La donna più bella del mondo

Unfair to be very critic about this venerable film. A portrait of Lina Cavalieri, seductive Gina Lollobrigida and charming Vittorio Gassman. Tosma- my favorit opera- , steps to succes and romance in large doses and enough for a nice film about beauty, art and self made woman.

Difficult to write than I like it, I have not reproches about it, seeing it as expression of period sensibility.

This film's Italian title is "The Most Beautiful Woman In The World", and with that 10 inch waist of hers, Gina Lollobrigida is easily the prima of the world's prime donne. If you want to mix bellezza with your opera, you can't go wrong here.

the above reviewer has it wrong.As mentioned in the opening credits of this movie,Gina sings ALL the tunes HERSELF!!! and that includes arias from Tosca.Actually,i also thought she had to be dubbed because the voice is too good for any film star but incredibly when i checked the credits thats what it says,its all Gina. This is the fictitious story of a real person called Lina Cavalieri who was known at the time as "the most beautiful woman in the world". Certainly more perfect casting couldn't be done by casting Gina in the role.She looks absolutely stunning even in turn of the century clothes and in glorious color.The sets are well done and the production pretty good .The story is typical romantic fluff with Gasman playing the beau,with the usual misunderstandings but its all worth just to see the beautiful Gina.

Lollobrigida is a feast for the eye,but the screenplay leaves something to be desired.The movie is in turn:

-a biography of a prima donna at the dawn of the twentieth century.Or to be precise a biographical novel.A long and winding road where Lina learns that the way to the top might go through men's beds.

-a musical.

-a comedy:when she pays a visit to her sick mother at the hospital,she sees a priest come out of her bedroom;Gina fights a duel (you read well) with a rival.

-a romantic melodrama :Lina /Gina has a love affair with a nephew of czar Nicolas II who appears in the flesh with wife Alexandra.

-a whodunit !During a performance of "la Tosca" a murder is committed,and for Lina,the handsome nephew(see above) ,played by Vittorio Gassman,is a suspect.

You've got five movies for the price of one.And anyway Lollobrigida is so many women..

There's quite a familiar premise supporting this colourful costume drama, and it's proof that Gina Lollobrigida can turn out an operatic aria with some considerable skill, too. Indeed, it's her own dulcets delivering Verdi's beautiful "Vissi d'arte" that starts this drama off. Her character, "Lina" is a music hall cantante at the turn of the twentieth century who has a brief encounter with the visiting Russian prince "Sergei" (Vittorio Gassman). The two fall hook, line, and sinker but he must leave to rejoin his regiment. Meantime, she is adopted by musical maestro "Doria" (Robert Alda) who takes her under his wing and to Paris where she is swiftly the talk of the town. A brief but rather controversial reunion with her princely beau could put the kibosh on their dreams and so she turns her affections to her co-star "Silvani" (Gino Sinimberghi) but when he falls victim to an on-stage mishap, it's her mentor who hopes to capitalise on her confused predicament as her success goes from strength to strength. With an imperial command performance in St. Petersburg looming, it looks like she and "Sergei" might be thrown together again, but will that be a good thing or disastrous? Gassman is adequate here as the dashingly uniformed prince, and the others do fine in support - but this is really a vehicle for a star who glides effortlessly through this story delivering plenty of grand scale set-pieces as well as a lively duel with her feisty rival "Manolita" (Tamara Lees). The production designers, costumiers and orchestrations are as impressive as anything Hollywood was producing in the mid 1950s, and although it's structurally a little too episodic, it's an enjoyable historical romance that I quite enjoyed.