La presidentessa

Over a period of forty-five years the prolific Belgian born Maurice Hennequin wrote over a hundred comedies, sometimes alone, often with collaborators, most famous of whom was Georges Feydeau. He wrote 'La Presidente' with Pierre Weber who fought a duel with Leon Blum following a bad review by Blum of one of his plays. What a pity that creative artistes are deprived of that facility now! 'La Presidente' has been filmed more than once but the version under review was directed by Pietro Germi with a marvellous cast headed by Silvana Pampanini and Carlo Dapporto. Under Germi's controlled direction this is a joyous, beautifully timed piece that rattles along at a tremendous pace and is played with esprit by all concerned. Carlo Dapporto as the Minister who is utterly besotted with Mademoiselle Gobete is impeccable and Pampanini, as the object of his desire, well, what can say about HER?! The Oestrogen practically jumps off the screen. Germi has once again utilised his chosen cinematographer Leonida Barboni and composer Carlo Rustichelli with production design by Virgilio Marchi. Pampanini is no match of course for Elvira Popescu in 1938 and Mariangela Melato in 1977 is no match for either of them. The subject matter of this piece serves to remind us that the battle of the sexes cannot be won because one spends too much time fraternising with the enemy!