I never knew about this film until I saw it on Netflix and decided to rent the DVD. I have always loved Sophia Loren. Along with Audrey Hepburn, she was my favorite female star growing up. Here's a 50s kitchen sink drama that if you look too hard seems awfully implausible. Loren plays the widow of a mafioso who has been killed drying to give his Italian-born wife (Sophia) everything her heart desires. Now a grief-stricken widow, she's trying to make ends meet while coping with a son who keeps running away until he is sent to a reform school. Her nosy next-door neighbor wants to fix Sophia up with a family friend, but Sophia resists, wallowing in her own self-pity and guilt, convinced her desire for material needs has caused her husband's death.
Enter Athony Quinn, a somewhat older man--a widower with a grown daughter (Ina Balin) on the eve of her own marriage. Quinn's wife has died, apparently suffering from some form of mental breakdown and Quinn's daughter has been lovingly and obsessively taking care of her father. Quinn notices Sophia and falls for her right away. After resisting his advances, she finally begins to date him and in not time at all, Quinn proposes, saying he will sell the New York home in Little Italy and move to Somerville, NJ near his factory, and help her get her son out of reform school and live happily as a family.
The difficulty here is Quinn's possessive daughter, who is now insisting that her fiancé move into with her and daddy after they marry. He understandably balks at the suggestion and whenever they argue, she has the bad habit of simply walking away from him.
Of course when she finds out that her Dad wants to marry "that Mafia woman," Quinn's daughter has a meltdown. In a confrontation, Daddy slaps daughter who retires to her bedroom refusing to come out. All is resolved when Sophia takes matters in her own hands and confronts the daughter. Sophia and Quinn are blissfully reunited, and her son is released form the reform school. The daughter is reconciled with her fiancé, and they all live happily ever after.
This is utterly absurd and doesn't make a bit of sense. However, under Martin Ritt's expert direction, Sophia delivers an expert, subtly acted performance that she would later become truly famous for. Quinn is outstanding, but you've seen this big, sensitive and physically imposing performance before. The daughter's role is the big hole in this movie, and newcomer Balin cannot do a thing to make her likable. The rest of the cast does their job expertly.
Still the movie achieves wonderfully acted moments and anything that Sophia did during this period is worth watching. Her Hollywood years didn't yield a lot of outstanding studio movies, but she always transcends the thin material she's given. Sophia's essential luminescence always shines through. More than worthwhile.
Enter Athony Quinn, a somewhat older man--a widower with a grown daughter (Ina Balin) on the eve of her own marriage. Quinn's wife has died, apparently suffering from some form of mental breakdown and Quinn's daughter has been lovingly and obsessively taking care of her father. Quinn notices Sophia and falls for her right away. After resisting his advances, she finally begins to date him and in not time at all, Quinn proposes, saying he will sell the New York home in Little Italy and move to Somerville, NJ near his factory, and help her get her son out of reform school and live happily as a family.
The difficulty here is Quinn's possessive daughter, who is now insisting that her fiancé move into with her and daddy after they marry. He understandably balks at the suggestion and whenever they argue, she has the bad habit of simply walking away from him.
Of course when she finds out that her Dad wants to marry "that Mafia woman," Quinn's daughter has a meltdown. In a confrontation, Daddy slaps daughter who retires to her bedroom refusing to come out. All is resolved when Sophia takes matters in her own hands and confronts the daughter. Sophia and Quinn are blissfully reunited, and her son is released form the reform school. The daughter is reconciled with her fiancé, and they all live happily ever after.
This is utterly absurd and doesn't make a bit of sense. However, under Martin Ritt's expert direction, Sophia delivers an expert, subtly acted performance that she would later become truly famous for. Quinn is outstanding, but you've seen this big, sensitive and physically imposing performance before. The daughter's role is the big hole in this movie, and newcomer Balin cannot do a thing to make her likable. The rest of the cast does their job expertly.
Still the movie achieves wonderfully acted moments and anything that Sophia did during this period is worth watching. Her Hollywood years didn't yield a lot of outstanding studio movies, but she always transcends the thin material she's given. Sophia's essential luminescence always shines through. More than worthwhile.