Jessica

Curvaceous young nurse from America--widowed on her wedding day and possibly still a virgin--is causing male hormones to race and females tempers to burn in a Sicilian village where she's the new midwife. Flora Sandstrom's novel "The Midwife of Pont Clery" becomes tepid showcase for star Angie Dickinson, who looks great riding around town on her Vespa but otherwise doesn't have much pizazz (the film's tagline calls her 'dynamite', yet Dickinson is so polite and low-keyed this is hardly the case). The women rebel against the sexy outsider by withholding lovemaking from their husbands, which might be an understandable reaction if leggy Jessica actually posed a threat to anybody. As it is, the girl is as innocent of her charms as the husbands are guilty of their ogling--though the picture does get a boost when Dickinson decides to fight back and be a flirt. Not to worry, she's already caught the eye of the wealthy, handsome marchese (himself a widower!), which leads to a limp and predictable conclusion. *1/2 from ****