The Witches (1967)
"Le streghe" (original title)

Directors:

Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica,

Writers:

Mauro Bolognini (segment), Fabio Carpi (segment),

Stars:

Silvana Mangano, Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Silvana Mangano	...	Gloria (segment "Strega Bruciata viva, La") / Lady in a hurry (segment "Senso civico") / Assurdina Caì (segment "Terra vista dalla luna, La") / Nunzia (segment "Siciliana, La") / Giovanna (segment "Sera come le altre, Una")
Annie Girardot	...	Valeria (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Francisco Rabal	...	Paolo (Segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Massimo Girotti	...	Sportsman (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Véronique Vendell	...	Young Girl Friend (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Elsa Albani	...	Gossip (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Clara Calamai	...	Ex-actress (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Marilù Tolo	...	Waitress (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Nora Ricci	...	Gloria's secretary (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Dino Mele	...	Dino, the waiter (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Helmut Berger	...	Young man at Hotel (segment "La Strega Bruciata Viva") (as Helmut Steinbergher)
Bruno Filippini	...	Singer (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Leslie French	...	Industrialist (segment "Strega Bruciata Viva, La")
Alberto Sordi	...	Elio Ferocci (segment "Senso Civico")
Totò	...	Ciancicato Miao (segment "La terra vista dalla luna")

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

italian comedy | episodic structure | actress playing male role | italy | actor playing female role | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

12 March 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Witches

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, Les Productions Artistes Associés

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clint Eastwood was given the choice of taking $25,000 in cash or $20,000 and a brand-new Ferrari by producer Dino De Laurentiis to play a small part in the movie. He chose the money and the Ferrari. He got on well with Silvana Mangano and director Vittorio De Sica.

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Connections

References The Phantom (1943)

User Reviews

The Five Faces of Mangano

Mangano, the wife of famed producer Dino de Laurentiis, gets a royal showcase here, portraying five different women in five short films, each directed by a noted Italian director. In the first (and lengthiest) one, she is a beleaguered movie star who hides away in the large ski chalet of an acquaintance and is promptly pursued by the men and nearly deconstructed by the women. This film has some interesting camera placement and some intriguing aspects, but isn't particularly revelatory or surprising. One ridiculous scene has her talking into a telephone in which her husband is screaming incoherently nonstop into the other end. An impossibly young and attractive Berger has a small role as a servant. Also, viewers could possibly die from the secondhand smoke emitted from the performers! Next Mangano plays a well-dressed woman whose car is stopped at the site of an accident. She picks up an injured man and speeds through the city waving a white handkerchief, but passes various first aid stations and hospitals along the way. The man mutters unintelligibly while he ponders why she is doing this. In the third short film, she is a green-haired deaf-mute who becomes the wife of a lonely widower who has been searching the country for a bride (and a step-mother for his son.) This is by far the most unusual of the stories and is told with much bizarre imagery, whimsy and surrealism. This will make it hard to take for some people, but it has value as an exercise in oddity and metaphor. Next up, Mangano plays a fiery Sicilian woman who has been wronged. When she expresses her shame to her father, it kicks off a whole chain of assassinations. Finally, she is a bored and unappreciated housewife married to Eastwood (of all people!) who complains to him about the mundane existence they share all the while fantasizing about what their life was once like and could be again with a little imagination. This one probably holds the most interest of the five because of the presence of a boyishly young Eastwood (who is quite game for the various shenanigans in the piece) and the myriad of striking costume and hairstyle changes that occur on Mangano throughout. It is a must-see for fans of the over-the-top "What a Way to Go!"-esque clothes of the time. Why didn't anyone ever make this lady a Bond villainess? One section has her being courted by a gaggle of sexy comic book characters like Flash Gordon and Batman. All but the last film suffer from the dreaded English dubbing, but some amount of entertainment value manages to come through. The title sequence is unusual and interesting. This melange of stories will not appeal to everyone, but most viewers will at least get a slight kick out of the last one if only for the sight of pup Eastwood and the way-out clothes in the fantasy sequences.