Though this film and it's story seems to be having a hard time holding up through the course of time it does possess one terrific performance that even today film buffs talk about. Story is about an Italian woman in Louisiana named Serafina Delle Rose (Anna Magnani) who becomes a widow when her husband is killed trying to smuggle goods in a truck. The rumors start to spread in her neighborhood that her husband had a mistress but she ignores the talk and withdraws into her home rarely going outdoors. She keeps a close watch on her teenage daughter Rosa (Marisa Pavan) but she falls in love with a sailor named Jack Hunter (Ben Cooper) so Serafina makes him promise not to touch her "Innocence".
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
One day Serafina meets Alvaro Mangiacavallo (Burt Lancaster) who's a truck driver and very open about looking for a nice woman to be with. They talk and seem to get along but he's not very sophisticated and when she finds out that he had a rose tattoo put on his chest like her late husband she wants to kick him out. But instead she makes him take her to where her husband's mistress works so she can confront her. Serafina discovers that she also has a rose tattoo on her and this makes her come to grips about her husbands infidelity.
This film was directed by Daniel Mann from Tennessee Williams play and Williams wrote the story with Magnani in mind for the play but she declined because of her lack of English. Mann had directed the play and when it was certain to be made into a film everyone managed to convince Magnani to take the role. She had learned some English during this time and had a coach on the set of this film to help her. This is another steamy Williams story and like most of his stories it's a drama set in a hot part of the country. It wouldn't be a Tennessee Williams story without the actors sweating bullets as they pour their heart out. Lancaster has been criticized for his performance and it's a role that seemed perfect for someone else. One of his greatest attributes as an actor was how powerful he could come across without being overly animated. Here his character Alvaro is a complete slob and a clumsy one at that. I was never convinced that Magnani's character would ever find him to be more than a friend, if that. But easily this is a film where you just sit back and marvel at the performance of Magnani. She had become a big theater actress in Italy but was relatively unknown here in America. She's perfect for her role and I cannot think of another actress that could have done a better job. Magnani could expose every thought and emotion on screen and make every viewer know what she's feeling at every moment. She was over the top but gloriously so. This is a case where a film and a performance needed an actress to go to another level to make the role her own. She not only does this but she took total command of her role in a way that very few actors have ever done. Magnani won the Academy Award for her performance and her win has stood the test of time. One of the overlooked things in this film is the performance of Pavan. This was one of the few good roles she had in her career but she was well cast as Magnani's daughter. More than once she got the better of the scenes when her character Rosa had to stand up to her mother. Good adaptation from Williams story make this an interesting film to watch and Magnani is a marvel to watch.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
One day Serafina meets Alvaro Mangiacavallo (Burt Lancaster) who's a truck driver and very open about looking for a nice woman to be with. They talk and seem to get along but he's not very sophisticated and when she finds out that he had a rose tattoo put on his chest like her late husband she wants to kick him out. But instead she makes him take her to where her husband's mistress works so she can confront her. Serafina discovers that she also has a rose tattoo on her and this makes her come to grips about her husbands infidelity.
This film was directed by Daniel Mann from Tennessee Williams play and Williams wrote the story with Magnani in mind for the play but she declined because of her lack of English. Mann had directed the play and when it was certain to be made into a film everyone managed to convince Magnani to take the role. She had learned some English during this time and had a coach on the set of this film to help her. This is another steamy Williams story and like most of his stories it's a drama set in a hot part of the country. It wouldn't be a Tennessee Williams story without the actors sweating bullets as they pour their heart out. Lancaster has been criticized for his performance and it's a role that seemed perfect for someone else. One of his greatest attributes as an actor was how powerful he could come across without being overly animated. Here his character Alvaro is a complete slob and a clumsy one at that. I was never convinced that Magnani's character would ever find him to be more than a friend, if that. But easily this is a film where you just sit back and marvel at the performance of Magnani. She had become a big theater actress in Italy but was relatively unknown here in America. She's perfect for her role and I cannot think of another actress that could have done a better job. Magnani could expose every thought and emotion on screen and make every viewer know what she's feeling at every moment. She was over the top but gloriously so. This is a case where a film and a performance needed an actress to go to another level to make the role her own. She not only does this but she took total command of her role in a way that very few actors have ever done. Magnani won the Academy Award for her performance and her win has stood the test of time. One of the overlooked things in this film is the performance of Pavan. This was one of the few good roles she had in her career but she was well cast as Magnani's daughter. More than once she got the better of the scenes when her character Rosa had to stand up to her mother. Good adaptation from Williams story make this an interesting film to watch and Magnani is a marvel to watch.