Doris Dowling

Doris Dowling (1923-2004) was an American actress who had her breakthrough with Billy Wilder's film The Lost Weekend (1945). Between the late 1940s and early 1950s, she acted in a few films in Europe, notably in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949) and Orson Welles' Othello (1952).


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L., Merksem (Anvers). Photo: Lux Film, Rome. Publicity still for Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Doris Dowling and Raf Vallone in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Instituut.

Sobering classic

Doris R. Dowling was born in 1923 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Her older sister was actress Constance Dowling, who was born in 1920 and died relatively young in 1969.

After some Broadway musical stage work as a chorine, Doris followed Constance to Hollywood and made about an equal representation. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "Doris started off auspiciously with the role of the barfly and drinking companion to fellow alcoholic Ray Milland in the sobering classic film The Lost Weekend (1945)." The film, directed by Billy Wilder whom she dated at the time, won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor. It was the first film to deal with the harrowing effects of alcoholism.

Her first credited role led for Doris Dowling to a part as the wife of Alan Ladd in The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall, 1946) also starring Veronica Lake. Linda Rasmussen at AllMovie: "This neat, fast-paced perfectly cast film noir reflects the hard-boiled, grim wit of the author of its screenplay, Raymond Chandler. Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) returns from the war to find his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) having a party and in the arms of another man. Johnny and Helen have a terrible fight, and later Helen is found dead. Johnny must prove his innocence."

She then played the female lead in another Film Noir, The Crimson Key (Eugene Forde, 1947) with Kent Taylor. IMDb reviewer Mozjoukine: "The second string cast meets the need with Dowling surprisingly glamorous. The small budget doesn't get in the way of a B movie slickness." She also had an uncredited part in Billy Wilder's The Emperor Waltz (1948).

However, no other Hollywood offers followed, and Doris decided to leave for Europe, as her sister had done. Constance Dowling had become tired of Hollywood typecasting and had found a more liberating venue for her talents in the Italian cinema.


Small collectors card by Greiling in the series Film Stars der Welt, no. C. 174. Collection: Manuel Palomino Arjona @ Flickr. See his Film Stars der Welt album.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L., Merksem (Anvers). Photo: Doris Dowling and Raf Vallone in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).

Dark, earthy beauty

With her soulful eyes and her dark, earthy beauty, Doris Dowling managed to revive her career in post-war Italy where Neo-Realism had changed the history of the cinema. Films like Roma città aperta/Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945) and Ladri di biciclette/Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948) had taken the world by storm, stunned audiences and won awards all over. The themes of the Neorealist film dramas reflected the realities of the Second World War. Dowling found a part as one of the four protagonists of one of the later successes of this film movement, Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949).

In Bitter Rice, Dowling plays Francesca, a jewel thief who hides in a rice plantation and joins a band of illegal female workers. Then her partner-in-crime Walter (Vittorio Gassman) turns up. While Francesca repents her former life, Walter charms Silvana (Silvana Mangano) in becoming his new partner in crime, stealing from the workers. Soldier Marco (Raf Vallone) loves Silvana and tries to keep her on the right track but she finds him boring. Francesca instead loves Marco. A fight breaks out in a slaughterhouse, and while the men are both hurt, the women take over...

Bitter Rice became one of the biggest worldwide box-office hits of Neo-Realism. Doris Dowling continued her Italian career with Alina (Giorgio Pastina, 1950) opposite Gina Lollobrigida and the adventure film Cuori sul mare/Hearts at Sea (Giorgio Bianchi, 1950) with Jacques Sernas. She also appeared in Orson Welles' European production of Othello/The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1952) playing the role of Bianca. Dan Jardine at AllMovie: "Welles put together a visually exciting accompaniment to the aural delight of Shakespeare's words. The black-and-white cinematography is sterling, while the aggressively angular shots keep the audience a little off-balance throughout."

She returned to the US and theatre and television comprised much of her later work. She appeared on such popular TV shows as Bonanza (1959), Barnaby Jones (1973) and finally, The Dukes of Hazzard (1984). One of her later films was the cult thriller The Car (Elliot Silverstein, 1977). In 1973, she shared an Outer Critics Circle award for her performance in the all-star stage production of 'The Women' on Broadway. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles theatre-based company Theater East.

Doris Dowling died in Los Angeles in 2004. She married three times. From 1952 to 1956, she was wife #7 to band leader Artie Shaw, by whom she had a son, Jonathan Shaw, who became a famous tattoo artist. Her second husband was Robert F. Blumofe (1956-1959) and her third was Leonard B. Kaufman (1960-2004; her death) with whom she had her second child.


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Lux Film, Rome. Publicity still for Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949) with Raf Vallone.


Trailer Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949). Source: CG Entertainment (YouTube).

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Linda Rasmussen (AllMovie), Dan Jardine (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 29 January 2024.

Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (1949)

The Italian melodrama Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (1949) was a product of the Neo-Realism movement of the 1940s. The film was written and directed by Giuseppe De Santis and produced by Dino De Laurentiis for Lux Film. Bitter Rice was a commercial success in both Europe and America, thanks to the ‘shockingly’ sexy performance of Silvana Mangano, dressed in hotpants. The film also starred Raf Vallone, American actress Doris Dowling and a young Vittorio Gassman. The four become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.


Dutch postcard by Filmverhuurkantoor Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Lux Film Rome. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Doris Dowling and Raf Vallone in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949). Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


Dutch postcard by Centrafilm, Dordrecht. Photo: Lux. Doris Dowling and Raf Vallone in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).

Is Riso amaro a Neo-Realist film?

At the time, Neo-Realism was about only 7 years old. Films like Roma Citta Aperta by Roberto Rossellini had taken the world by storm and overwhelmed international audiences and festival juries. But the Neo-Realist films quickly changed in character and Riso amaro/Bitter Rice lead to a dispute among film critics about the sexualisation of the lead character and the melodramatic presence of death and suicide in the film.

At IMDb, Debblyst explains: “Neo-Realist principles (i.e. no stars, mix of professional and non-professional actors, location-only shooting, rejection of ‘beauty’/classicism/romanticism, stressing on ‘ordinary’ people and ‘real-life’ themes) were being stretched: stars were joining in (including international ones, like Ingrid Bergman, or starlets like American Doris Dowling here), productions got bigger and more expensive, crews more professional, equipment more sophisticated, ‘ordinary’ people were being replaced by Olympic beauties (or do ordinary people EVER look like Silvana Mangano or Vittorio Gassman?), ‘ordinary’ characters were getting very complex, and real life was being traded by elaborate, far from realistic drama.”

Riso amaro begins at the start of the rice-planting season in northern Italy. Trying to escape the law, two small-time criminals, Francesca (Doris Dowling) and Walter (Vittorio Gassman), hide amongst the crowds of female workers heading to the rice fields of the Po Valley.

While attempting to board the train for the fields, the pair runs into Silvana (Silvana Mangano), a voluptuous peasant rice worker. Francesca boards the train with her, in an effort to avoid the police. Silvana introduces her to the planter's way of life. Francesca does not have a work permit, and struggles with the other ‘illegals’ to find a place in the rice fields. After initial resistance from documented workers and bosses, the scabs are allowed a place in the fields.

In the fields, Silvana and Francesca meet a soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco (Raf Vallone), who unsuccessfully tries to attract Silvana's interest. Toward the end of the working season, Walter arrives at the fields, intending to steal a large quantity of rice. Excited by his criminal lifestyle, Silvana becomes attracted to Walter. She causes a diversion to help him carry out the heist, but Francesca and Marco manage to stop Walter and his accomplices.

Francesca and Silvana face each other, armed with pistols; Francesca confronts Silvana and explains that she has been manipulated by Walter. In response, Silvana turns her gun toward Walter and murders him. Soon afterwards, her guilt leads her to commit suicide. As the other rice workers depart, they pay tribute to her by sprinkling rice upon her body.


German collectors card. Photo: Lux / Schorchtfilm. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie, Merksem. Photo: Lux Film Rome. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


German postcard by Netter's Star Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Lux Film Rome. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, 1953. Photo: Lux Films / Rey Soria. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Spanish postcard, 1953. Photo: Lux Films / Rey Soria. Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).

Is Riso amaro merely a shocker?

The Italian title of the film, Riso amaro, is based on a pun. The Italian word ‘riso’ can mean either ‘rice’ or ‘laughter’, 'riso amaro' can be taken to mean either ‘bitter laughter’ or ‘bitter rice’.

Lucia Bosé was the director's first choice for the role of Silvana. It wasn't until he met former Miss Rome Silvana Mangano by chance that he decided to cast her in the film. In the film, Silvana chews gum and dances the boogie-woogie in an American way in the film. With her character’s downfall director Giuseppe De Santis seems to have intended to show his condemnation of the products of American capitalism.

Ironically it was Silvana who made the film one of the biggest box office hits of Neo-Realism cinema. To the standards of 1949, Mangano's performance in the film was shocking. Her hotpants and voluptuous figure earned Riso amaro a lot of publicity, in particular in strongly Roman Catholic Italy. But Riso amaro has more qualities than just being a shocker.

W. Visser at IMDb: “Although its mold of 1949 appears somewhat melodramatic today, the black and white Riso Amaro (= Italian for Bitter Rice) surely ranks among the classics in film history. This very Italian product by Giuseppe de Santis shows a pretty ordinary crime story, excellently interwoven with an impressive decor of harsh season labor in the rice-fields of Northern Italy. The thousands of women, up to their ankles in the water, breaking their backs in the burning sun to earn a few bucks, make a truly great setting.”

The film was selected as one of 100 Italian films to be saved, a collection of films that "changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". The collection was established by the Venice Film Festival in collaboration with Cinecittà and curated by Fabio Ferzetti, with input from Gianni Amelio and other Italian film critics. Many of the films selected represent the ‘Golden Age’ of Italian cinema, which was manifested in the Neorealism movement.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie, Merksem. Photo: Lux Film, Rome. Silvana Mangano in Riso Amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L., Merksem (Anvers). Photo: Lux Film, Rome. Doris Dowling in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L., Merksem (Anvers). Photo: Doris Dowling and Raf Vallone in Riso amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe de Santis, 1949).


Italian postcard by Ed. B. B. - V. Photo: publicity still for Riso Amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). Caption: Il canto allevia il lavoro (Singing alleviates work).


Italian postcard by Ed. B. B. - V., no. 72087. Photos: publicity stills for Riso Amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). Caption: Saluti dalla Risaia (greetings from the paddy fields).


British card by International Exchange, Glasgow. Silvana Mangano in Riso Amaro/Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949).

Sources: W. Visser (IMDb), Debbylyst (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.