La rivale

I first saw this movie on T.V. when we subscribed to an extra channel back in the '70's so we could watch lots of films, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one to the point where I still remember it well. The story may not be completely original, but I liked the idea of the wife becoming the "friend" of the mistress. It's practically a lesson on how to deal with infidelity. I've been watching for the DVD ever since.

Jean Piat ,who recently passed away ,was a famous stage actor ,who made a handful of movies and many MTV works .Bibi Andersson is a world-wide famous actress , known for the work she did with Ingmar Bergman ; Genevieve Fontanel and Valentine Tessier (whose most famous part was madame Bovary in Renoir's eponymous film) could provide them with good support.Given the talent involved,it's a shame they were given such trite hackneyed material to work with: the umpteenth story of the husband preyed to middle-aged lust :he has a love affair his wife overhears during a phone call ;she decides to make acquaintance with her "rival " (hence the title).This is a screenplay straight out of the ark ,and mediocre director Sergio Gobbi does nothing to rectify this ponderous vaudeville .