and vignettes, and a lot of emotion too. Not surprisingly, the acting is fabulous when the writing is good. Everyone gives a memorable performance. It doesn't get any better than this. Funniest lines: "In the Piazza", "Doesn't do windows", "Campbell is a noble name". "Is mom going to sing?" "Grazie, grazie very much". "A few Berlitz lessons, and...". "So many of you left a little something here". Lolobgrigida, Winters and Savalas are priceless. The tune by Ortolani fits the movie perfectly. I first saw it in 1969, then in 1983. After so many years it doesn't get stale. That's what I call a classic.

In the '50s and '60s, perhaps thanks to the success of Neo-Realistic cinema, Italian actors and locations became quite popular in American movies, especially comedies (the amusing It Started in Naples, starring Sophia Loren and Clark Gable, is one example worth revisiting). Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, with the always lovely Gina Lollobrigida playing the main role, is probably one of the funniest hybrids of US and Mediterranean talent.

Lollobrigida plays Carla Campbell, a widow who supposedly lost her husband during WWII. She lives in the South of Italy and provides for her daughter Gia (Janet Margolin) all by herself. It's all fine until a group of soldiers who fought in Italy during the war returns for a reunion and the truth is slowly unveiled: there is no Mr. Campbell, Carla having made him up since she slept with three different men (Telly Savalas, Phil Silvers and Peter Lawford) and doesn't know which of them is Gia's father. To complicate things even more, she told all three of them the girl is their daughter. In other words: mix-ups and misunderstandings are inevitable.

The story is extremely simple and a very good premise for a comedy, so good no one has ever tried to remake it (well, if you don't count the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!, which has a similar plot). Then again, it might be hard to pull off something like it nowadays (unless the setting was some place where paternity tests don't exist) - its look on adultery isn't exactly PC (and yet it was released while the Hays Code was still functional). Still, the gags come sharp and fast, particularly when Savalas and Silvers are on screen, and Lollobrigida is, as ever, a beauty to watch and hear. Margolin isn't bad either, whereas Lawford's subdued performance doesn't really sit well with the quick wit and great physical comedy delivered by his two rivals. But that's a minor flaw in a film that doesn't show up very often, but when it does, it truly is worth catching. Where else are you going to hear Lollobrigida explain that she called herself Campbell, like a soup brand, because the only other American name she knew was Coca-Cola?

Former sex goddess Gina Lollobrigida is a gorgeous 40ish redhead in this fast-paced comedy filmed on location in Italy in 1968.

La Lollo plays the mother of the lovely Janet Margolin, whose American soldier father was supposedly killed during World War II. The thing is, Gina isn't sure who the father was, since she was friendly with three soldiers at the time, (played by Peter Lawford, Phil Silvers and Telly Savalas), and all are very much alive. Each of the three thinks he is the father and has been financially supporting the girl in secret for over 20 years. Trouble and hilarity ensue when the three men and their wives return to the Italian village for an Army reunion, and Gina has to juggle all six of them while keeping her daughter from finding out the truth.

It's a funny script that hearkens back to Hollywood's great screwball comedies, with especially good jobs from Silvers and Savalas and Shelley Winters and Lee Grant as their wives. But it's Gina who steals the show with her glamorous mugging.

A delightful and heartwarming film that has stood up remarkably well when compared to other comedies of the 1960's. Both Gina Lollobrigida and Shelley Winters give good performances far outclassing the remainder of the cast. Phil Silvers is quite funny and Telly Savalas touching. In my opinion, the only cast member not up to the task is Peter Lawford - as boring as he usually is in any film in which he appears. It is odd that MGM/United Artist have not released the film on DVD, I'm sure that there are many people who would like to add it to their DVD collection. I have read that there are calls for the film to be remade but I don't think that it would work in today's arena. The film was right for its time but that time has now past and I feel that it's better to enjoy the film as it stands rather than try to remake it with a contemporary theme.