Catherine Spaak: The Year in Review - 1971

September 12, 1971 Italian TV magazine

As 1971 started, Catherine was still working with Johnny Dorelli, as they toured Italy with their stage production of Promises, Promises.

• The January 27, 1971 Variety reported that the "Johnny Dorelli-Catherine Spaak troupe touring 'Promises, Promises,' head for San Remo Casino last four days of Jan."

I am not yet sure of when Catherine was formally divorced from Fabrizio Capucci, but apparently it was official (or at least well on its way to being official) by July of 1971, based on an article in Time.

• Time, in the July 12, 1971 edition included an article called "Italy:  Undoing the Gordian Knot" about the difficulty of divorcing in Italy.  The article notes that "Aside from a few celebrities such as Vittorio De Sica, Maria Callas and Catherine Spaak, those who do go through the struggle in the courts are usually middle-class people anxious to legalize long-term liaisons and second families."  

By the summer of 1971, Catherine was in the U.S. for the filming of Un uomo dalla pelle dura in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• The July 28, 1971 Variety reported:   "Franco Prosperi stepped in for director Alberto De Martino on 'Tough Guy' now filming in Albuquerque with Robert Blake and Catherine Spaak for Cinegai."

• The August 11, 1971 Variety reported:  "Cast of Cinegai's 'Tough Guy' is topped by Robert Blake, Ernest Borgnine, Catherine Spaak, Gabriele Ferzettl and Tomas Milian with Franco Prosperi now directing in New Mexico."

Around late August or early September Catherine began work on Causa di divorzio in Carpi and Rome, Italy.

• The June 30, 1971 Variety reported:  "July start for producer Dino De Laurentis is 'Cause for Divorce' with a cast including Senta Berger, Catherine Spaak, Enrico Montesano, directed by Marcello Fondato."

• The August 12, 1971 Variety noted that "Cause for Divorce" was scheduled to start August 28.

• The August 25, 1971 Variety reported:  "DDL starts this week were Marcello Fondato's 'Cause of Divorce' with Santa Berger, Enrico Montesano and Catherine Spaak."  It noted that filming was started August 23 in Modena, with interiors at Dinocitta.

• The October 13, 1971 Variety reported from Rome:  "Latest Columbia acquisition here is Marcello Fondato's 'Cause for Divorce,' recently completed at Dinocitta."

I have not yet found any information to indicate how Catherine finished out 1971, during the October through December period (after winding Causa di divorzio).

Note:  As we will soon see in future posts, Catherine married Johnny Dorelli in 1972.  Catherine gave birth to their son, Gabriele, sometime in 1971.  My guess is that it was in the summer of 1971, just before she went to New Mexico for filming of The Boxer.  I have seen an Italian tabloid report from 1971 (see picture below) indicating that Catherine was pregnant with Dorelli's child and telling close friends.  A July 19, 1971 tabloid (see picture below) purports to show a newborn picture of their child.  Also, as shown below, one tabloid in 1971 ran pictures of the child's baptism, and another 1971 tabloid ran a headline that Catherine had left the child just days after being born (perhaps to work on a film?).  Finally, as pictured below, the September 20, 1971 edition of Oggi has a cover photo of Catherine, Johnny, and Gabriele at the child's baptism. 

I have no information on these press photos, but it seems to me like Catherine's look in The Boxer, so they may be from 1971 (the second photo appears to show Catherine with Sabrina).

Here are some magazines featuring Catherine from 1971: