40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (1976)

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Tonino Guerra (screenplay)
Tonino Guerra (story)

Release Date:

23 April 1976 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

After you've tried everything else... try Sex with a Smile.

Plot:

Five short comic sketches, all unrelated to each other, except that they are all expressions of Italian sexual humor...

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Female Nudity | Erotica | Shower Scene | Episodic

Cast

Barbara Bouchet	...	The Woman (segment "I soldi in banca")
Edwige Fenech	...	Emilia Chiapponi (segment "La cavallona")
Dayle Haddon	...	Marina (segment "La guardia del corpo")
Alberto Lionello	...	Filippo, the "Catch It While It's Hot" male (segment "L'attimo fuggente")
Aldo Maccione	...	Adriano Serpetti, the "Dog's Day" male (segment "Un posto tranquillo")
Tomas Milian	...	Cavaliere Marelli, the "Dream Girl" male (segment "La cavallona")
Enrico Montesano	...	Salvatore, the "One for the Money" male (segment "I soldi in banca")
Giovanna Ralli	...	Esmeralda (segment "L'attimo fuggente")
Sydne Rome	...	Marcella Fosne (segment "Un posto tranquillo")
Marty Feldman	...	Alex, the "Bodyguard" male (segment "La guardia del corpo")
Christian Aligny	...	Dracula (segment "La cavallona") (as Christian Alegny)
Salvatore Baccaro	...	Client at the bar (segment "La cavallona")
Fiammetta Baralla	...	Woman in the Bathroom (segment "I soldi in banca")
Mimmo Crao	...	François (segment "La guardia del corpo") (as Mimmo Crao)
Franco Diogene	...	Ignazio, her husband (segment "I soldi in banca")

Also Known As:

Sex with a Smile (Philippines: English title) (USA)
40 gradi sotto il lenzuolo (Italy) (alternative title)

Runtime:

100 min | Finland:109 min (1983) | West Germany:89 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Medusa Produzione

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 67735 delivered on 9-1-1976.

Quotes:

Marcella Fosne: [to her dog Othello] You're a male chauvinist mutt!

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Got a big smile from me!

Well, it's not big and it's not clever - but Sex with a Smile is great fun, and rather funny in places; plus it features performances from five of Italy's hottest ladies, so what's not to like? The stories in the film apparently focus on Italian humour, but to me it seemed pretty universal and I think that even people who don't know anything about Italian humour will find this funny. The film features five separate stories, all involving sex and all ending with a funny and ironic little twist. The stories are all around twenty minutes long, and most of them will raise a smile from the audience. The stories mostly seem to focus on a hot woman bewitching a weak willed man, but when the women in question are Barbara Bouchet, Dayle Haddon, Giovanna Ralli, Edwige Fenech and Sydne Rome - it's not hard to see things from the male point of view! The film is perhaps not quite as sexy as it thinks it is or wants to be, but there's no shortage of hot women lolling around in next to nothing and director Sergio Martino manages a lot of nice visuals, which are sure to keep the audience happy.

The first story is one of the best and features Barbara Bouchet as a respectable woman who decides to take a shady man up on his offer of sex for 20 million lire three times, only to find that he's not exactly playing straight with her! We then move on to Marty Feldman's bodyguard who takes his job of guarding Dayle Haddon's socialite very seriously. The tale features a little too much silly slapstick humour my liking, but it's funny in places and Dayle Haddon is great to look at! The third story is probably the weakest of the five, but nice enough as Alberto Lionello's showfer tries to woo Giovanna Ralli's countess. Edwige Fenech is up next in a tale aptly titled 'Dream Girl', starring alongside Tomas Milian, who really shows his versatility as a geeky guy who dreams about her. Fenech really does look great in this story (almost as hood as she did in Martino's excellent Giovannona Long Thigh) and this is definitely the most erotic of the quintet. The film ends on a high with a story revolving around an overprotective dog, which succeeds in ruining Aldo Maccione's chances with Sydne Rome.

This film may not appeal to everyone - I would say that if you've seen Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and didn't like it, you maybe shouldn't bother - but otherwise, Sex With a Smile is an amusing and fun little sex comedy that gets a big thumbs up from me!