Truly Dreadful Film

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

In 1964, Billy Wilder remade this film and it was called KISS ME STUPID. In its day, it was considered a flop, as the public didn't appreciate the film's very sexual nature. Plus, it was very hard to like the characters. It was one of Wilder's few career missteps. I assumed that because KISS ME STUPID was based on MOGLIE PER UNA NOTTE that this original film was also a bomb. Well, fortunately my instinct to disregard the original was somehow superseded by my instinct to watch Italian films (they are among my favorites). I found MOGLIE to a very charming and sweet film--and very little like its crass American cousin.The film begins with the Count trying, unsuccessfully, to catch a young lady who is quite beautiful. He doesn't realize it, but she is a high-class prostitute--and why she would play hard to get is beyond me! The scene then switches to the home of a struggling opera composer. His wife is practically impossible to recognize. While she is played by gorgeous Gina Lollabridgida, here she is dressed very, very conservatively and she certainly does NOT exude sex appeal. Somehow, later the Count assumes that the sexy lady he's chasing is the wife of this composer. Well, the composer is desperate enough that he asks the prostitute to pose as his wife--and use her feminine wiles on the Count so that this pig of a man will agree to have the composer's opera performed. There's a lot more to the film than this, but the bottom line is that the nice wife must pose as the prostitute and vice-versa.So far, much of the plot does seem like KISS ME STUPID. However, MOGLIE is much more subtle and sweet as regardless of the efforts of the Count, no one ends up sleeping with anyone. In KISS ME STUPID, the wife AND the husband end up cheating on each other AND they end up living happily ever after--a crass and rather amoral message.Decent acting, pacing and a cute story--this Italian film only bears a passing resemblance to its vulgar American counterpart.

This is a delightful farce about infidelity, fidelity, marriage and playing around. Don't expect nudity, but you can expect laughs, wit, imagination, excitement, and above all great humanity. If it were an American movie, it would be called a romantic comedy, but it is more than that. It is in the grand tradition of the comedy of manners which exposes the weaknesses of all the characters but still allows us to see them as deeply human. When the husband lusts after the famous courtesan, we see ourselves in similar moments. When the courtesan envies the married couple, we remember what it was like sometimes to be single and wish we weren't. The cast, particularly the women, are excellent. The lovely Nadia Gray is more than capable of playing the courtesan. Fascinating, able to easily handle men, coquettish, she is wise but also slightly jaded, joyful but slightly sad and stylish but still longing for a simpler life without feeling sorry for herself. The real surprise and pleasure is Gina Lollobrigida. Gina has never been considered in the highest ranks of actresses, and in fact her talents do not quite ascend to that stellar level. However, she is certainly underrated. Considered simply a pretty face with a voluptuous body, she is also an intelligent actress with many moods and charms. Seeing her convincingly play a plain, unattractive wife is in itself an eyeopener. But then to see her transform herself into a beauty, is truly amazing. Mainly she does it by simply looking pretty or looking plain. There is certainly no CG or tricks with makeup. Her acting is also quite respectable as she plays a devoted and chaste wife who ends up in a sexually compromising situation. She is embarrassed but thrilled, confused but clearly has a natural way of pleasing men. She is innocent yet artful, naive yet clever, intellectual but clearly filled with unexpressed passion; in fact, she steals the show. Gina is on my short list of actresses who are underrated, right up there with Tuesday Weld, and Hailey Mills. Nicolle Kidman used to be on this list about 5 years ago. The movie was remade by Billy Wilder as "Kiss Me Stupid" which is also quite good in its own right and is historically significant for playing an important role in bringing down the Hollywood production code. "Wife for a Night" may not be a great movie but it is very entertaining. I'd give it a 6 but because of Gina's performance, it gets a 7.