Too Bad She's Bad (1954)

Very disappointing...

Sorry, this movie sucks

Just what I expected

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I saw this film on Turner Classic Movies recently and was disappointed with the captioning. It was captioned decades ago--when it was common to use white captions that tended to blend in with the picture (making them hard to read). In addition, the captioning was poor--only translating what the translator felt like you should know. Many times, people talk and what they say isn't translated at all---particularly if they are yelling or muttering to themselves. As for me, I am a purist--I want everything to be translated and translated clearly--and most foreign films are.Marcello Mastroianni plays a cab driver who is very, very proud of his new cab. When a couple guys try to steal it and it's damaged in the process, he's furious and wants to catch them. Their female accomplice (Sophia Loren) is the only clue to their whereabouts and Marcello searches the city for her--and, frankly, considering how stunning she was, it's not surprising that that he sees her once again. When they do meet up again, however, she is quite disarming. She invites him home and he thinks she has a wonderful family (especially Vittorio De Sica)--though they are all in reality a pack of thieves and liars. Poor Marcello is a bit dim and he doesn't seems to catch on that they are NOT the sweet family he thinks they are.After a while, Marcello falls head-over-heels for Sophia. After all, she is amazingly charming...and amazingly beautiful. But, when he realizes that the gift she just gave him was stolen from his boss, he's determined to have it out with her. However, every time he's ready to 'have it out with her', he ends up smashing his new cab. Eventually, he even ends up in the hospital and deep in debt. After a while, the cab is a wreck and so is poor Marcello. What's he to do?! This is a cute little comedy. While certainly not among the best, it is well worth seeing and has nice acting. Plus, since Marcello plays a cabbie, you get to see a lot of Rome--and I liked seeing the Coliseum, Forum and many other sites. My only misgiving is that the film makes thieves seem kind of cute--which is far from true--especially if you've been victimized by one. Plus, in Rome, apparently families of thieves are still a serious problem--definitely not cute in any way.By the way, is it me or didn't one of the thieves in the movie look a bit like Woody Allen?! Maybe it's just me...

A young Sophia Loren momentarily entrances a young Marcello Mastroianni as a ruse for her friends to steal his taxi; he thwarts them and sees her home, only to find out soon enough she's also a pickpocket, and her wily papa works a luggage-stealing scheme down at the train station. Minor yet exquisitely breezy and uncomplicated Italian farce, with sexy asides and feisty banter no doubt charming American audiences who went to see this under the title "Too Bad She's Bad". We never really learn when Mastroianni's cabbie actually falls for the curvaceous Loren, just as we never discover when her feelings for him become anything other than business-related, but that's the beauty of the set-up. No scenes punctuate the weightier issues because the movie is issue-free. The most substantial exchange of dialogue comes late in the film between Sophia and father Vittorio De Sica as they discuss love: "No one ever died from heartbreak," he tells her. "In fact, that is what prolongs life." ** from ****

Wow! Until you hear SOPHIA LOREN speak in her native language, you'd never guess how fast she can talk--especially when it comes to a breezy comedy like this involving a family of thieves run by VITTORIO DeSICA and trying to fleece, among others, MARCELLO MASTROIANNI from his cab while trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities.Her fast talk is exceptional--and funny--considering the situations she gets into. She has a fluency in Italian that she never showed in her English speaking roles and a terrific sense of timing and humor. She also looks fabulous.But the real star of the film is VITTORIO DeSICA as the smooth talking and very elegant head of a family of thieves. Grandma is adept at stealing wallets and the kids are handy at stealing tires off cars. From the start, it's obvious that Sophia (as Lina) and Marcello (as Paolo) are bound to fall in love despite the stormy relationship that has them embroiled in arguments over all of their mishaps.It's amusing from start to finish, which has the predictable ending which has the two of them in a clinch from which they're in no hurry to abandon after a quarrel, not even with a bunch of onlookers wondering why he slapped her first.It's a pure joy to watch these pros at work, but it's clear that DeSica has to be one of the most consummate actors of Italian cinema--just as wonderful before the camera as behind it. And Sophia and Marcello keep up with him every step of the way.Watching this with subtitles is worth it, even though they speak so fast that you'll spend a lot of time just reading the English captions.

Mama Mia! La Gran -Sophia- at the tender age of -20-. Moreover in the kind of role she'd almost never be able to play in America at -any- age, let alone at the pinnacle of her astonishing sexual impact. The costumer put her in one understated but thoroughly boggling outfit after another.The role suits the wardrobe and vice-versa. The Body going bawdy is exactly what the title infers, but with sufficient "screwball comedy" dialog to make it entertaining as well as educational. (The teacher -will- command your attention here. Yow.) Marcello is on top of his pre-Fellini game as the almost crafty-enough romantic lead, and De Sica does a fine local godfather. As a genre, post-war Italian cinema is almost always reliable, and this is no exception.Guys (of any age): If you've got -any- sort of a masochistic yen for being manhandled by a world-class, hormone-heating, trick-or-treater, -this- will make your day. Hahahaha.