Sophia Loren Archives - Chronicles 1969

"A myth is something you can't reach. I belong to reality." – Sophia Loren

I girasoli
Offstage
Photo: Gende-Rote
07/6

Dinner of the Heads
Montecarlo
Photo: Tazio Secchiaroli
16/03/69

The Lion in Winter premiere
Rome
Photo: Tazio Secchiaroli
01/10/69

One-year-old Carlo, Jr.
Marino
Photo: Tazio Secchiaroli
12/69

Questi fantasmi
Belgian poster

Carlo, Jr.'s birth
Geneva
<>Photo: Tazio Secchiaroli
04/01/69

Dancing with Alfred Eisenstaedt
Villa Marino
Photo: Tazio Secchiaroli

"Sophia" single
Sergio Endrigo

FILMS AND FILMING

I girasoli
USSR, Italy, June - September

MOVIE PREMIERES

USA
Questi fantasmi
New York City, January 22 (Ghosts, Italian Style)

FRANCE
Questi fantasmi
Paris (Fantômes à l'italienne)

BELGIUM
Questi fantasmi
Brussels (Fantômes à l'italienne / Spoken op z'n italiaans)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Bambi Award (West Germany)
Most Popular Foreign Actress, January

Golden Globe Award (USA)
Henrietta Award for most popular actress, Los Angeles, February 24

Boxoffice Magazine Poll (USA)
Top 12 List Favorite according to poll with American Theater Owners Association, December

PUBLIC APPEARANCES

Press Conference from Hospital Bed - January 4
Sophia is wheeled around the hospital's amphitheater in a mobile bed, holding the baby in her arms, so the photographers present can get their photos and TV newsreel shots. "This child", Carlo tells the assembly (around 300 journalists and photographers) rather grandly, "is a triumph for women all over the world."

Dinner of the Heads - March 16
First public appearance of Sophia after the birth of Carlo for the Dinner of the Heads, a charity event presided by prince Rainier and Grace de Monaco, held at the Salone della Americhe in Montecarlo.

Titanus Studios' 66th Anniversary - May 28
Sophia attends a gala in Rome celebrating the 66th anniversary of Titanus Studios where she is seen with actress Sylva Koscina.

Milan's Subway - August 24
Sophia and Carlo are invited to witness a pre-inauguration run of Milan's Green Line subway with train control operator Nicola Mascione.

The Lion in Winter premiere - October 1

Sophia attends the Rome premiere of The Lion in Winter followed by a party at Palazzo Barberini. The event is a major social gathering with guests such as Vittorio De Sica, Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni, Gina Lollobrigida, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Maria Callas, who leaves the gala because she is jealous of all the attention Sophia gets.

MAGAZINE COVERS

Italy
L'Apriscatole, Domenica del Corriere, Gente, Grand Hotel, Jet, Novella 2000, Oggi, Sorrisi e Canzoni TV, Stop, Tempo, Vitalità
e

e
West Germany
Bunte Illustrierte, Frau im Spiegel, Das Neue Blatt, Neue Post, Quick, Stern
e

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France
Ici Paris, Noir et Blanc, Nous Deux Flash, Paris Match, Un Jour

Spain
Bolero Film, Diez Minutos, Los Domingos de ABC, Gaceta Ilustrada, Hola, Lecturas, Miss, Nuevo Fotogramas, Ondas, Semana, Tele Estel, TP Teleprograma
e

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UK
Hello, Photoplay Film, Weekend, Woman
e

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USA
Good Housekeeping, Life en Español, Screenland, Screenplay, TV and Screenworld
e

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Latin America
Bohemia, Ecran, Flash, Manchete, Panorama Semanal, Siete Dias Ilustrados, TeVe Latino, Vanidades Continental

SONGS & LP'S

A Song for Sophia
Italian singer-songwriter Sergio Endrigo releases a song called "Sophia" dedicated to "our fantasy".
"Chi non ha mai amato un po' Sophia
Chi non è stato al cinema con lei
A vivere une storia d'amore e di follia
Cosè come la vita di Sophia
...
Endrigo / Bardotti
Fonit Cetra Music Publishing S.r.l.

EDITOR'S NOTES

Carlo, Jr.'s Christening - January 8

Christening of Carlo, Jr. at Geneva's Cantonal Hospital ten dasy after his birth, with Dr. Watteville, as godfather, Maria Scicolone and Geoffredo Lombardo with his wife, as witnesses.

Nanny Ruth Bapst Is Hired - January
Prior to her return to Villa Marino Sophia hires a Swiss nurse called Ruth Bapst. She speaks several languages and as Sophia put it she has "a firm hand". She would never let anyone touch the baby except for Sophia and Carlo. She will remain with the Ponti family for decades becoming the housekeeper in the California ranch twenty years later.

Back to the Villa - February 6

Sophia leaves Geneva and flies back to Rome. Upon her arrival at the airport, dressed in a Cossack style fur coat, she announces she has a new film project later during the year in Moscow and that she has the intention to take Carlo, Jr. with her.

Trip to Yugoslavia - June
Sophia and Carlo visit President Tito and his wife for one week on the island of Brioni.

Sophia Sues Italian Magazine - September 11
Sophia sues an Italian magazine which published an alleged picture of
her in the nude. The picture is the body of an unknown model with the montage of her face.

The Richest Romans - December 30
The city tax assessor says Sophia and Carlo have combined taxable wealth of $960,000 and must pay $147,000 in city taxes for l969. It makes them the richest Roman couple of them all.