La bella mugnaia

This very earthy comedy was based on the play "The Three-Cornered Hat" from the Spanish novel of Alarcon. It is a subject which director Mario Camerini had previously filmed in 1935. This CinemaScope/Technicolor remake was a modest success in the States after its release, although not so big a hit with the Catholic Legion of Decency which condemned it. The film has Vittorio De Sica as a lecherous governor of Naples in 1680 who lusts after the wives of several peasants, particularly the miller's wife Carmela, played by a ravishing Sophia Loren. The miller himself, played by a youngish Marcello Mastroianni, plans to avenge his honor by seducing the wife of the governor. Wonderful fun boasting a great cast and one of the earliest pairings of Loren and Mastroianni.