Sep–Nov 2024 Film Calendar

Too Bad She’s Bad ( Peccato che sia una canaglia ) in 4K with Poverty and Nobility ( Miseria e nobiltà ) Sat, Nov 16 | 7:30pm | TMT Too Bad She’s Bad ( Peccato che sia una canaglia ) Spotted by director Alessandro Blasetti as she was sunning on the banks of the Po, Sophia Loren was cast in the leading role as crooked bombshell Lina opposite two of Blasetti’s favorite actors, Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio De Sica. The cast’s chemistry was evident from day one of shooting, with Loren recognizing “a kind of complicity that the Neapolitans always have among themselves.” This farcical comedy about a family of thieves was a smash hit with Italian audiences; in the United States, where it opened on Christmas Eve, The New York Times was enthralled by Loren, noting that “with her, ambulating is an art.” DIRECTED BY: Alessandro Blasetti. WRITTEN BY: Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Alessandro Continenza, Ennio Flaiano. WITH: Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Giorgio Sanna. 1954. 95 min. Italy. B&W. Italian. 4K DCP. Digital restoration by Cinecittà. Poverty and Nobility ( Miseria e nobiltà ) Released just before The Gold of Naples (1954) would fast-track Sophia Loren to stardom, this self-aware farce, a screen adaptation of Eduardo Scarpetta’s stage play, is set in Naples in the late 19th century and follows the lives of down-on-their-luck artists Felice (“the prince of laughter” Totò) and Pasquale (Enzo Turco). Loren pops as Gemma, a dancer insistent on a marriage proposal from a nobleman, who invites Felice and Pasquale to pose as his extended family to woo her. Employing the same containment necessitated by the staged version, director Mario Mattòli heightens the claustrophobia of financial struggle and thereby the satirical commentary on social graces and class divide. DIRECTED BY: Mario Mattòli. WRITTEN BY: Ruggero Maccari. WITH: Totò, Sophia Loren, Enzo Turco, Dolores Palumbo. 1954. 94 min. Italy. Color. Italian. DCP. Courtesy of Cinecittà.

in World War II, challenges the 30-year-old actress to convey three long decades in Filumena’s life for a character “that embraces all womankind” ( Evening Standard ). This sweeping tragicomedy of a woman’s singular pursuit of familial stability marks another successful reteaming for stars Loren and Mastroianni and filmmaker Vittorio De Sica, which resulted in a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Loren and Best Foreign Language Film nomination for Italy, its ninth nomination of an eventual thirty to date. DIRECTED BY: Vittorio De Sica. WRITTEN BY: Renato Castellani, Tonino Guerra, Leo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi. WITH: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Puglisi, Tecla Scarano. 1964. 102 min. Italy. Technicolor. Italian. 4K DCP. Digital restoration by Cineteca di Bologna and Technicolor Foundation.

Arabesque in 4K Sat, Nov 23 | 7:30pm | TMT

“ULTRA MOD, ULTRA MAD, ULTRA MYSTERY,” screams the stylish poster for Arabesque , a slight redux of filmmaker Stanley Donen’s earlier Charade (1963), this time pairing Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren for a thrilling England-set, internationally minded mystery. Penned by Charade scribe Peter Stone under the pseudonym Pierre Marton and lensed by British cinematographer Christopher Challis, a Dior-clad Loren (also outfitted with fifty pairs of shoes) keeps the audience in doubt of her allegiances until the final minutes of this intriguing thriller centered on an American professor (Peck), tasked with decoding hieroglyphics to help untangle a conspiracy. DIRECTED BY: Stanley Donen. WRITTEN BY: Julian Mitchell, Stanley Price, Pierre Marton. WITH: Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel, Kieron Moore. 1966. 105 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. 4K DCP. Courtesy of Cinecittà.

THE VOYAGE (IL VIAGGIO)

The Voyage ( Il viaggio ) Wed, Nov 27 | 7:30pm | TMT

Directed for the final time by her beloved Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren stars as Adriana, an ailing widow offered a new lease on love by her late husband’s brother (Richard Burton) in what would be only days prior to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. “[De Sica] gave me the confidence to go far beyond where I had ever gone before,” Loren said of the director, “into an area where I could not have dreamed to venture.” A romantic story adapted from a novella by Italy’s Nobel laureate Luigi Pirandello, Loren adored the project, and notably bonded with Burton as a confidant offscreen during a difficult time in his life.

MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE (MATRIMONIO ALL'ITALIANA)

Marriage Italian Style ( Matrimonio all’italiana ) in 4K Mon, Nov 18 | 7:30pm | DGT Sophia Loren’s performance as scorned sex worker Filumena, who first meets wealthy business owner Domenico (Marcello Mastroianni) during a bombing

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