''It Started in Naples'' is a 1960 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Melville Shavelson Melville Shavelson (April 1, 1917 – August 8, 2007) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987. Biog ...

and produced by Jack Rose from a screenplay by

Suso Cecchi d'Amico Suso Cecchi D'Amico (21 July 1914 – 31 July 2010) was an Italian screenwriter and actress. She won the 1980 David di Donatello Award for lifetime career. She worked with virtually all of the most celebrated post-war Italian film directors, and w ...

, based on the story by

Michael Pertwee Michael Henry Pertwee (24 April 1916, Kensington, London – 17 April 1991, Camden, London) was an English playwright and screenwriter. Among his credits were episodes of '' The Saint'', ''Danger Man'', ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', '' B-And ...

and Jack Davies. The

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...

cinematography was directed by Robert Surtees. The film stars

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cin ...

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

and an Italian cast. This was Gable's final film to be released within his lifetime and his last film in color.

Hal Pereira Hal Pereira (April 29, 1905 – December 17, 1983) was an American art director, production designer, and occasional architect. Pereira was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Sarah (Friedberg) and Saul Pereira. In the 1940s through the 1960s ...

Roland Anderson Roland Anderson (November 18, 1903 – October 29, 1989) was an American movie art director. He received 15 Academy Award nominations but never won an Oscar. Anderson's first Oscar nomination was for his first film in 1933, ''A Farewell to Arms ...

Samuel M. Comer Samuel M. Comer (July 13, 1893 – December 27, 1974) was a set decorator who worked on over 300 films during a career spanning four decades. He won four Academy Awards and was nominated for another 22 in the category Best Art Direction. He guid ...

and Arrigo Breschi were nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for its

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

The film was released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...

on August 7, 1960.

Plot

Only a few days before his wedding, Michael Hamilton, a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

lawyer, travels to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's admini ...

in southern Italy to settle the estate of his late brother, Joseph, with Italian lawyer Vitale. In the opening narration, he states that he "was here before with the

5th US Army The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM.

" in World War II. In Naples, Michael discovers that his brother had a son, eight-year-old Nando, who is being cared for by his maternal aunt Lucia, a cabaret singer. Joseph never married Nando's mother but drowned with her in a boating accident. Joseph's actual wife, whom he had left in 1950, is alive in Philadelphia. Michael discovers to his dismay that his brother spent a fortune on fireworks. After seeing Nando handing out racy photos of Lucia at 2 a.m., Michael wants to enroll Nando in the American School at Rome, but Lucia wins custody of the boy. Despite the age difference, romance soon blossoms between Michael and Lucia, and he decides to stay in Italy.

Cast

as Michael Hamilton *

as Lucia Curcio *

as Mario Vitale * Carlo Angeletti ("Marietto") as Nando Hamilton *

Paolo Carlini Paolo Carlini (6 January 1922 – 3 November 1979) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1940 and 1979. He is perhaps best-known to international audiences for his supporting role as the hairdresser ...

as Renzo * Giovanni Filidoro as Gennariello *

Claudio Ermelli Claudio Ermelli (24 July 1892 – 29 October 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1915 to 1962. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ermelli, Claudio 1892 births 1964 death ...

as Luigi * Bob Cunningham as Don Mc Guire (train passenger) *

Marco Tulli Marco Tulli (20 November 1920 – 20 March 1982) was an Italian character actor, probably best known in the role of "Smilzo" in the Don Camillo film series. Born in Rome, Tulli debuted as actor while he was still a university student, at the end ...

Carlo Rizzo Carlo Rizzo (April 30, 1907 – July 26, 1979) was an Italian stage and film actor.Chiti & Poppi p.333 He was the brother of the actor Alfredo Rizzo. A regular in post-war Italian cinema he also featured in several American films produced in It ...

Yvonne Monlaur Yvonne Monlaur (born Yvonne-Thérèse-Marie-Camille Bédat de Monlaur; 15 December 1939 – 18 April 2017) was a French film actress of the late 1950s and 1960s best known for her roles in the Hammer horror films. Early years Monlaur was born ...

Production

One highlight of the film is a tongue-in-cheek musical number by Loren called " Tu vuò fà l'americano" ("You Want to Be American"), written by famed Neapolitan composer

Renato Carosone Renato Carosone (; born Renato Carusone; 3 January 1920 – 20 May 2001) was an Italian musician. He was a prominent figure of the Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called ' ...

. Angeletti did not speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and learned his lines phonetically, which he had also done in his previous film, in which he mouthed

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

lines without knowing how to speak German. On the second day of filming of a courtroom scene, an actor portraying one of the judges seen in the first day's footage was unavailable because he had plans to take his family to the beach. The actor sent his brother in his place, who did not resemble him. It was filmed on location in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

and

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has bee ...

Reception

Writing in ''The New York Times'', critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called the film a "featherweight, obvious romance" but praised Loren: "Among the scenic attractions ... is an eyeful named Sophia Loren. ... And the

Bay of Naples A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

, the Blue Grotto, the port of Capri and numerous vistas on the Mediterranean are scarcely as stunning as she.", and that even Clark Gable "lets himself be exposed throughout the picture as a sort of sourpuss in the shadow of the girl." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that the script and Shavelson's direction "try too hard to make the film up-roariously funny and risque. When the wit flows naturally, it is a delight; when it strains, it pains." However, Gable and Loren are "a surprisingly effective and compatible comedy pair", and that above all, Loren offered "a vigorous and amusing performance". Conversely, film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

said that the star duo "never clicks as love match, but they do their best". French newspaper ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' wrote that ''It Started in Naples'', "even more than the world of comics, evokes that of the easy picturesque postcards in favor of foreign tourists. This film, imbued with a sentimentality of charming songs, is helmed by an American, Melville Shavelson, who has hired, no doubt for the purposes of the co-production, Sophia Loren and Clark Gable. Both lack conviction, and we cannot blame them. It is however not unpleasant to look at Sophia Loren who, in spite of some added grimaces, remained superb of casualness, of health. Clark Gable bears his role with despondency, and over his marked face passes a kind of weary tension, as if it already foreshadows the illness that would suddenly take him away." (The review was written in February 1961, three months after Gable's death the previous November.) For the German ''Lexikon des internationalen Films'' ("Lexicon of International Films"), ''It Began in Naples'' is a "star comedy" that could come up with "many whimsical punchlines" and was "amiably entertaining". German film magazine ''Cinema'' thought it was "gorgeous how the fiery Loren is allowed to sing, dance and above all rant wildly to her heart's content", while saying that the romance portrayed between her and Clark Gable is convincing "but at most is on paper." German supplement ''Prisma'' said that the "thoroughbred woman Sophia Loren is in her element", and that in the film she is "as we know her and like to see her best."

Home media

It was released to DVD in North America in 2005.

References

External links

* {{Melville Shavelson 1960 films 1960s English-language films Paramount Pictures films 1960 romantic comedy films Films directed by Melville Shavelson Films set in Naples American romantic comedy films Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico Films scored by Carlo Savina Films set in Capri, Campania Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini 1960s American films