by Michael Pfleghar
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TELEVISION PREMIERE
 CREDITS Dialogues: Shelton Keller – Choreography: Don Lurio – Photography: Robert Girardi, Heiz Hölscher – Costumes: Ian Fraser – Costumes: Christian Dior, Bona and Rosetta Nasalli-Rocca – Still Photographer: Tazio Secchiaroli – Music Composer: Ian Fraser – Producer: Roger Gimbel - Production: David L. Wolper Productions. CAST Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Jonathan
Winters, Marcello
Mastroianni. FILMING
LOCATIONS Filming dates: August 1967 NOTES
The
show was originally titled The Life and Times of Sophia Loren and
Summertime in Rome. Sophia
sings several
songs, including a tango called Siesta with Mastroianni, Out of Town as
she drives her red Alfa Romeo car through the Roman countryside, I Talk
to the Animals at the Rome Zoo and My
Time of Evening for the closing scene of the show from the balcony of
her villa. Other songs
featured
on the soundtrack are sung by Sophia's Italian-American fan Tony
Bennett. Special
billboard-size Avedon fashion images of
Loren can be seen in the garden as scenic elements. As
a favor to Sophia, Sellers agreed to appear in a sketch about the
previous
occupants of Villa Ponti. He portrayed an asinine German officer from
World War
II times. The American comedian Jonathan Winters plays a
sixteenth-century
sculptor. In
other sections of the TV special, Sophia reminisces with Marcello
Mastroianni
about their films together and later joins him for a fiery tango in
which he
repeats the impersonation of Rudolph Valentino that earned him
acclaim in
a The House of Dior designs eight
exclusive outfits to wear in the filming of the show and flies two
staffers down from Paris to Rome to make sure they fit properly. The $1,000 Dior gown is submerged
in the pool as Sophia and Marcello tango energetically down a flight of
steps and under the surface of water. QUOTES AND
REVIEWS "Leslie
Bricusse, who'd previously composed some of the numbers for Sophia's
record
album with Sellers, contributed seven songs. Sponsored by the textiles
division
of Monsanto, the one-hour color program was a veritable fashion show
for the
house Dior, which dressed Sophia throughout." "Sophia went on to
host other television specials, including With
Love, Sophia. The show, which aired on ABC on October 25, 1967, was
an
ambitious musical fantasy that centered on the Villa Ponti. In keeping
with her
then diva status, special billboard-size Avedon fashion images of Loren
were
erected in the garden as scenic elements. Tony Bennett sang some of the
numbers
on the soundtrack and Loren sang three herself." "Unlike other tours
conducted by name stars, Sophia-With Love was low-key entertainement at
its best."
Bob Foster, The Times, 27 oct 1967 "A television program that can make Sophia Loren dull must be some kind of masterpiece. Bob McKenzie, The Oakland Tribune, 26 oct 1967 "The combination of beautiful woman and elegant clothes is one of the more striking features of "With Love... Sophia." San Antonio Light, 22 oct 1967 |
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