Sete Vezes Mulher

Shirley MacLaine playing seven different women in seven short stories directed by Vittorio De Sica about male-female relationships. Putting indefatigable Shirley in a variety of wigs and costumes opposite a host of male and female stars in guest cameos probably sounded foolproof, but the movie progressively loses steam after its opening episode at a funeral (and the whole idea reminds one of MacLaine's "What a Way to Go!" besides). Alan Arkin, Rossano Brazzi, Shirley's "Gambit" co-star Michael Caine, Elsa Martinelli, Anita Ekberg, Vittorio Gassman and a pre-"Being There" Peter Sellers offer some cute bits and pieces, but this isn't the comedic tour-de-force MacLaine's fans were hoping for. US-French-Italian co-production doesn't look terribly good, while director De Sica's work is scattershot. ** from ****

Even the old bad films to me are a hundred times better than what I see today. Although it is a silly film, Shirley is fabulous and looks wonderful in each story line. I love foreign films made in Paris, France and Italy so this was a treat with all the fabulous location shots. Peter Sellers of course is genius as he always was!

I never saw this film and I am an old movie buff so I was glad to see some one in particular. Vittorio DeSica made this film in 1967 which appeared to be slightly different than some of his films.

I still think the film is worth seeing if you are a Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine fan.

There are two types of movies that came out of the 1960s: strange, experimental films and lusciously colored films that made later generations ask, "Were the sixties really like that?" Woman Times Seven is a mixture of both, which would be a reason to watch it, if you're interested in different types of classic films. The movie has beautiful costumes, lavish colors, and oddly 60s music; and at the same time, it's strange and experimental. Seven completely unrelated short stories—each about infidelity—are played out, all starring Shirley MacLaine! She really is darling, so if you want to see her in various wigs and furs, and with beautiful expressions from heavily made up eyes, you won't want to miss this one.

The vignettes themselves aren't really all that good. Shirley has several different costars, including Peter Sellars, Alan Arkin, Rossano Brazzi, and Michael Caine. But the plots vary from silly to stalker-y to sad. It's not the best movie out there, but it won't hurt you if you want to see pretty people up on the screen.

Woman Times Seven may not be the greatest film IL' Shirl has ever made ("Being There" comes to mind), and it may not be her high water mark for sheer feminine beauty (the scene where she's on the elevating psychiatrist's couch in "What A Way To Go" certainly takes that prize), but just to look at her as the grieving widow, to the surprise revelation of that cute little bow at the back of her apron in such a strategic place, to how she CLEARLY was the most spectacular femme at the opera...ah, what a piece of work is woman!

In this day and age, where women think that they don't need makeup, or stockings, or stiletto pumps, where hair is considered attractive if it looks like one just got out of bed and used fingers alone, and before they wake up and realize that tattoos and piercings are sooo trampy, that quick-cut set of takes where she is at once the house mouse in her little peignoir and just as instantly the SAME WOMAN is the man-eating vixen Simone is CLEAR CUT PROOF that with the right grooming and wardrobe ANY woman can be a goddess. I've been saying THAT for years, but no one but the cinematic cognoscenti would even know what I'm talking about.

Beyond that, the flick has EXACTLY the right taste of Sixties-flick, and that's enough said. Remember: Heaven will be all-Sixties forever.

JTC

Shirley plays the lead in seven different stories in Paris in different love situations. The best one is the sixth, a marvellous travesty of Marcel Carné's "Le jour se lève" with Jean Gabin and Arletty, and almost identically in the same squalid hotel, where Shirley and Alan Arkin intend to do themselves in, but there are arguments about it. This is great fun and Cesare Zavattini and Vittorio de Sica at their best. The other episodes are rather uneven, but the second one, where Shirley comes home to find her husband (Rossano Brazzi) in bed with another woman, whereupon she runs out in the streets in a panic and happen to a bunch of prostitutes in the park, who decide to help her, while her husband comes running out in the streets after her in his pyjamas, is also well written. The tendency of the others is that you will eventually get a bit tired of finding only Shirley MacLaine in all of them - there is a little of Anita Ekberg in the last of them, but not much. All other characters are subordinate. It is entertaining on the whole, but you don't laugh much, while instead you find some situations rather awkward and painful, like the luxurious opera spectacle with Patrick Wymark in a typical role of his. Peter Sellers is excellent in the very first episode, which is the briefest. In brief, this is not one of de Sica-Zavattini's best works, but it has some excellent highlights.