Le ragazze di San Frediano (1955)

Director:

Valerio Zurlini

Writers:

Leonardo Benvenuti (writer)
Piero De Bernardi (writer)

Release Date:

20 April 1956 (Finland)

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Suicide Attempt | Florence Italy | Mechanic | Love Affair

Cast

Antonio Cifariello	...	Andrea Sernesi aka Bob
Rossana Podestà	...	Tosca
Giovanna Ralli	...	Mafalda Panini
Marcella Mariani	...	Gina
Giulia Rubini	...	Silvana Biagini
Luciana Liberati	...	Loretta
Corinne Calvet	...	Bice
Adriano Micantoni	...	Guido Sernesi, Bob's brother
Gianni Minervini	...	Aldo, the barman (as Giovanni Minervini)
Sergio Raimondi	...	Gianfranco, Silvana's fiancé
Mitzi Roman	...	Mitzi, Bice's assistant
Alberto Archetti
Ada Bartolucci
Boris Cappelli	...	Boris, Bob's assistant
Cesarina Cecconi

Also Known As:

The Girls of San Frediano (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Lux Film

the outrageous male persona meets its match

This sort of tongue in cheek comedy is truly unique, an examination of the Italian male persona with fantasy exaggerations that are hilarious, a guy that can't stop himself from picking up women while en route to his dates, women swooning over him, laying awake in anguish, the use of the English-language word "Bob" cracked me up every time it was used, similar to in "Being John Malkovich" when people were thrown out onto the New Jersey turnpike, these comedy bits worked. I couldn't help thinking David Lynch had seen this film once and used it for his Twin Peaks twisted version of "Bob." The collection of women here are gorgeous, Zurlini's exquisite technique is already evident in this early film, and for pure comedy, it was a mixture of Pietro Germi's outrageous Sicilian reflections in his 64 film "Seduced and Abandoned" and Fellini's "La Dolce Vita."