''Her Harem'' ( it, L'harem, released in UK as ''The Harem'') is a 1967 Italian comedy-drama film written and directed by

Marco Ferreri Marco Ferreri (11 May 1928 – 9 May 1997) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, who began his career in the 1950s directing three films in Spain, followed by 24 Italian films before his death in 1997. He is considered one of ...

and starring

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

Gastone Moschin Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Career Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began ...

and

Renato Salvatori Renato Salvatori (20 March 1933 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actor. Born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca, Salvatori began his career in his teens playing juvenile, romantic roles. After working with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Ro ...

Plot

A woman has a number of male lovers so, during a holiday in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

, she puts them together, with a stratagem, in her villa, in a sort of reverse

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

Cast

as Margherita *

as Gianni *

as Gaetano * William Berger as Mike * Michel Le Royer as René * Clotilde Sakaroff as Gaetano's mother *

Ugo Tognazzi Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...

as himself

Production

It was the first film Baker made in Europe. She was having difficulties in her career in Hollywood and was offered the role when she met the director at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. Baker says the film was meant to be a comedy but the director "lost his courage at the last minute... it would have been wonderful as a comedy but he cut out all the funny scenes and put a serious ending on it."

Reception

The film was a box office flop - "''Harem'' just didn't work out," Baker later said, "those things happen." However it launched a successful career for Baker in Europe.

References

External links

* 1967 films Italian romantic comedy-drama films 1960s romantic comedy-drama films Films set in Croatia Films directed by Marco Ferreri Films scored by Ennio Morricone 1967 drama films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s Italian films {{comedy-drama-film-stub