TCM Star of the Month: Sophia Loren
"..She was born in 1934, the illegitimate daughter of Riccardo Scicolone (who soon abandoned mother and child) and Romilda Villani, winner of a 1932 Garbo look-alike contest sponsored by MGM, a young woman whose ambitions of stardom were thwarted by her domineering mother and the birth of her daughter. Growing up in dire wartime poverty in the slums of Pozzuoli near Naples, Italy, the young Sofia (as her name was then spelled) was so far from her later voluptuous image that she was nicknamed 'Toothpick' or 'Stick.' By her early teens, however, she had blossomed enough for her mother to begin entering her in beauty contests, and the two traveled to Rome to be extras in the big-budget American film Quo Vadis (1951). It was during one of her many beauty contest entries that she was spotted by a judge, producer Carlo Ponti, more than 20 years her senior and much shorter than the statuesque young girl. He took her under his wing and began grooming her for a film career, first under the name Sofia Lazzaro. She graduated from bits to supporting roles and finally achieved top billing in a comic sex romp as both the title character and a slave girl in Due Notti con Cleopatra (Two Nights with Cleopatra) (1953) opposite Alberto Sordi, star of Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953). Her next big project was lip-synching to diva Renata Tebaldi's voice in a film version of the opera Aida (1953). But the movie that brought her to international attention was L'Oro di Napoli (The Gold of Naples) (1954), Vittorio De Sica's tribute to Sophia's home city. As the wayward wife of a pizza maker, Loren displayed the high spirits and comic skills that would serve her well later in her career. And in a memorable brisk walk down the streets of Naples, she exhibited the physical aspects and sensual appeal that soon had Hollywood calling..."
*All Times Eastern
June 4 Wednesday
8:00PM Too Bad She's Bad (1954) A taxi driver falls in love with the young thief who helped steal his cab. Cast: Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni. Dir: Alessandro Blasetti. BW-95 mins
9:45PM Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) Three tales of very different women using their sexuality as a means to getting what they want. Cast: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Giuffre. Dir: Vittorio De Sica. C-114 mins
12:00AM The Millionairess (1961) When the world's richest woman falls for an ascetic Indian doctor, they plan a test to decide whose dreams will come true. Cast: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim. Dir: Anthony Asquith. C-86 mins
1:45AM It Started In Naples (1960) An American lawyer trying to settle his brother's affairs in Italy falls for one of the man's in-laws. Cast: Clark Gable, Sophia Loren, Vittorio de Sica. Dir: Melville Shavelson. C-100 mins
3:30AM Lady L(1965) A beautiful laundress rises through European society. Cast: Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven. Dir: Peter Ustinov. C-109 mins
5:30AM C'era una Volta (1967) A prince falls for a peasant girl in a fairy tale kingdom. Cast: Sophia Loren, Omar Sharif, Dolores Del Rio. Dir: Francesco Rosi. C-103 mins
June 5 Thursday
7:15AM Ghosts - Italian Style (1969) An unemployed opera singer and his wife find jobs as caretakers in a haunted castle. Cast: Sophia Loren, Vittorio Gassman, Francesco Tensi. Dir: Renato Castellani. C-93 mins
June 11 Wednesday
8:00PM The Key (1958) The key to a woman's apartment may hold bad luck for her lovers. Cast: William Holden, Trevor Howard, Sophia Loren. Dir: Carol Reed. BW-126 mins
10:15PM That Kind Of Woman (1959) A kept woman falls in love with a young paratrooper during the final days of World War II. Cast: Sophie Loren, Tab Hunter, Jack Warden. Dir: Sidney Lumet. BW-92 mins
12:00AM Two Women (1960) A widow tries to get her daughter to safety in World War II Italy. Cast: Sophia Loren, Eleanora Brown, Jean-Paul Belmondo. Dir: Vittorio De Sica. BW-93 mins
1:45AM Operation Crossbow (1965) Allied agents go behind enemy lines to destroy a German missile base. Cast: George Peppard, Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard. Dir: Michael Anderson. C-116 mins
3:45AM Brass Target (1978) Gold thieves plot to assassinate General Patton in the days following World War II. Cast: John Cassavetes, Sophia Loren, George Kennedy. Dir: John Hough. C-111 mins
June 18 Wednesday
8:00PM Desire Under The Elms (1958) A fiery immigrant falls in love with her aging husband's brooding young son. Cast: Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Burl Ives. Dir: Delbert Mann. BW-111 mins
10:00PM The Black Orchid (1959) An aging widower fights family disapproval when he falls in love with a gangster's widow. Cast: Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, Peter Mark Richman. Dir: Martin Ritt. BW-94 mins
11:45PM A Breath Of Scandal (1960) A European princess jeopardizes her crown when she falls for an American millionaire. Cast: Sophia Loren, Maurice Chevalier, John Gavin. Dir: Michael Curtiz. C-98 mins
1:30AM Five Miles to Midnight (1963) A woman tries to free herself from her husband by helping him fake his own death. Cast: Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young. Dir: Anatole Litvak. BW-108 mins
3:30AM The pride and the Passion (1957) A British naval officer helps Spanish peasants haul a large cannon cross-country to battle Napoleon. Cast: Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Stanley Kramer. C-132 mins
5:45AM Legend of the Lost (1957) Three adventurers search for a treasure in a forbidden desert temple. Cast: John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi. Dir: Henry Hathaway. C-108 mins
June 25 Wednesday
8:00PM Boy on a Dolphin (1957) A sponge diver and an American anthropologist try to salvage a priceless statue from the Mediterranean floor. Cast: Alan Ladd, Sophia Loren, Clifton Webb. Dir: Jean Negulesco. C-111 mins
10:00PM The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) A mad emperor's excesses leave the Roman Empire open to barbarian invasions. Cast: Sophia Loren, Christopher Plummer, Alec Guinness. Dir: Anthony Mann. C-183 mins
1:15AM The Cassandra Crossing (1976) When a train's passengers are exposed to a deadly virus, it triggers an international incident. Cast: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen. Dir: George P. Cosmatos. C-129 mins
3:30AM Heller In Pink Tights (1960) Touring actors in the wild West brave Indians and outlaws. Cast: Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, Eileen Heckart. Dir: George Cukor. C-101 mins
5:30AM Man of La Mancha (1972) The aging Don Quixote follows his dream by traveling the countryside as a warrior knight. Cast: Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, James Coco. Dir: Arthur Hiller. C-129 mins
TCM's Full Schedule for June.