Themes: Nothing Goes Right, Cons and Scams, Culture Clash
Main Cast: Gina Lollobrigida, Shelley Winters, Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford, Telly Savalas
Release Year: 1968
Country: US/IT
Run Time: 113 minutes
Plot
Gina Lollobrigida delivers a bright comic turn in Melvin Frank's farce concerning Carla, an Italian woman who, during World War II, had affairs with three American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army Air Force -- Phil Newman (Phil Silvers), Justin Young (Peter Lawford), and Walter Braddock (Telly Savalas). Finding that she is pregnant after the squadron is transferred, she convinces each of the three soldiers that he is the father of her child. Phil, Justin, and Walter react to Carla's pregnancy by sending her child-support checks -- checks that Carla has been receiving every month from each of them for the past 20 years. Meanwhile, in order to save face in her village, Carla concocted the story that the father was the fictitious Captain Eddie Campbell, who was killed in action. But Carla's deceptions are about to be exposed when she finds out that all three soldiers are returning to her village with their wives and children for a reunion of the squadron. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell is a diverting, engaging little romp, even if it falls short of being a particularly good film. Don't blame Mrs. Campbell; as personified in the very personable person of Gina Lollobrigida, she's a delight and a joy. Lollobrigida, looking sensational, exudes a rare combination of warmth and sex appeal, and she picks the film up and carries it on her exquisite little shoulders as if it were no effort at all. But it is an effort, for even though Mrs. Campbell starts out well, it begins to feel a trifle mechanical before it's halfway through. When the plot's many complications start kicking in, Melvin Frank's direction gets sloppy, and the precise pacing and attention to detail necessary to breathe life into the proceedings fall by the wayside. Shelley Winters' busy, mannered, and loud performance doesn't help matters, nor does Peter Lawford's dull and enervating one. But things pick up when Phil Silvers gets the chance to ply his comic trade, and they really take off whenever Telly Savalas and Lee Grant get the chance to show their stuff. And, of course, as long as Lollobrigida is around, it's easy to forgive Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell its flaws. This vehicle may sometimes let its star down, but the reverse is, fortunately, not the case at all. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Lee Grant - Fritzie Braddock; Janet Margolin - Gia Campbell; Marian Moses - Lauren Young; Naomi Stevens - Rosa; Giovanna Galletti - Countess; Renzo Palmer - Mayor; Dale Cummings - Pete; James Mishler - Stubby; Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu - Vittorio
Credit
Arrigo Equini - Art Director, Melvin Frank - Director, Robert Lawrence - Second Unit Director, Robert Lawrence - Editor, Bill Butler - Editor, C.O. Erickson - Executive Producer, Andrew Frank - Composer (Music Score), Melvin Frank - Composer (Music Score), Riz Ortolani - Composer (Music Score), Andrew Frank - Songwriter, Melvin Frank - Songwriter, Gabor Pogany - Cinematographer, C.O. Erickson - Producer, Melvin Frank - Producer, David Hildyard - Sound/Sound Designer, Melvin Frank - Screenwriter, Sheldon Keller - Screenwriter, Denis Norden - Screenwriter
The title character, Carla "Campbell", is an Italian woman who -- during the American occupation of Italy -- slept with three American GIs (a Corporal, a Sergeant, and a Lieutenant) in the course of ten days. By the time she discovers she is pregnant, all three have moved on and she, uncertain of which is the father, convinces each of the three -- who are unaware of the existence of the other two -- to financially support "his" daughter, Gia.
To protect her reputation, as well as the reputation of her unborn child, Carla has raised the girl to believe her mother is the widow of an army Captain named Campbell, a name she borrowed from a can of soup (she is very fond of Campbell's soups).
The film opens twenty years after the end of World War II service, and the three men (accompanied by their wives, and in the Newmans' case three obnoxious children) attend a unit-wide reunion in the village they liberated. Carla is forced into a series of comic slapstick situations as she tries to keep them - each one anxious to meet his daughter for the first time - from discovering her secret, while at the same time trying to keep Gia from running off to Rome to be with a much older married man.
When confronted Mrs. Cambell claims she doesn't know who the father is having been with all three men in the space of ten days. She challenges them what kind of fathers they would have been, never having been there for all the small but important life events of their daughter, and her about to run away to Brazil with an older man. Provoked by this each of fathers talk to Gia and insist she cannot run off with a married man. The fathers cease the maintenance payments and the Braddocks who cannot have children of their own agree to take care of Gia while she studies in the US.
The score was composed by Riz Ortolani. The title song, with music by Ortolani and lyrics by screenwriter/director Frank, was performed by Jimmy Roselli. Andrew Frank wrote the lyrics and music for the "San Forino March." A soundtrack album was released by United Artists Records.
Critical response
In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert described the film as "a charming reminder of what movie comedies used to be like . . . It depends on the traditional strong points of movie comedy: well-defined situation, good dialog, emphasis on characters . . . director Melvin Frank holds the story together and makes it work. A lot of the credit goes to the real comic ability of Telly Savalas (the best of the three would-be fathers) and Shelley Winters, who plays Phil Silvers' wife. Miss Lollobrigida is good, too, projecting the kind of innocence that is necessary if the situation isn't going to seem vulgar." [1]
In the New York Times, Howard Thompson stated, "This overcooked, hardbreathing frolic, which gets off to a bright start, eventually collapses in the category of impossible comedies, sniggeringly pegged to sex . . . the reasonable taste, the bounce and the logic all start floundering about midpoint, with everyone running wildly to catch up, including poor Miss Lollobrigida, who bears the brunt of the confusion and the redundant contrivances. Suddenly it's gags, gags and more gags, to no avail, until the plot peg of authentic paternity begins to sound like a tired, old burlesque joke. The finale is as dull as the opening chapter is sprightly." [2]
Awards and nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy (Gina Lollobrigida)
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ("Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell")
