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Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (Dec-1968)
Director: Melvin Frank Writers: Melvin Frank; Sheldon Keller; Denis Norden Keywords: Comedy
REVIEWS Review by Lesley MacFarlane (posted on 15-Jul-2007) Truly a movie to be enjoyed on a rainy Monday night or any night. Gina Lollobrigida's comic talents as an actor was a joy to behold. Shelly Winters was superb as the "typical" American innocent abroad. The story line is fairly simple. Our heroine having had 3 brief sexual liaisons with 3 American GIs found herself pregnant not knowing who the father was.
Being a fairly resourceful and (beautiful) lady, she started writing to the 3 men whom she had consorted with. All three wrote back offering financial support which made life very comfortable for the "widowed" Mrs Campbell whose "husband" Eddie Campbell had died a hero in the war.
When the 3 men now married to American wives came back to Italy to visit their war time paramour, "Mrs Campbell" found herself having to juggle her meetings with all three to hilarious effect. Go see the movie. It's a gem.
Review by anonymous (posted on 13-Dec-2006) Carla Campbell, the respectable widow of the brave, dead American GI captain Eddie Campbell, returns to her hometown after nursing a sick aunt better. Carla has a grand house and lives with her maid Rosa and her handyman and lover Vittorio. Gina, her 16 year old daughter, is safely in finishing school in Switzerland, when preparations for the US Army celebrations for the freeing of the town in WW2 are underway. Immediately, Carla makes preparations to get underway, away from home, when Gina turns up unexpectedly, determined to stay and meet the men who knew her poor brave father. Meanwhile Carla has to flee, from the phone calls from three different ex-soldiers. As Carla says, when cornered by Rosa's question:"You don't know the father?" "Of course I know him, I just don't know who he is!" Carla comforted three American servicemen who were billeted in succession at her small house and three weeks later - she was pregnant! Owing to this regrettable situation, which occurred at the height of the terror of the war, Carla wrote to the potential fathers requesting maintenance. Nowadays, the respectable Carla Campbell, with her big house, maid, orchards, handy man, truck and car cannot be treated by dirt by the townsfolk, especially the Contessa. Because every months she receives three maintenance cheques from America! Meanwhile Carla has been playing the game, remembering who is who and who married whom and who had which offspring in her letters to her three possible 'sires'. As the men and their spouses or families journey to Italy one receives an insight into the men's lives and how they have changed with life and marriage. Visiting Italy again is like a panacea for them, a temporary escape from their dull lives. Then the fun begins, with Gina trying to find out about her father and three potential fathers each playing up to her queries, confident brave Eddie Campbell is a flattering cameo of themselves, while their wives wonder and wander about trying to be helpful. The last leads to even more headaches for Carla and a startling revelation for Gia - with more fun to follow. An excellent film for watching with children, clean fun and some humourous innuendos, this was the entertaining quality America could produce and is still a treat to watch.
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