''Avanti!'' (;

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 ...

interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling, situation or reaction. It is a diverse category, with many different types, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curses (''da ...

– 'come in!') is a 1972

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced and directed by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

, and starring

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...

and

Juliet Mills Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is a British-American actress. Mills began her career as a child actress and was nominated at age 18 for a Tony Award for her stage performance in ''Five Finger Exercise'' in 1960. She progressed to ...

. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on

Samuel A. Taylor Samuel A. Taylor (June 13, 1912 – May 26, 2000) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Biography Born Samuel Albert Tanenbaum to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, Taylor made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut as author of t ...

's play, which had a short run for the 1968

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

season.''Avanti!''
on the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

It was co-produced by Wilder and Diamond's Phalanx Productions and Lemmon's

Jalem Productions John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received numer ...

. The film follows a businessman attempting to recover the body of his father from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It premiered on December 17, 1972. The film was nominated for six

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

(Wilder),

Best Screenplay This list of screenwriting awards for film is an index to articles on notable awards given for film screenwriting. The list is organized by region and country of the awards venue or sponsor, but winners are not necessarily restricted to people fro ...

(Diamond & Wilder), Best Supporting Actor — Motion Picture (Revill), Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical (Mills), and Best Actor – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical—the last of which was won by Lemmon, who set a record by winning his third Golden Globe in this particular category.

Plot

Wendell Armbruster Jr. embarks on a journey to

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...

to claim his father's body, killed in an automobile accident during an annual trip to the resort island in 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, ci ...

. For the past decade, Baltimore industrialist Wendell Armbruster Sr. has spent a month each year at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, ostensibly for the therapeutic

mud bath A mud bath is a therapeutic spa treatment that involves soaking in a bath of warm mud, often in a natural hot spring or geothermal pool. Mud baths have been used for centuries as a way to promote health and relaxation, and are still popular t ...

s. On his way, Wendell Jr. encounters Pamela Piggott, a traveler from London who has come to Ischia to claim the body of her mother, Catherine. Wendell learns that his father and Pamela’s mother died together in the same car accident. To Wendell's surprise, he discovers that his father ("Willie") had been having an affair with Pamela's mother ("Kate") throughout those ten years, despite maintaining a marriage in Baltimore. Already aware of this clandestine annual meeting between their parents, Pamela suggests burying them together on Ischia, a proposal that does not resonate with Wendell. Wendell wants to take his father’s remains back home for a formal memorial, unrealistically scheduled in three days’ time, to be broadcast to employees, the Coast Guard, and US dignitaries (including Henry Kissinger) as befits his status. As the hotel manager, Carlo Carlucci, plans a funeral and the transport of Wendell Sr.'s remains, the duo faces constant delays due to the bureaucratic hurdles and the leisurely pace of work inherent in Italian traditions. Arrogant and impatient of the red tape, Wendell acts out rudely to Pamela, the hotel staff, and Italian administrators. A complicated series of events unfolds. Their plans are disrupted when the bodies mysteriously vanish from the morgue. Wendell suspects Pamela initially, but they soon discover that the Trotta family, whose vineyard suffered damage in the car accident, has stolen the remains. The Trottas demand a hefty ransom of two million lire, revealing another "Italian tradition" - extortion. Simultaneously, the hotel valet, Bruno, deported from America and seeking to return, attempts

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

using compromising photos of "Willie and Kate." Initially, the boorish Wendell is ungallant with regard to Pamela’s being about 20 pounds overweight, calling her "Fat-Ass" within earshot. As they re-create their parents’ traditional activities together during their annual flings - prodded by the hotel staff who stage events in fond tribute to the popular deceased couple - Pamela’s caring nature mollifies Wendall’s arrogance and they fall in love. Bruno’s blackmail photos now also include naked photos of Wendell and Pamela as they bathed together in the bay. Bruno is shot dead by Anna, a pregnant chambermaid, when she learns that he wants to avoid marrying her and instead is plotting to return to the US with money raised by blackmail. Despite these complications, Wendell's wife back in the States, using her connections, expedites the situation by involving State Department Agent J.J. Blodgett. Growing sympathetic to the clandestine couple’s long commitment to each other, Wendell accedes to Willie and Kate being buried together in the Carlucci family's burial vault. This leaves the problem of sending a body back to be escorted by Blodgett. Ironically fulfilling blackmailer Bruno's wish of going back to the America, they place his remains in a coffin marked as Wendell Senior's. After enjoying the mud baths, Blodgett appoints Wendell Sr. to an embassy post, cynically promoting "

Equal Opportunity Employment Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity ...

" of the deceased - unaware of the doubly cynical ploy resulting in the coffin holding Bruno's remains. Blodgett then sends "Wendell Sr.'s coffin," to the US in a

diplomatic pouch A diplomatic bag, also known as a diplomatic pouch, is a container with certain legal protections used for carrying official correspondence or other items between a diplomatic mission and its home government or other diplomatic, consular, or other ...

, where it will not be opened and is destined for a closed-casket ceremony. Carlucci assures Wendell and Pamela that their suite will be reserved for them during the same time next year, continuing their parents' tradition. Pamela assures Wendell that she will have lost the excess weight, to which he replies gallantly that if she loses even one pound, their liaison is off. Concluding their stay in Ischia, Wendell and Blodgett head to the Rome airport aboard a U.S. Navy helicopter.

Cast

Production

Development

Although Taylor's play had closed on

in early 1968 after 21 performances, (it was profiled in the

William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Aca ...

book '' The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway'')

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...

Charles Feldman Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency. According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Holly ...

, who previously had interested Wilder in filming ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with George Axelrod. Based on Axelrod's 1952 The Seven Year Itch (play), play of the same name, the film stars Marilyn Monroe ...

,'' had purchased the screen rights and offered the property to the director. Wilder began working on ''

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, ...

,'' and it was not until that film was completed that he focused on ''Avanti!'' Diamond was absent, and Wilder collaborated first with Julius J. Epstein and

Norman Krasna Norman Krasna (November 7, 1909 – November 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned Screwball comedy film, screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films ...

but he was unhappy with them. Diamond became free, and with the ultimately uncredited assistance of

Luciano Vincenzoni Luciano Vincenzoni (; 7 March 1926 – 22 September 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, known as the "script doctor". He wrote for some 65 films between 1954 and 2000. Biography Vincenzoni was born in Treviso, Veneto. He is probably best kno ...

, he and Wilder adapted the play. Wilder was determined to create "a bittersweet love story, a little like ''

Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British Romance film#Romantic drama, romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life (play), Still Life''. The film stars Celia Johnson and ...

'', which I always admired," he later recalled.Chandler, Charlotte, ''Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder, A Personal Biography''. New York: Simon & Schuster 2002. , pp. 274-277 After viewing a number of Italian films, Wilder selected cinematographer

Luigi Kuveiller Luigi Kuveiller (3 October 1927 – 10 January 2013) was an Italian cinematographer, best known for his collaboration with film director Elio Petri. Born in Rome, the son of an interior decorator, Kuveiller soon abandoned his studies and began wor ...

based on his work on

Elio Petri Eraclio Petri (29 January 1929 – 10 November 1982), commonly known as Elio Petri, was an Italian film and theatre director, screenwriter and film critic. The Museum of Modern Art described him as "one of the preeminent political and social ...

's 1969 film ''

A Quiet Place in the Country ''A Quiet Place in the Country'' (, ) is a 1968 giallo thriller film directed by Elio Petri, and starring Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave. Based on the short story "The Beckoning Fair One" by Oliver Onions, its plot follows an artist who reloca ...

.''

Casting

Early in the writing period, Wilder showed

some of the completed script and he agreed to play Wendell Armbruster Jr. "Knowing pretty early on Jack was going to be in our film made it more comfortable writing his dialogue," said Diamond, who preferred to tailor a screenplay to a specific actor. Wilder was a fan of Mills from the television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Nanny and the Professor ''Nanny and the Professor'' is an early 1970s American sitcom created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century-Fox Television that aired on ABC from January 21, 1970 until December 27, 1971. During pre-production, the proposed ...

.'' He disliked the series but enjoyed watching the show to see her, as he considered her a good actress with a lot of appeal. He contacted her and personally offered her the role of Pamela Piggott. "I loved Billy Wilder just calling me and asking me to be in his film," the actress recalled, "no lawyer or agent, his voice, not asking for an audition or a screen test." Wilder told her the role required her to gain 25 pounds, and Mills agreed. She also agreed to a nude scene, although Diamond was opposed to including one in the film. "I think nudity hurts laughs," he stated. "I mean, if you're watching somebody's boobs, you're not listening to the dialogue."

Filming

The film is set on the island of Ischia, where some of the exterior scenes were shot, including a brief scene outside the morgue "church Santa Maria del Soccorso" in

Forio Forio (known also as ''Forio of Ischia'') is a town and ''comune'' of c. 17,000 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Naples, southern Italy, situated on the island of Ischia. Overview Its territory includes the town of Panza, the only ''frazi ...

(the interior of which, as with all the interior sets, was designed by Italian production designer

Ferdinando Scarfiotti Ferdinando Scarfiotti (6 March 1941 – 30 April 1994) was an Italian art director and production designer. After graduating in architecture at the University of Rome, he was approached by Luchino Visconti, who asked him to design his stag ...

); at and around the port of Ischia, where Lemmon and Mills visit the island; and on a small rock jutting out of the water just off the shore of Ischia, where the

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

scenes were shot. However, most of the exteriors were filmed in

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

, including the exterior of Lemmon's hotel; on

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. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

, notably the hilltop heliport overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea; and along the

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( or ) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast. Attracting international tourists o ...

. Interiors were filmed on Scarfiotti's sets (including the interior lobby and hotel rooms) at

Safa Palatino Studios The Safa Palatino Studios are a complex of film and television studios in the Italian capital Rome. It is owned by Mediaset, who use it for the production of television programmes. Historically, the site was used as a film studio from the 1930s to ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

following location shooting during the summer of 1972. Principal photography was completed on schedule and $100,000 under budget. Wilder reported that he was disappointed with the film. "Maybe we went overboard with some of the comic relief, because ''Avanti!'' is ''not'' a comedy," he stated. "If this film had worked the way we wanted it to, it would have had more of the quality of ''

The Apartment ''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, with Ray Walston and Edie ...

''. I always feel sorry for the disappointment of the actors, and all those dear technical people who do so much, when the picture doesn't make it the way they hoped. I went much farther with forbidden themes than I had with ''

Kiss Me, Stupid ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' is a 1964 American sex comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Dean Martin, Kim Novak, and Ray Walston. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on the play ''L'ora della fantasia'' ('' ...

'', but nobody cared. Audiences thought it was too long and too bland. I guess they would have liked it better if it turned out the father was having the affair with one of the bellboys at the hotel."

Music

The film's musical score was composed and arranged by

Carlo Rustichelli Carlo Rustichelli (24 December 1916 – 13 November 2004) was an Italian film composer whose career spanned the 1940s to about 1990. His prolific output included about 250 film compositions, as well as arrangements for other films, and music f ...

, and conducted by Gianfranco Plenizio. The score incorporates and adapted several classic Italian songs, including “Palcoscenico” (

Sergio Bruni Sergio Bruni (stage name of Guglielmo Chianese; 15 September 1921 – 22 June 2003) was a popular Italian singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was often called "The Voice of Naples". He was born in the commune of Villaricca, near Naples, Italy ...

, composers E. Bonagura, Chianese), “

Senza fine "Senza fine" (which translates in English to "Endless") is a song written by Italian singer-songwriter Gino Paoli, inspired by collaboration partner Ornella Vanoni. Vanoni was the first person to record the song which was released as a single in ...

” (

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits albums, and is considered ...

, composer G. Paoli), “Un’ora sola ti vorrei” (Nuccia Natali, composers P. Marchetti and U. Bertini) and "La Luna" (

Milva Maria Ilva Biolcati, (; 17 July 1939 – 23 April 2021), known as Milva (), was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as ''La Rossa'' (Italian for "The Redhead"), due to the characteristic co ...

, composers

Detto Mariano Detto Mariano (27 July 1937 – 25 March 2020) was an Italian composer, arranger, lyricist, pianist, record producer and music publisher. Life and career Born Mariano Detto in Monte Urano, Mariano started his career in 1958 but was launched b ...

, and

Don Backy Don Backy (born Aldo Caponi on 21 August 1939) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. Life and career Born in Santa Croce sull'Arno, Caponi spent his early years in Castellammare di Stabia before returning to his hometown in 1955.Bassignan ...

)

Critical reception

A.H. Weiler of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' thought the film was "intermittently funny, charming, cute and, unfortunately, over-long." He continued, "Wilder, Lemmon and I.A.L. Diamond . . . fitfully charm us but they haven't moved forward at any great comic clip. They have warped some parts of the playwright's plot to give us a fairly reasonable flow of giggles and an occasional guffaw." He cited "a fine job turned in by Clive Revill."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' called the film "a pleasant, civilized comedy" and added, "''Avanti!'' isn't a laugh-a-minute kind of a movie, and it's too long by maybe half an hour. It also suffers from the problem that the audience has everything figured out several minutes before Jack Lemmon does. Still, the movie has a certain charm, some of which seeps in along with the locations, and there is in most of the many Wilder/Lemmon collaborations a cheerful insouciance, as if life is best approached with a cheerful, if puzzled, grin."

Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' observed, "The topical dialogue by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond —

Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th national security advisor from 1969 to 1975, se ...

jokes,

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...

jokes, etc. — gives this passingly pleasant movie the sound of a

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

TV special. But Miss Mills is fresh and winning, and there is a deft performance by Clive Revill." The British television network

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

has called the film "a rare instance of the travel comedy - never an easy thing to pull off - succeeding without recourse to old racial stereotypes . . . As a love story, it's full of Wilder's biting satire . . . Taken at face value, it's simply a travel comedy about funny foreigners and love in the Mediterranean. Yet what stands out is how uncomfortable Wilder seems to be with making a sex comedy in the 1970s. Forced to take on board the aftershocks of the summer of love but saddled with an old man's attitude and an old man's cast, Wilder seems perilously out of his depth. As Lemmon and Mills strip off to reveal pale white skin and flabby fat, you can't help feeling that the resolutely misanthropic director is somewhat appalled by the realities of his characters' bedroom antics."

Accolades

Lemmon won the

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

, and nominations went to Billy Wilder for

, Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond for

, Juliet Mills for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

, Clive Revill for Best Supporting Actor, and the film itself for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy). There were no

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations. Wilder and Diamond were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium but lost to

Jay Presson Allen Jay Presson Allen (born Jacqueline Presson; March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a ...

for ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

''.

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

* Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Jack Lemmon (won) * Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical: Juliet Mills (nominated) * Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture: Clive Revill (nominated) * Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (nominated) *

: Billy Wilder (nominated) *

: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond (nominated)

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

* Best Adapted Screenplay: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond (nominated)

Home media

MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of the American med ...

released the Region 1 DVD on July 15, 2003. It is in

anamorphic widescreen Anamorphic widescreen (also called full-height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for example) with a narr ...

format with audio tracks, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. Kino Lorber released the Region A Blu-ray on October 10, 2017. It is in Full HD (1920x1080) resolution with a picture aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded using the AVC video codec. It has a DTS-HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack and subtitles, both in English. Extras comprise interviews with Juliet Mills and Clive Revill, and an original theatrical trailer.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Golden Globe Award Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, state=expanded 1972 films 1972 comedy films 1970s sex comedy films American romantic comedy films American sex comedy films American films based on plays Italian romantic comedy films Italian sex comedy films Italian films based on plays English-language Italian films American multilingual films Italian multilingual films Films directed by Billy Wilder Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli United Artists films Jalem Productions films Phalanx Productions films Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films set in Italy Films set in Naples Plays by Samuel A. Taylor Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder Films with screenplays by I. A. L. Diamond Films shot in Italy Films shot at Palatino Studios 1970s American films 1970s Italian films Italian-language American films Films about adultery in Italy

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Casting

Filming

Music

Critical reception

Accolades

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

Home media

See also

Notes

References

External links