Her Favourite Husband [The Taming of Dorothy] ** (1950, Jean Kent, Robert Beatty, Gordon Harker, Margaret Rutherford) – Classic Movie Review 12,897

The 1950 British/ Italian comedy film Her Favourite Husband set in sunny Italy with stars Jean Kent, Robert Beatty, Gordon Harker and Margaret Rutherford can’t be all bad, but it tries hard.

Director Mario Soldati’s 1950 film Her Favourite Husband [The Taming of Dorothy] [Quel Bandito Sono Io] is based on the 1947 play Quel Bandito Sono Io! by Peppino De Filippo, and stars Jean Kent, Robert Beatty, Gordon Harker, Margaret Rutherford and Rona Anderson.

A British/ Italian comedy set in sunny Italy (Naples and Sorrento) with stars Jean Kent, Robert Beatty, Gordon Harker and Margaret Rutherford can’t be all bad, but this one tries hard, despite having at least the germ of a good idea.

Comic complications understandably occur when domineering Englishwoman Dorothy Pellegrini (Kent)’s meek Italian bank-clerk husband Antonio Pellegrini (Beatty) is replaced by a mobster, Leo L’ Americano (also Beatty), whose sights are set on robbing Antonio’s bank. When Antonio is jailed for the crime, Leo gets on with rough-stuff love with Dorothy (Kent), who finds it to her liking. Then Antonio is freed and tries to make it like Leo, and now Dorothy (Kent) is really confused.

On the plus side there is pretty scenery and a reasonable cast of hard-working players working hard to please. But on the minus side there is a so-so script that is hard to swallow even in jest, as well as heavy-handed direction, which combine to drag this down, along with its awkward farcical tone.

Rutherford is fun as the mother-in-law Mrs Dotherington, though, and so is Gordon Harker as the father-in-law Godfrey Dotherington, while Mario Bava’s camera work and Nino Rota’s music give it plenty of cult appeal.

The not very sparkling English screenplay is by Noel Langley and W F Templeton, based on the Italian screenplay adaptation of the play by Stefano Vanzina (billed as Steno), Mario Monicelli and Mario Soldati.

Her Favourite Husband [The Taming of Dorothy] [Quel Bandito Sono Io] is directed by Mario Soldati, runs 79 minutes, is made by Lux Film, is shot in black and white by Mario Bava, is produced by Colin Lesslie, Carlo Ponti and John Sutro, and is scored by Nino Rota, and the art direction is by Piero Gherardi.

The cast are Jean Kent as Dorothy Pellegrini, Robert Beatty as Antonio Pellegrini, Gordon Harker as Godfrey Dotherington, Margaret Rutherford as Mrs Dotherington, Rona Anderson as Stellina, Walter Crisham as Caradiotto, Max Adrian as Catoni, Tamara Lees as Rosana, Michael Balfour as Pete, Jack McNaughton as El Greco, Norman Shelley as Mr Dobson, Danny Green as Angel Face, Joss Ambler as Mr Wilson, Mary Hinton as Mrs Wilson, Peter Illing as Commissario Scaletti, Jimmy Ventola as Ciocio Pellegrini, and Andreas Malandrinos as customs officer.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,897

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