Shortly before his wedding, Michael Hamilton, an American lawyer, travels to Naples to settle the estate of his late brother Joseph with the Italian lawyer Vitale. There he learns that his brother left behind an eight-year-old son, Nando, who is being looked after by his aunt Lucia, a cabaret singer. Between legal procedures, custody disputes and his brother's extravagant spending, Michael gets to know Lucia despite the difference in age, and a romance slowly takes shape, mixing humour with melodrama.

How it was made

The film was shot on location in Rome, Naples and Capri, which gave the Spanish release its title. Melville Shavelson directed from a screenplay written with Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Michael Pertwee, Jack Rose and Jack Davies, and Robert Surtees handled the Technicolor photography. Clark Gable and Sophia Loren lead the cast alongside Vittorio De Sica and a largely Italian ensemble. Loren performs a tongue-in-cheek musical number, Tu vuò fà l'americano, written by the Neapolitan composer Renato Carosone. The film also received an Oscar nomination for art direction in color.

Reception and legacy

Critics received it with reservations. Bosley Crowther, writing in The New York Times, called it a featherweight, obvious romance, but praised Loren, placing her among the film's main attractions. Variety said the forced wit detracts from its naturalness, yet noted the comic chemistry of its leads, while Leonard Maltin felt the two stars never quite worked as a romantic couple. Today its main historical interest lies in being Gable's last film released during his lifetime and his last in colour.

Stills

Trivia

Phonetic learning

Angeletti did not speak English and learned his lines phonetically, a method he had also used in an earlier film, where he delivered German lines without speaking the language.

A substitute judge

On the second day of filming a courtroom scene, the actor playing one of the judges was unavailable because he had plans to take his family to the beach. His brother, who did not resemble him, took his place.

More films by Melville Shavelson

Cast a Giant Shadow1966

Houseboat1958

Yours, Mine and Ours1968

A New Kind of Love1963

The Pigeon That Took Rome1962

The Five Pennies1959

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.