Original release date: 01.02.58
- Country: Italy
- Director: Rate Furlan
- Certification number / date: 26135 on 01.02.58
- Production companies: Gimnasium Film di Giorgio Berlincioni (Florence).
- Cast: Maria Grazia Francia, Narciso Parigi, Maria Pia Casilio, Elio Steiner, Elena Makowska, Franco Balducci
Not a lot of information is forthcoming about this obscure romantic comedy, the second authentically Italian release of the year (January being a traditionally slow period for cinema in Italy). According to Farinotti: “Two sisters arrive in Florence from America. They meet two Florentine boys, and soon their friendship becomes something more…”
As for the cast, Maria Pia Casilio – who I would guess plays one of the love struck girls – had kickstarted her career with a major role in Umberto D (she apparently was spotted by De Sica while attending the auditions with a friend). She was a busy performer in the 50s, but her career seems to have fizzled out pretty swiftly after that. Maria Grazia Francia, meanwhile, had appeared in the likes of Bitter Rice (49) and Roma ore 11 (52), but her career also didn’t really extend much into the 60s. Star Narciso Parigi, meanwhile, was a minor star as a singer and actor. Anyway, it’s curious to see how actors from the neo-realist movement were moving into more lightweight fare.
Rate Furlan, meanwhile had a curious career, directing, acting, writing and even composing the soundtracks for a handful of films over a very long period. He’s probably most familiar for appearing as the violinist in Peter Greenaway’s The Belly of an Architect (87)