The Little Nuns (1965)
"Le monachine" (original title)

Two nuns come to Rome to protest to an airline about its jet planes which have been flying over their convent school, disrupting teaching of the little orphans who study there and damaging ... See full summary »

Director:

Luciano Salce

Writers:

Franco Castellano, Giuseppe Moccia

Stars:

Catherine Spaak, Sylva Koscina, Amedeo Nazzari

Cast

Credited cast:
Catherine Spaak	...	Sister Celeste
Sylva Koscina	...	Elena
Amedeo Nazzari	...	Livio Bertana
Didi Perego	...	Mother Rachele
Umberto D'Orsi	...	Spugna
Sandro Bruni	...	Damiano the Orphan
Annie Gorassini	...	Bertana's Secretary
Alberto Bonucci	...	Mr. Batistucchi
Lando Buzzanca	...	Amilcare Franzetti
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ugo D'Alessio	...	Movie director
Consalvo Dell'Arti	...	The doctor
Edda Ferronao	...	Waitress
Totò Mignone	...	Assistant director
Antonio Pierfederici	...	The President
Lola Wigan	...	Mannequin

Storyline

Two nuns come to Rome to protest to an airline about its jet planes which have been flying over their convent school, disrupting teaching of the little orphans who study there and damaging the ancient fresco of their patron saint through sound vibrations.

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Plot Keywords:

nun | convent | convent school | catholic school | catholic orphanage | 

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Taglines:

They're The Joy Of The Jet-Age!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

29 August 1963 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Little Nuns

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hesperia Films S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

User Reviews

Lost Italian Comedy Needs Rediscovery

The Little Nuns is a delightfully funny comedy, one of the best and brightest from Italy's golden age of comedy, the 1960's. Unfortunately it seems to be almost unknown now, at least in the English-speaking world.

The nuns in a rural Italian convent are being driven to distraction by the noisy commercial jet aircraft flying overhead, disrupting the classes in their orphans school. The vibrations are even damaging the ancient fresco of their patron saint. When it is discovered the convent owns a single share of stock in the offending airline, two nuns are dispatched to the airline's next stockholder's meeting in Rome. The naive sisters may not understand the worldly ways of the city, but they have very decided notions about the way things should be. Their innocent misadventures make life hilariously miserable for the sophisticated CEO of the airline (Amedeo Nazzari) just as effectively as if they had really intended it. International beauty Catherine Spaak, uncharacteristically well covered in a traditional nun's habit, shines as the formidable Sister Celeste. Nazzari, who seems to have been in every other Italian movie of this period, though in his fifties, was still a robust, handsome man with a remarkable resemblance to Errol Flynn. His suave, urbane demeanor made him the perfect straight man for this genteel farce.

I caught The Little Nuns a couple of times back in the 1980'a on something like the Late, Late, Late, Desperate Night Owl Theater. There appears to be no DVD of this minor classic, and that's a shame. The Little Nuns is a delightful, lively, charming, little madcap comedy from an Italian cinema industry which was turning out first class entertainment at a time when Hollywood had almost forgotten how.