3 reviews
- austrianmoviebuff
- Jul 8, 2006
- Permalink
Well I didn't believe that I could find this film in a serious catalogue! I don't know whether this crazy comedy is very famous outside Italy (I don't think so), but in the group of Italian sexy comedies is one of the most amusing. The story is a typical pretext of "sexual hunt" and "marriage prohibitions", but with much more black humour. The main character, a "slave husband" who tries unsuccessfully to betray his tyrannical wife, crosses the same series of misadventures, but this time he's also kidnapped by two weird criminals, and the wife refuses to pay the ransom. Filmed very poorly, and in a childish way, anyway it is nice, and has two, three sexy scenes (no more). But this film is also important because it is the real end of an era of Italian cinema: "La liceale al mare con l'amica di papà", and some others, close up definitively the era of sexy comedy.
- banchelli_2000
- Apr 18, 2000
- Permalink
This movie seems to be a continuation of the "Liceale" series of Italian sex comedies made popular by Gloria Guida, but with Sabrina Siani replacing Guida. In fact though, the "liceale" (which is actually a "high school girl", not a "college girl" as the English language title suggests) is not the main character here, but rather her father, "Fulgenzio", played by Renzo Montagnini. "Fulgenzio" has a domineering but very kinky wife (Marissa Mell) who always wants him to feel her up in public places (movie theaters, buses, etc.). He is really in love with his young mistress (Cinzia Di Ponti), however, and is depressed that his wife is dragging him away on vacation. So when he finds out his dimwitted teenage daughter (Siani) is flunking Italian, he arranges for his mistress to come along disguised as a a tutor/nun. Meanwhile, two inept kidnappers (Alvaro Vitali and Gianni Cardo) keep kidnapping different members of the family and holding them for ransom, always with disastrous results, and some military troops on maneuvers are driven to distraction by this sexy "nun" who keeps changing her lingerie and sunbathing topless. . .
First, the good news. This is probably the funniest and most entertaining film in this generally lame-ass series. The director Marino Girolamo (the father of director Enzo "The Last Shark" Castellari and the brother of director of Romulo "Sweet Body of Deborah" Guerreri) is probably most famous for the inept zombie/cannibal romp "Zombi Holocaust", but he actually did his best work in sex comedies like this and the superior "Virgin Wife" (with Edwige Fenech and Carol Baker). Renzo Montagnini was probably the best actor in Italian sex comedies next to Lando Buzzanca. This was his first and only "Liceale" film. Alvaro Vitali on the other hand was in pretty much all of these films, but he is funnier and much less annoying in this one since they are not trying to pass him off as a high school student at least.
As the "comedy" goes, this sex comedy is above par, but it disappoints somewhat as a far as the "sex" goes. Of the three female leads only Di Ponti really has any nude scenes. Mell, who is a little past her prime here but still sexy, stays dressed for the most part. Siani, on the other hand, was probably still a year or two shy of her eighteenth birthday (although the movie spends so much time leering at her in her bikini or skimpy lingerie that the lack of actual nudity seems pretty academic). In most of her subsequent roles Siani made even Gloria Guida look like Meryl Streep acting-wise (in the commentary for his film "Cannibals" Jess Franco claimed Siani was the worst actress he ever dealt with--which is REALLY an insult). Amazingly though, Girolami gets a halfway decent performance out of her here. All of which, isn't to say I'd necessarily recommend this, but it has a few things going for it at least.
First, the good news. This is probably the funniest and most entertaining film in this generally lame-ass series. The director Marino Girolamo (the father of director Enzo "The Last Shark" Castellari and the brother of director of Romulo "Sweet Body of Deborah" Guerreri) is probably most famous for the inept zombie/cannibal romp "Zombi Holocaust", but he actually did his best work in sex comedies like this and the superior "Virgin Wife" (with Edwige Fenech and Carol Baker). Renzo Montagnini was probably the best actor in Italian sex comedies next to Lando Buzzanca. This was his first and only "Liceale" film. Alvaro Vitali on the other hand was in pretty much all of these films, but he is funnier and much less annoying in this one since they are not trying to pass him off as a high school student at least.
As the "comedy" goes, this sex comedy is above par, but it disappoints somewhat as a far as the "sex" goes. Of the three female leads only Di Ponti really has any nude scenes. Mell, who is a little past her prime here but still sexy, stays dressed for the most part. Siani, on the other hand, was probably still a year or two shy of her eighteenth birthday (although the movie spends so much time leering at her in her bikini or skimpy lingerie that the lack of actual nudity seems pretty academic). In most of her subsequent roles Siani made even Gloria Guida look like Meryl Streep acting-wise (in the commentary for his film "Cannibals" Jess Franco claimed Siani was the worst actress he ever dealt with--which is REALLY an insult). Amazingly though, Girolami gets a halfway decent performance out of her here. All of which, isn't to say I'd necessarily recommend this, but it has a few things going for it at least.