''It Started in Naples'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson and produced by Jack Rose from a screenplay by Suso Cecchi d'Amico, 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-A ...

and Jack Davies. The Technicolor cinematography was directed by Robert Surtees. The film stars Clark Gable,

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 ci ...

, Vittorio De Sica and an Italian cast. This was Gable's final film to be released within his lifetime and his last film in color. Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson, Samuel M. Comer and

Arrigo Breschi Arrigo Breschi was an Italian set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film '' It Started in Naples'' (1960) which starred Clark Gable, Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Sc ...

were nominated for an Oscar 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 company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

on August 7, 1960.

Plot

Only a few days before his wedding, Michael Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, travels to Naples in

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

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

* Clark Gable as Michael Hamilton *

as Lucia Curcio * Vittorio De Sica as Mario Vitale * Carlo Angeletti ("Marietto") as Nando Hamilton * Paolo Carlini as Renzo * Giovanni Filidoro as Gennariello * Claudio Ermelli as Luigi * Bob Cunningham as Don Mc Guire (train passenger) * Marco Tulli * Carlo Rizzo * Yvonne Monlaur

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. Angeletti did not speak English and learned his lines phonetically, which he had also done in his previous film, in which he mouthed German 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, Naples 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 been ...

Reception

Writing in ''The New York Times'', critic Bosley Crowther 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 narr ...

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