Main Cast: Joan Fontaine, Joan Fontaine, Joan Fontaine, Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Louis Jourdan, Louis Jourdan, Louis Jourdan, Binnie Barnes, Binnie Barnes, Binnie Barnes, Joan Collins, Mara Lane, Godfrey Tearle
Release Year: 1953
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
Director Hugo Fregonese and writer George Oppenheimer do the unthinkable: they manage to transform Giovanni Boccaccio's bawdy -- and downright raunchy -- medieval tales of martial discontent and infidelity into harmless white-bread treacle. Louis Jourdan plays Boccaccio in a framing story set in a villa in the Florentine hills. With a widowed woman and her sex-starved female wards hungrily hunched over listening to his every word, Boccaccio spins three tales of illicit romance involving a trio of medieval husbands and wives. All three tales feature Jourdan as the romantic male lead and Joan Fontaine -- spruced up in a collection of bright costumes -- as the misunderstood and mistreated women of the tales. The first story concerns the bored housewife, of a middle-aged husband, who willingly jumps into the arms of a roustabout. The second tale tells the story of a husband who is highly suspicious of his wife's fidelity and the wife's circumspect way of proving her virtue to her husband. The third story is an ineffectual lark about a wife who fools her indifferent husband into demonstrating his proper marital role. Boccaccio had to wait for Pier Pasolini in order to get the spirit of his Decameron right. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Trying to make a film like Decameron Nights during the era of the production code was probably not the best idea. The Giovanni Boccaccio upon which the film is based treats sex and love with earthiness and bawdy humor -- not something that is likely to please the censors of the time. Decameron tries to find a way to sneak some "naughtiness" into the proceedings, but it's superficial; and without that spice, the three stories that make up this omnibus film are noticeably lacking in flavor. Usually anthologies of this sort suffer from an unevenness -- one or more of the segments are weaker (or stronger) than one or more of the other segments. In Decameron, however, all three are equally lacking in interest. Throughout, Louis Jourdon evinces a modicum of charm and appeal, but not enough to set the screen on fire; Joan Fontaine looks lovely but comes across as rather dull and somewhat mannered; and only the supporting players cause the occasional spark of interest. Hugo Fregonese's direction is steady but lacking in sufficient imagination. Decameron does look attractive, however, with some beautiful on-location lensing, yummy color and gorgeous costumes. If Night falls dramatically flat, it still has some nice visual appeal. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Noel Purcell - Father Francisco [The Doctor's Daughter]; Melissa Stribling - Girls in Villa [Main Story]; Eliot Makeham - Governor of Majorca [Paganino The Pirate]; Meinhart Maur - Sultan [Wager For Virtue]; Bert Bernard - Messengers [Wager For Virtue]; Van Boolen - Captain [Wager For Virtue]; Gordon Bell - Merchant [Wager For Virtue]; Hugh Morton - King; Marjorie Rhodes - Signora Bucca [The Doctor's Daughter]
Credit
Hugo Fregonese - Director, Russell Lloyd - Editor, Anthony Hopkins - Composer (Music Score), Thomas H. Morahan - Production Designer, Guy Green - Cinematographer, Mike J. Frankovich - Producer, William Szekely - Producer, George Oppenheimer - Screenwriter, Giovanni Boccaccio - Book Author
