It was Bette Davis last great film and in the States we don't even know it exists. I think it was released in secrecy under the title "The Scientific card-player" and if I'm not wrong dubbed in English, I wonder who was the marketing genius behind that move. The film is a tragicomic gem. Bette Davis speaks a few words in English and the very few words in Italian she utters where dubbed but, I swear to you I thought it was her. The work of the dubber is astonishing. Totally seamless. I hear she didn't get along with Alberto Sordi, what a surprise. She referred to him as "Mr. Sordid". But beyond those little trivia things, let me tell you, it's a wonderful film. Alberto Sordi, one of the greatest but practically unknown in the States, gives a sensational performance. A brutally comic, full of pathos tour de force. Silvana Mangano playing an under proletarian is a delight and Joseph Cotten is Joseph Cotten in the loveliest possible way. I haven't mention what the film is about and I'm not going to. I couldn't do it justice. Try to find it somewhere. You'll thank me, but don't bother, the pleasure was all mine.
