La presidentessa

That anatomical wonder, former "Miss Italy" Silvana Pampanini, stars in the "made for Mae West" role of Gobette, a turn-of-the-century Moulin Rouge entertainer charged with indecency. She wastes no time in seducing the investigating judge which compels his boss, the President of the Court, to have her deported. Incensed, Gobette slips into the President's apartment when his family's away intending to cause a scandal but before she can teach the uptight magistrate a lesson, his boss, the Minister of Justice, comes to stay the night and the President is forced to pass off Gobette as his wife. Later, after the President's asleep, she seduces the Minister and when he goes back to Paris the next day, he orders the President and his family transferred there so he can resume his affair with the man's wife, "la presidentessa". Uh oh...

Mistaken identities and risqué situations abound in director Germi's "French" sex farce and not only does the pulchritudinous Pampanini show a flair for comedy, she sings, dances (sort of), and can really fill a period costume -when she's wearing one, that is, since Silvana spends most of the time in either a peignoir or a bustier with frilly panties, stockings and garter belts. Both simple-minded and knowing, this one's good-natured fun with an emphasis on s-e-x.

Over a period of forty-five years the prolific Belgian born Maurice Hennequin wrote over a hundred comedies, sometimes alone, often with collaborators, most famous of whom was Georges Feydeau. He wrote 'La Presidente' with Pierre Weber who fought a duel with Leon Blum following a bad review by Blum of one of his plays. What a pity that creative artistes are deprived of that facility now! 'La Presidente' has been filmed more than once but the version under review was directed by Pietro Germi with a marvellous cast headed by Silvana Pampanini and Carlo Dapporto. Under Germi's controlled direction this is a joyous, beautifully timed piece that rattles along at a tremendous pace and is played with esprit by all concerned. Carlo Dapporto as the Minister who is utterly besotted with Mademoiselle Gobete is impeccable and Pampanini, as the object of his desire, well, what can say about HER?! The Oestrogen practically jumps off the screen. Germi has once again utilised his chosen cinematographer Leonida Barboni and composer Carlo Rustichelli with production design by Virgilio Marchi. Pampanini is no match of course for Elvira Popescu in 1938 and Mariangela Melato in 1977 is no match for either of them. The subject matter of this piece serves to remind us that the battle of the sexes cannot be won because one spends too much time fraternising with the enemy!

Mlle. Gobette, an entertainer who has trouble keeping her clothes on, both on and off stage, more than gets her revenge for being ordered from town by a puritanical old judge. By the end of the film she has not only driven the judge crazy but also thoroughly confused and outraged his wife, compromised another judge, terrorized the justice minister's secretary, and nearly driven the justice minister from office in a whirlwind of scandal.

Silvana Pampanini, with a figure of awesome proportions and a queenly manner to match, sails through this French farce like a conquering heroine, again and again reducing her opponents to sputtering immobility. Though the plot is really this one joke, repeated, the stakes are higher each time, so the joke keeps getting bigger and more outrageous. There is a sweet subplot, too, of the secretary's love for the judge's daughter, who, since being hit on the head in England by a tennis ball, can speak only English. A touch of surrealism in an otherwise traditional tale of frou-frou and feminine wiles.