Portmanteau/Anthology films, that once enjoyed great popularity, are generally tied by a particular theme or subject or at least have a connection of some sort. The thread which binds together this triptych in the Commedia dell'Italiana style from 1965 is IRONY, be it sad, cruel or happy.
In the first segment a desperately shy young man is smitten wiith a female colleague but despite the attraction being mutual, his innate timidity and indecision only serve to alienate her and he ends up seemingly trapped by another woman in whom he has absolutely no interest. This is expertly directed as one would expect, by Dino Risi with lovely performances by Nino Manfredi and the very taking Ilaria Occhini.
Segment 2 is directed by Franco Rossi with whose work this viewer is unfamiliar and features Ugo Tognazzi in a truly bizarre tale of a rather self-important official who discovers to his horror that his wife and mother of his children once appeared topless as a Nubian slave girl in a dreadful Sword-and-Sandals movie. His paranoid attempts to avoid a scandal and destroy the evidence lead him by a circuitous route to a gathering of 'gays' which is raided by the police and has his photograph plastered all over the newpapers, thereby attracting the notoriety he has striven to avoid. This is arguably the weakest segment but of course Tognazzi is always great value.
The jewel in the crown is the priceless third segment starring the superlative Alberto Sordi which is co-written by him and his regular collaborator Rodolfo Sonego. Directed by Luigi Filippo d'Amico who had directed Sordi in 'Bravissimo', it concerns auditions for the role of a newsreader whose face will be entering the homes of millions. In terms of delivery, intelligence and knowledge his character is streets ahead of his rivals but he has alas been cursed with a grotesque set of potruding teeth, hence the title 'Gulgliemo il Dentone'. The panel of selectors tries every trick in the book to disqualify him but is reluctantly obliged to give him the job and as it turns out, he proves extemely popular with television spectators who seem oblivious to his chompers. Sordi is superb, even by his standards and has excellent scenes with Romolo Valli, Gaia Germani and a delightful episode in a lift with the singing Kessler twins. Composer Armando Trovaioli who has supplied the jaunty score, briefly appears as himself.
This is hardly likely to rank as a classic of its type and will not be on the list of '100 Italian films to be saved' but it has a great deal to recommend it and proved to be a delightful surprise. I can only assume that mine is the one and only review because the film has never been shown in North America!
