Madonna of the Seven Moons

I saw this movie when it first came out and have yet to figure out why it was such a popular success. Its surely one of the silliest movies ever made with a a cast of English actors in operatic style Gypsy get-up -

seems everyone wore jangly earing's and swaggered around while Phyllis Calvert (God rest her) one of the most English of actresses portrayed an Italian girl possessed by wayward uncontrollable passions (usually portrayed in those days by the luscious Gina Lollobrigida) Its really a trip through the costume wardrobe of an Italian opera. See it strictly for laughs. It would have only needed the Ritz brothers to appear half way though to get the whole thing together

This has got to be one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen. Not a dull moment to be had, and while it's not a thriller, it will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat. And boy are the love scenes steamy or what?? The only possible gripe is that it's extremely hard to believe that Miss Calvert could possibly have a daughter Miss Roc's age, and the casting is made even funnier when one knows the actual age difference between them (about 4 months), and has seen them act together in other movies where they play same-age friends, rather than inventing some non-existent 18 year age gap. Thus said, there truly would be no two women better suited to the roles, and they play their parts splendidly, with Phyllis Calvert expressing the mental anguish of her character's with such calibre that it certainly rivals Vivien Leigh's Blanche du Bois.

This is arguably one of Gainsborough's best films ever, and as important in its own way, as "Brief Encounter." Gainsborough is sometimes criticized as a purveyor of "high toned" tosh for shop girls, yet no one did what they excelled in as well.

And "Madonna of the Seven Moons" excels in all departments. If some of its scenes and dialogue seem to beg a Carol Burnett parody, the film nonetheless grabs you from the first moment and doesn't let go till "The End."

Just try looking away!

The story: A convent bred schoolgirl is molested by a peasant, leading to dramatic repercussions in her later married life that impact both her husband and daughter.

And what a slick, juicy cinematic feast it is--with all the trimmings: psychiatry, nervous breakdowns, rebellious teen-age daughters, rhumba bands, dens of iniquity, fashion shows, Stewart Granger in gypsy pancake, male suiters and gigolos seemingly recruited from a "Brideshead Revisited" casting call, and all set against lavish settings from England to Italy (the art direction is A-1).

With such breadth of scope, mood, and tone, one would not be remotely surprised to see both Todd Slaughter and Olivier show up in the same scene, even though they don't.

The religious beginning and closing, with a genuinely touching depiction of Extreme Unction are deeply affecting.

It's also nice to see British stage great Reginald Tate in a rare screen performance.

Sin, redeem and save never had it so good! Highly recommended.

A dual personality is the subject of "Madonna of the Seven Moons," a true story. It was released in 1945, starring Phyllis Calvert, Patricia Roc, Peter Glenville, Reginald Tate, and John Stuart.

The story takes place in the early part of the 20th century, when Maddelena, an Italian teen, is attacked while she is walking in the woods.

Maddelena ends up in a convent, and when it's time for her to leave, she doesn't want to. However, she has been betrothed to marry Giuseppe Labardi (Stuart). She gives birth to their daughter Angela over a year later.

Then we flash to the 1940s. Maddelena seems very happy with Labardi and seems well loved and respected. Their daughter Angela (Roc), who is very grown up, modern, and vivacious, is due home from school.

It's then we learn that there is something strange about Maddelena, that she is a troubled woman who a few years back, disappeared from the Labardi home and returned some time later.

Mentally scarred and our story flashes forward to the 1940s where Maddelena is still troubled. She disappears one day and her daughter vows to find her.

Maddelena has another life, that of a gypsy involved with a crook, played by Stewart Granger. It is a passionate and adventurous life. No one at home knows where she has gone, and their only clue is a sketch of something called The Madonna of the Seven Moons, earrings with dangling quarter moons from the base. Angela sets out to find her, with this as her only clue.

It's an okay film from Gainsborough Studios, a melodramatic one that seems overwrought. I will say Stewart Granger is quite handsome with his dark curly hair. Interestingly, Calvert and Roc were the same age although they played mother and daughter.

The ego to the id of 'Brief Encounter', this rollicking nonsense described by the Robsons as "typical Italian schizophrenic rubbish" made the hearts of British women race when it originally hit cinemas eighty years today during the final winter of the war.

They thrilled to the exploits of respectable middle class housewife Phyllis Calvert and her wanton alter ego as a curly haired hussy regularly bursting into song and flashing her heels in a succession of low dives to the accompaniment of a gypsy guitar; although it later prompted Stewart Granger to lament "Oh dear, I should never have signed that contract" as in the words of the late David Shipman the film "gets dafter and dafter".

Wonderful!!