This very earthy comedy was based on the play The
Three-Cornered Hat from the Spanish novel of Alarcon. It
is a subject which director Mario Camerini had previously filmed in
1935. This CinemaScope/Technicolor remake was a modest success
in the States after its release, although not so big a hit with the
Catholic Legion of Decency which condemned it.
The film has Vittorio De Sica as a lecherous governor
of Naples in 1680 who lusts after the wives of several peasants,
particularly the miller's wife Carmela, played by a ravishing
Sophia Loren. The miller himself, played by a youngish
Marcello Mastroianni, plans to avenge his honor by seducing the wife
of the governor.
Wonderful fun, and boasting a great cast, this is one
of the earliest pairings of Loren and Mastroianni.
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