Light in the Piazza (1962)

Director:

Guy Green

Writers:

Elizabeth Spencer (story)
Julius J. Epstein (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 February 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young American woman traveling in Italy with her mother is slender, blonde, beautiful and there is something charmingly naive about her...

Plot Keywords:

Language Barrier | Catholic Wedding | Language Learning | Mental Retardation | Mother Daughter Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Olivia de Havilland	...	Meg Johnson
Rossano Brazzi	...	Signor Naccarelli
Yvette Mimieux	...	Clara Johnson Naccarelli
George Hamilton	...	Fabrizio Naccarelli
Isabel Dean	...	Miss Hawtree
Moultrie Kelsall	...	The Minister
Nancy Nevinson	...	Signora Naccarelli
Barry Sullivan	...	Noel Johnson

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The Broadway production of the musical version of "The Light from the Piazza" opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York on April 18, 2005, ran for 504 performances and was nominated for the 2005 Tony Awards for the Best Musical and Book and won for Best Score.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Naccarelli Sr. takes Mrs. Johnson for a ride in the car, he keeps turning the wheel in both directions, as if there were many sharp turns on the road - yet the position of the car in relation to the camera angle hardly changes, as if the road were perfectly straight. Also, on more than one occasion during the drive he glances at Mrs. Johnson even as he is steering the wheel, i.e. at the exact same time (which, in real life, would have resulted in an inevitable accident).

Deals with the anxiety of parents with adult children

Eileen and I enjoyed this movie very much. It is a very accurate story of how parents worry about the future of their adult children. It is best to watch the movie without knowing too much about it. The acting is excellent. It is interesting to watch a young George Hamiltion in his first few years of acting. The young woman is strikingly beautiful and does a great job also. She is Weena from the original Time Machine movie. The American father is the typical 1950s father who does not want to be involved in the details but wants to make all the critical decisions. While in Italy, the American Mother grows up as much as her daughter during the film.