Customer Reviews

Too Bad She's Bad

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie was enjoyable to watch for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was to witness the first time that Sophia Loren, Vittorio de Sica, and Marcello Mastroianni act together in a motion picture. It was a pleasant experience to hear "La Loren" speaking her native language after being so accustomed to seeing her in American pictures over the years. She displays much talent for comedy. Mastroianni, who was relatively unknown when this movie came out, ably shows his comedic "chops" and you know he is destined for greatness in the cinematic world. Vittorio de Sica, as always, is a thorough delight to watch. Seeing this picture made me want to find other Italian movies he made. If you can understand the language, this picture is even more enjoyable, but if not, I would still recommend it for the stars in it. Some of the best movies ever made are subtitled, and it is a provincial mind that dismisses these movies out of hand because they are either too lazy to read the subtitles or fear that they will not be able to follow the movie because the subtitles get in the way or go by too fast. That's what a pause button is for! Try it! You'll like it!

A fun film to watch. Great Italian sense of humor. Sofia at the time when she and other actresses like Marilyn Monroe could show some curves and not be considered obese (as our anorexic actresses of today's film industry are.) The group of pickpockets and scam artists are hilarious and Marcello Mastroianni as a cabbie more obsessed with his shiny car than with his passion for Sofia (or is he) is a comic example of the boys with toys complex.
Director Alessandro Blasetti never was fully appreciated in America, therefore his two other hits "Altri Tempi" and "1860" were never put into USA format.

Relatively unheard of in the states until its release last year, this Italian gem from 1954 unveils the unmistakable comedic skills of an unknown Marcello Mastroianni and almost equally unknown (cinematically speaking) Sophia Loren, whose performances here are the European equivalant of those of Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn films of the late 30`s. These two bounce lines off one another effortlessly, at times speaking over and under each other at breakneck pace, their timing impeccable and jarring, their physical gestures and tapdancing body language in itself hysterical. Add Vittorio De Sica`s suave, smooth-talking, sleight-of-hand magic to the mix and what you have is a bawdy, blissful, charming Post-War comedy from that time period. Alessandro Blasetti`s direction is skillful and artful, making this a must-see if you`re a fan of any or all of the three leads. The only negative thing is that, like most imports fom those days, the only dialogue that`s subtitled is the essential dialogue, so other witty lines are omitted completely, which is a shame because it would be even funnier if we had translations of ALL the dialogue. The pricetag is hefty but the payoff is big, I recommend this one highly.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie; It's fun and interesting to start out with, when Sophia Loren and her pals try to steal poor Marcello's beloved taxi, and Loren is unbelievably sexy, but the movie really takes off with the entrance of Desica who seems to be having the time of his life as an older thief bemoaning the crude methods of the younger generation of thieves. This movie is almost like Bringing Up Baby Italian Style; the wacky unpredictable woman and the befuddled bumbling man who is both in love with her and totally exasperated with her. Best of all, the movie gets better and better, climaxing with a terrific farcical sequence aboard a bus and culminating in a police station/courthouse scene that once again mirrors the American comedies of the 30's only with a distinctly Italian Flavor. Well worth seeing for so many reasons!

Charming and funny. Loren, Mastroianni and De Sica have great chemistry from their very first collaboration! More than 50 years after it was made, the movie is still fresh and will keep your attention.

A very entertaining film, the first teaming of the 3, as you most likely know. And Sophia. Oh my! So beautiful at such an early age! They just ran this on TCM, great print, so you know the DVD will look good as well. Was shocked to see a very brief nipple slip, as she was changing behind a bush while on the beach....if she had stopped one foot sooner, she wouldn't have shown anything! thank goodness she went just a little further! :)

Delight in the Neapolitan trio of Loren, Mastroianni and De Sica. Loren is enchantingly ornamental. This is a charming and ageless con caper, Italian style!

It is quite a kick to see Ms Loren and Senori DeSica & Mastroianni so ageless! They look practically the same decades later as they did in this 50s flick, "Too Bad She's Bad". Marcello is the beefcake straight guy, Sophia is the devastating lure and Vittorio is hilarious as a hapless ageing carpetbagger and thief. And the old cars are great to see in their real original condition.
This Morality Tale is told with humour in the poverty of post war Italy. You get a sense of the renewal of energy of a people who were kicked around by the fascists then intruded upon by the allies. The characters seem to be breathing easier a decade after the war's end and the fun has come back into the Italian psyche.
Of course, Sophia's luscious beauty is enough but seeing her with her colleagues as they were beginning their breakthrough into international stardom is a treat, too.
I really enjoyed this romp into Italian cinema history but the gags are still funny - especially Vittorio's little hollow thief satchel that is mechanically faulty preventing him from successfully robbing people - a very funny tongue-in-cheek metaphor for the haplessness of the post Mussolini infrastructure.

If you're a red-blooded male with a pulse - who is conscious and still breathing - you'll appreciate this classic Italian farce and its ravishing main attraction. Mere words can't begin to describe the breathtaking, 19 year-old Sophia Loren. Trust me; my eyeballs still hurt from popping out of my head! (...Oh yeah, I almost forgot - what's-his-face and whosis are in it, too.)

Great movie. Kept my interest. Sometimes movies this old will seem boring to our modern short attention spans but I never fast forwarded. Loren is great. He's great too.