In the 1950s, when Gina Lollobrigida was known as a “sex bomb”, I began
as a critic to see in her gifts that went beyond her more striking external
charms. She was of course beautiful, so much that she could unhesitatingly
play the part of Lina Cavalieri in a film where the Italian title described
her as “the most beautiful woman in the world”. But her natural talents,
her education, her training in art, and the great directors she had worked
with (from Blasetti to De Sica, Castellani, Delannoy, Siodmak, Skolimowski
and Huston) refined her instinctive gifts. They taught her to exercise not
only natural but also intelligent control over her presence on a set and before
long made her a complete actress, one that could truly be described as both
talented and beautiful, a combination that is seldom found in cinema.
Apart from the performances of exceptional quality in films such as
Comencini’s Bread, Love and Dreams and Castellani’s Crazy Sea, however,
she naturally established herself over the years through her status as a
universally acclaimed goddess.
by Gian Luigi Rondi, movie critic
And who is Gina?
"TIME", 1954
In Europe she is the most famous seven
syllables since “Come up and see me some time”.
She is the girl who,
according to Humphrey Bogart, “makes Marilyn Monroe look like Shirley
Temple”.
She is the modern Italian who.
Last month she won the Nastro
d’Argento, the Italian equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscar, as the “Best Actress
of 1954” for her performance in Bread, Love and Dreams.
According to the famous photographer of women, Philippe Halsman, “She
has the finest figure among all the actresses I have known”. In Paris a new
phrase (Les Lollos) is being used in a brassiere advertisement.
Frisky
in BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS (1953)
With Vittorio De Sica. The film broke all box-office records in Italy and the character brought Gina worldwide fame as an actress.
USA Critics
Bosley Crowther, “NY Times”: “Gina is lovely… voluptuous… a vixen!”
Wm K. Zinsser, “Herald Tribune”: “Gina is every inch a queen… beautiful and tempestuous!”
Archer Winsten, “NY Post”: “Gina makes Frisky a charmer of warm appeal!”
Justin Gilbert, “NY Mirror”: “Gina, the girl who put the ‘It’ in Italy!”
Lina Cavalieri
in BEAUTIFUL BUT DANGEROUS (1955)
Gina sang all the songs in Beautiful but Dangerous, including the
aria Vissi d’Arte from Tosca, to the amazement and the incredulity
of the critics. “Le Figaro” and “The New York Times” praised the
voice but rashly expressed the doubts as to whose it was. Even Gina’s
friend Maria Callas asked her twice before being convinced that it
was really her singing in the film, and Luciano Pavarotti praised her
voice in a live interview on television. Unfortunately, Gina was then
too apprehensive to continue with a singing career despite the
attractive proposals received from the United States.
Lola
in TRAPEZE (1956)
Circus aficionados consider Trapeze the best film ever made on the
big top. Gina was very fond of the director Carol Reed, who spent
the evening confiding in her as a dear friend. While shooting, Gina
wanted to do even the most dangerous scenes herself rather than
leave them to her stand-in, so Reed took the prudent measure of
filming them early in the morning before she arrived on set. But the
trapeze artist fell and broke her nose, so Gina worked for a month
with no stand-in.
Esmeralda
in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME (1956)
France Soir “It’s Gina's film. From now on she will be inseparable
from Esmeralda, who she plays perfectly. It’s sublime”.
L’Humanité “Gina Lollobrigida is the most beautiful and intelligent
of the Esmeraldas ever seen on the big screens”.
Le Monde “The film has vigor, brio and class”.
Jours de France “Worthy of being ranked alongside the greatest
super-productions of
world cinema”.
Les Nouvelles Littéraires “They are all superb. Jean Delannoy is entitled to all our
admiration for having directed this prestigious cast so well”.
The Queen of Sheba
in SOLOMON AND SHEBA (1959)
The censorship was very strict and
quite unreasonable at the time, and some
movements from the dance
of the Queen
of Sheba were cut as too suggestive
and
allusive.
From the press review
“Magda, the Queen of Sheba,
portrayed by Gina Lollobrigida. The
beautiful Italian actress describes her
role as the greatest any actress has ever
been privileged to play. ‘There is’, she
adds, ‘only one trouble with having
played the most famous courtesan of
all time and that is, after Sheba, all
other roles will certainly seem tame’”.
Pauline Borghese
in IMPERIAL VENUS (1962)
Directed by Jean Delannoy, the film was shot in 75mm
in a double original version in English
and in French.
“SHE LET HERSELF BE ADORED
AND SHE ADORED THE EMPEROR”
Gina dared to assume the pose of Pauline Borghese.
Before the actress would agree to shoot this scene
of Imperial Venus in Rome, it was necessary to
arrange for Cinecittà studios to be surrounded by
a regiment of Bersaglieri. Their mission: to keep all
prying eyes out. Gina was in fact required to assume
the celebrated pose of the heroine she embodies
in the film, namely Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s
younger sister, who scandalized the whole of Europe
for the number of her amorous liaisons. Generously
disrobed, she posed in 1811 as an ancient divinity
for the sculptor Antonio Canova. “How could
you?”, asked a friend. “It was easy”, she replied.
“Canova’s studio was heated”.
Ippolita
in SHE GOT WHAT SHE ASKED FOR (1962)
Based on the book by Elio Bartolini, the film
She Got What She Asked For pokes fun at male
vanity, which still survives in Latin countries.
The critics had this to say: “Impetuous, earthy,
amiable, high-spirited, rebellious, Lollobrigida
at her best”.
The Blue Fairy
in PINOCCHIO (1971)
“I am very satisfied with my role”, said Gina.
“While we were filming I seemed to
have a magical power over children, who watched me with admiration
and respect. The film’s modernity lies in the fact that I am no longer a good fairy
but a mother; a mother like thousands of others, concerned for her undisciplined
child. And to make the character even more up-to-date, my clothes are very
simple. The magical aspects are my fabulous turquoise hair and the way I play the
harp and sing”.
Being popular with children was a new and almost heavenly
experience for Gina, something very different from her popularity with
adults.
