Pão de Açúcar

An American actress (Rhonda Fleming) visits a college chum in Brazil, meets a wealthy coffee-grower (Rossano Brazzi), and marries him before the visit is over. Envisioning him as a Latin lover, she finds herself married instead to a workaholic with an old-world point of view. But as a modern woman used to working for a living, whose every need is now supplied by a household full of servants, she struggles to adjust to the cultural differences and to fill her days with useful activity.

Enter an oily American (William Redfield), a U.S. government efficiency expert in Brazil on assignment, who pursues our heroine at every opportunity. Eventually, she turns his relentless advances to her own advantage in a desperate attempt to resolve her situation.

Burdened by a trite script and at times seemingly ponderous proceedings, Pão de Açúcar is saved by lush photography, gorgeous costumes, a brilliant orchestral score (mid-20th century European style), and the efforts of its stars.

What is truly remarkable, however, is the near-seamless continuity in the final edit of this film that the stars and others associated with it thought was never finished due to financial insufficiencies.