Rare Magazine Covers (Part One)

Special thanks to Patrick for providing the Sunday Sun cover.

Certo, certissimo, anzi probabile... (1969)

This Marcello Fondato comedy is one of Catherine Spaak's better late nineteen-sixties films. Claudia Cardinale plays a telephone operator who breaks up with her current boyfriend and moves in with her best friend, a stylist played by Spaak. While they are both constantly on the lookout for men, and share similar tastes, Cardinale is looking for somebody to marry her while Spaak is only interested in taking on lovers. It isn't long before their friendship sours into a scathing competition when Cardinale's dates not only start rejecting her preference for long-term commitment, but also become allured by Spaak's "no strings" free love. European cinema icons John Phillip Law, Robert Hoffmann, Nino Castelnuovo, and Antonio Sabato are among the love interests. One of Spaak's songs, "Oh," is heard playing on the radio in the film, and Carlo Rustichelli's score (featuring the "vocalism" of Edda Dell'Orso) recycles a theme he wrote for Spaak's "Tre Notti d'amore."

The transfer I came across is in widescreen with the original Italian audio, from an Italian television broadcast. There is a full screen, English-dubbed version of the 1973 American release, "Diary of a Telephone Operator," available in the public domain, which has seen numerous bargain basement DVD releases in America over the years, all reportedly deriving from an early eighties VHS master. While I don't mind some English dubs, I have a feeling a lot of the humor here would be lost in English.

Rare Posters and Ads (Part One)

Special thanks to Patrick for providing the rare "Crazy Desire" ad from Variety and the Senza Pudore poster for "Una Ragazza piuttosto complicata."

Le Monachine (1963)

In this extremely light family film, Catherine Spaak plays a nun who travels to Rome to protest an airline whose loud jet planes are constantly flying over her convent. She is accompanied by her superior and one of the more mischievous students.


The transfer I came across, far from exemplary, was sourced from a 16mm print of the 1965 American release from Embassy Pictures. One of several Catherine Spaak films brought to America by the legendary producer Joseph E. Levine.

Adulterio all'italiana (1966)

Yet another comedy Catherine Spaak made with director Pasquale Festa Campanile. In this one she plays a married woman who makes her husband live under threats of infidelity after she finds out about his affairs.