''A Common Sense of Modesty'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Il comune senso del pudore'') is a 1976 Italian anthology comedy film directed by

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian, voice dubber, director, singer, composer and screenwriter. Sordi is considered one of the most important actors in the history of Italian cinema and one of the b ...

and starring Sordi,

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

and

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...

Plot

The film consists of four segments. The plot centers on the changes in morality that involved Italian society in the 1970s, mainly focusing on the widespread circulation of erotic movies and magazines.

First segment

A mature worker, Giacinto, decides to celebrate his silver wedding anniversary bringing his wife Erminia to the cinema after a long time. Wandering around Rome, they innocently fall into a number of erotic movies. The couple is initially shocked, but soon start to be somehow fascinated by the sexual content.

Second segment

Ottavio Caramessa, a small-town teacher and writer, is hired as a director by a pornographic magazine, jumping suddenly from rags to riches with the help of his extrovert typist, Loredana. He is soon arrested but has no regrets, being certain to fight a noble fight against obscurantism.

Third segment

Tiziano Ballarin, the local magistrate of a small town in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

, takes strict measures against adult magazines. While the village is excited by his moralistic – and in some cases hypocritical – campaign, Tiziano's wife, Armida, becomes the target of one of the magazines her husband harshly fights.

Fourth segment

The award-winning German actress Ingrid Streissberg refuses to shoot a sodomy scene in a film adaptation of ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

'', produced by the hot tempered Giuseppe Costanzo (somewhat inspired by

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian film producer and businessman who held both Italian and American citizenship. Following a brief acting career in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he moved into f ...

). Having invested a great amount of money, he tries everything to convince the star, and even hires a "group of experts" – among which a self-styled progressive priest – to assert the considerable social and cultural relevance of the scene.

Epilogue

The day of the

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

, all the characters express their favorable opinion about the movie.

Cast

; First segment *

as Giacinto Colonna *

Rossana Di Lorenzo Rossana Di Lorenzo (4 March 1938 – 13 August 2022) was an Italian film actress. Life and career Born in Rome, the sister of actor Maurizio Arena, she debuted in a main role in 1970, playing Alberto Sordi's wife in a segment of the anthology ...

as Erminia Colonna * Enrico Marciani as Jolly Cinema director * Macha Magall as the Countess in ''La cavalcata'' *

Franca Scagnetti Franca Scagnetti (17 May 1924 – 1 November 1999) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in over 80 films between 1969 and 1999. She was born and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Ehi amigo, sei morto!'' (1970) - Nathaniel' ...

trattoria A trattoria is an Italian eatery, generally less formal than a ''ristorante'' () but more formal than an '' osteria''. A trattoria rooted in tradition, typically, is without a printed menu, with casual service, wine sold by the decanter rathe ...

waitress ; Second segment * Cochi Ponzoni as prof. Ottavio Caramessa * Florinda Bolkan as Loredana Davoli * Gisela Hahn as Ursula Keller *

Silvia Dionisio Silvia Dionisio (born 28 September 1951) is an Italian actress who appeared in several movies in the 1970s. Life and career Born in Rome, Dionisio made her acting debut when she was only 14 years old in John Schlesinger's '' Darling''. The f ...

as Orchidea *

Giò Stajano Countess Maria Gioacchina Stajano Starace Briganti di Panico, known simply as Giò Stajano (1931–2011), was an Italian socialite, writer, journalist, actress, and painter. In the 1960s, before her transition and gender reassignment surgery (1 ...

as fashion photographer ; Third segment *

as Armida Ballarin *

Pino Colizzi Giuseppe "Pino" Colizzi (born 12 November 1937) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Rome, Colizzi started his career on stage at 17 years old, then he graduated at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico a ...

as Tiziano Ballarin ; Fourth segment *

as Giuseppe Costanzo *

Dagmar Lassander Dagmar Lassander (born as Dagmar Regine Hager on 16 June 1943) is a German actress. The character of Lassander Dagmar in the Italian-influenced 2015 horror film '' We Are Still Here'' is named after her. Early life and career She was born in ...

as Ingrid Streissberg *

David Warbeck David Warbeck (born David Mitchell; 17 November 1941 – 23 July 1997) was a New Zealand actor and model best known for his roles in European exploitation and horror films. A native of Christchurch, New Zealand, Warbeck became involved in loca ...

as Mellors *

Renzo Marignano Renzo Marignano (26 March 1923 – 25 November 1987), sometimes credited as Renzo Marignani, was an Italian actor and film director. Born in Genoa, after World War II Marignano was one of the founders of ''Cimofilm'', a production company specia ...

as ''Lady Chatterley 76'' director *

Giacomo Furia Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998. Life and career Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting care ...

as ''Lady Chatterley 76'' production manager * Armando Brancia as Mainardi * Manfred Freyberger as Ingrid's husband *

Ugo Gregoretti Ugo Gregoretti (28 September 1930 – 5 July 2019) was an Italian film, television and stage director, actor, screenwriter, author and television host. He directed 20 films during his career. Biography Born in Rome, Gregoretti entered RAI ...

as critic * Giulio Cesare Castello as second critic * Marina Cicogna as production advisor * Jimmy il Fenomeno as himself

Production

The film was announced by

Cineriz ''Cineriz'' was an Italian Filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company, founded in 1956 by the businessman Angelo Rizzoli. The company produced and/or distributed films by Federico Fellini, Gillo Pontecorvo, Luchino Vi ...

in 1975, as an omnibus comedy film starring Sordi,

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian ac ...

Monica Vitti Maria Luisa Ceciarelli (3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022), known professionally as Monica Vitti, was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. She appeared with Marcel ...

and

Paolo Villaggio Paolo Villaggio (; 30 December 1932 — 3 July 2017) was an Italian actor, comedian, film director, and writer. He is noted for the characters he created with paradoxical and grotesque characteristics: Professor Kranz, the ultra-timid Giandom ...

, each one directing his segment.

Release

The film was released in Italian cinemas by Cineriz on 10 April 1976.

Reception

Film historian Rémi Fournier Lanzoni described ''A Common Sense of Modesty'' as "a courageous film, as it represented a difficult subject and in particular the immaturity of an Italian public poorly prepared to face the amorality of the pornographic film industry and the subsequent sottocultura (mass subculture) it provided". Domestically, the film was a box office success, grossing over 1,700 million lire.

References

External links

* 1976 films 1970s Italian-language films Commedia all'italiana Films about pornography Films directed by Alberto Sordi Films scored by Piero Piccioni Films set in Rome Films set in Italy 1976 comedy films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-comedy-film-stub