Don't overthink this movie; just watch it and enjoy it.
We're talking Doris Day era here, but it's not that sugary sweet; Gable's cynical commentary gives it a bit of an edge. This cynicism is the key to understanding the movie.
The Gable character was a soldier during World War II and helped liberate Italy. It is now 15 years later, and he is still resentful, remarking that the Italians were stealing gasoline from the Americans and selling it on the black market almost as soon as they arrived. He thinks his deceased brother a fool for having fallen for an Italian woman, a trap he avoided during the war.
The film is also about the conflicting values of a straight-laced American lawyer and a beautiful Italian dancer-singer, or more to the point, between America the ambitious, versus Italy, represented by the notorious Isle of Capri, capisce?
Gable wants to get his business done and get out as quickly as possible, but with time he comes to appreciate the beauty and relaxed lifestyle of Capri. And he discovers that the Italians have pride in their own country, and some resentment towards Americans. As such, the movie should hold up well for those foreign viewers who are so prejudiced against America and American movies. They can have a good time sneering at American values, represented by Gable.
I don't have any problem with the chemistry; while watching the movie, I thought that perhaps the reason they made it was for Loren and Gable to have a little fling together. I was surprised to read they didn't get along so well.
This movie is worth seeing, not just for Gable and the always gorgeous Sophia Loren, but for the reasonably interesting story line. It's not Gone with the Wind or It Happened One Night, but it is still two hours well spent.
Spoiler: The plot is only resolved when Gable realizes, due to a chance encounter, that his deep-seated prejudices against the Italians were not justified. Well, not entirely. Sophia was trying to manipulate him, of course, but what woman doesn't?
And the business with Gable's lawyer was curious. She couldn't have bribed him. I suppose she whispered a little blackmail in his ear, most likely a reminder of a mutual affair.
We're talking Doris Day era here, but it's not that sugary sweet; Gable's cynical commentary gives it a bit of an edge. This cynicism is the key to understanding the movie.
The Gable character was a soldier during World War II and helped liberate Italy. It is now 15 years later, and he is still resentful, remarking that the Italians were stealing gasoline from the Americans and selling it on the black market almost as soon as they arrived. He thinks his deceased brother a fool for having fallen for an Italian woman, a trap he avoided during the war.
The film is also about the conflicting values of a straight-laced American lawyer and a beautiful Italian dancer-singer, or more to the point, between America the ambitious, versus Italy, represented by the notorious Isle of Capri, capisce?
Gable wants to get his business done and get out as quickly as possible, but with time he comes to appreciate the beauty and relaxed lifestyle of Capri. And he discovers that the Italians have pride in their own country, and some resentment towards Americans. As such, the movie should hold up well for those foreign viewers who are so prejudiced against America and American movies. They can have a good time sneering at American values, represented by Gable.
I don't have any problem with the chemistry; while watching the movie, I thought that perhaps the reason they made it was for Loren and Gable to have a little fling together. I was surprised to read they didn't get along so well.
This movie is worth seeing, not just for Gable and the always gorgeous Sophia Loren, but for the reasonably interesting story line. It's not Gone with the Wind or It Happened One Night, but it is still two hours well spent.
Spoiler: The plot is only resolved when Gable realizes, due to a chance encounter, that his deep-seated prejudices against the Italians were not justified. Well, not entirely. Sophia was trying to manipulate him, of course, but what woman doesn't?
And the business with Gable's lawyer was curious. She couldn't have bribed him. I suppose she whispered a little blackmail in his ear, most likely a reminder of a mutual affair.