Signora di tutti, La (1934)

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Curt Alexander (screenplay)
Salvatore Gotta (novel)

Release Date:

25 March 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Gaby is expelled from school after a married teacher commits suicide after telling her he can't live without her. Though she has done nothing, she is punished for his act.

Plot Keywords:

Perdition | Operation | Movie Star | Suicide Attempt | Agony

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Isa Miranda	...	Gabriella Murge, alias Gaby Doriot
Memo Benassi	...	Leonardo Nanni
Tatyana Pavlova	...	Alma Nanni (as Tatiana Pawlova)
Friedrich Benfer	...	Roberto Nanni (as Federico Benfer)
Franco Coop	...	L'impresario Veraldi
Lamberto Picasso	...	Signor Murge, padre di Gaby e Anna
Nelly Corradi	...	Anna Murge
Mario Ferrari	...	Il produttore cinamatografico
Mattia Sassanelli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luigi Barberi
Gildo Bocci	...	Il regista
Andrea Checchi	...	Un amico di Roberto
Achille Majeroni	...	Il portiere del teatro
Alfredo Martinelli	...	Un giornalista
Egisto Olivieri
Attilio Ortolani	...	Giovanni, il maggiordomo
Giulia Puccini	...	La maestra di canto
Vinicio Sofia	...	L'aiuto regista
Ines Zacconi	...	La zia
Elena Zareschi

Also Known As:

Everybody's Woman (USA) (literal English title)
Dame de tout le monde, La (France) [fr]
Diva für alle, Eine (Germany) [de]
Halvt uskyldig (Denmark) [da]
Kaikkien nainen (Finland) [fi]
Mujer de todos, La (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

97 min | Italy:95 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Cines, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Novella Film

An eloquent precursor to "Lola Montes"!

"La Signora di Tutti" is the only film the maestro Max Ophüls made in Italy and it already confirmed his genius. The film - an eloquent and often tragic study of an ill-fated movie star Gaby Doriot who rises her way to a depressingly patriarchal world and later becomes a victim of its cruelty - is certainly nowhere near the richness, splendour, and lilting mastery of Ophüls' celebrated later classics, but it is fascinating in its own ways. The intricate flashback structure and the beautiful Isa Miranda's heartbreaking incarnation of the spoiled Gaby seem to anticipate Ophüls' later works, particularly his final masterpiece, "Lola Montes" (1955). The film is apparently not for every taste but if you are a fan of Ophuls as I am, it is an indispensable viewing.