CLARK GABLE'S BOUND SHOOTING SCRIPT FOR "IT STARTED IN NAPLES".
(Paramount, 1960) It Started in Naples was Hollywood icon, Clark Gable's, final Paramount film and the secondto-last film of his legendary career.
This important working script was written by Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose and Suso Checchi d'Amico. The film was directed by Shavelson and produced by Rose and the two legendary stars, Gable and Sophia Loren, shot the picture on location in Italy with an Italian cast that included Vittorio de Sica. It was released in August 1960.
Bound for Gable's library, in caramel-colored leather, with decorative marbled endpapers, the front cover carries the film's title and Gable's name in gold surrounded by a gilt border design. Laid in amongst the multi-colored page changes are 15 vintage studio stills, mostly of Gable and Loren. The title page carries the earlier title "The Bay of Naples" as well as the writing credits, the Paramount production number "10362" and "Final Script, August 3, 1959, Copied August 17, 1959".
It Started in Naples is an American romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures and released in August 1960. It was directed by Melville Shavelson and produced by Jack Rose from a screenplay by Suso Cecchi d'Amico based on the story by Michael Pertwee and Jack Davies. The Technicolor cinematography was by Robert Surtees.
Plot:
American lawyer Michael Hamilton (Gable) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania travels to Naples, Italy to handle affairs relating to his late brother, Joseph's estate. In two days, Hamilton is to be wed in the US to his fiancee, Linda. Once in Naples, he discovers that his brother had a son. Nine year old, Nando who is being cared for by Lucia, a sexy sister-(not)-in-law (Loren).
The late Joseph Hamilton and Lucia's sister drown in a boat accident. Joseph Hamilton's wife who he left in 1950 is alive in Philadelphia. Michael Hamilton who in the opening narration states, "he was here before with the 5th US Army" in World War II. Hamilton wants to settle his deceased brother's estate with Italian lawyer Vitalli (De Sica). To his dismay, Hamilton finds his brother spent a fortune in fireworks. Lucia works as a cabaret singer.
After seeing Nando handing out racy photos of Lucia at 2 A.M.; Michael wants to enroll Nando in the American School at Rome. Lucia wins custody of Nando. Despite the age difference, romance soon blossoms between Michael and Lucia. Mike decides to stay in Italy.
Trivia:
The film was shot in and around Naples and Sophia Loren had to sneak into the country to make the movie, because the Italian government was investigating her Mexican "marriage" to Carlo Ponti, who was still legally married to another woman. In response to criticisms of the large age difference between he and co-star Sophia Loren, he said, "Now I will start playing my age".
This was the last film to be released within Gable's lifetime (his final film, The Misfits, was released posthumously) and his last film in color. One of the highlights of the film is a tongue-in-cheek musical number by Loren called You Want to be Americano. Filmed on location in Rome, Naples and Capri, It Started in Naples was nominated for an Academy Award for its art direction. It was released to DVD in North America in 2005.
Biography of Clark Gable:
Clark Gable's mother died when he was seven months old. At 16 he quit high school, went to work in an Akron (Ohio) tire factory and decided to become an actor after seeing the play "The Bird of Paradise". He toured in stock companies, worked oil fields and sold ties. In 1924 he reached Hollywood with the help of Portland, Oregon, theatre manager Josephine Dillon, who coached and later married him (she was 17 years his senior).
After playing a few bit parts he returned to the stage, becoming lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore. After several failed screen tests (for Barrymore and Darryl F. Zanuck), Gable was signed in 1930 by MGM's Irving Thalberg. Joan Crawford asked for him as co-star in Dance, Fools, Dance and the public loved him manhandling Norma Shearer in A Free Soul the same year.
His unshaven lovemaking with bra-less Jean Harlow in Red Dust made him MGM's most important star. At one point he refused an assignment and the studio punished him by loaning him out to (at the time) low-rent Columbia Pictures, which put him in Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, which won him an Oscar. He returned to far more substantial roles at MGM, such as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty and Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
When his third wife Carole Lombard died in a plane crash returning from a War Bond drive, a grief-stricken Gable joined the US Army Air Force and was off the screen for three years, flying combat missions in Europe.
When he returned the studio regarded his salary as excessive and did not renew his contract. He freelanced, but his films didn't do well at the box office. He announced during filming of The Misfits that, for the first time, he was to become a father.
Two months later he died of a heart attack. He was laid to rest beside Carole Lombard at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Review:
This charming little romantic comedy directed by Melville Shavelson is one of the brightest spots in Sophia Loren's early Hollywood films. He wisely used Sophia's comic talents which were often wasted by American directors. Having worked with her in another early gem, "Houseboat" with Cary Grant, Shavelson was aware of what would make Sophia shine and here he showcases all of her many ample charms.
The score by Alessandro Cicognini (Indiscretion of an American Wife) and Carlo Savina is pure Italian gold and fits the comic proceedings perfectly. And the addition of the song Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano in Sophia's club act is marvelous.
This popular Italian song of the 1950's resurfaced effectively in "The Talented Mr. Ripley". It is fun to see how Sophia interprets the song for the tourists on Capri.
Clark Gable, cast as stodgy American Michael Hamilton is gruff and funny as he first battles and then falls for Sophia. He has many standout scenes with her and with child actor, Marietto. In particular is the scene where he and Sophia mix killer drinks for each other at the bar. Marietto as Sophia's nephew Nando is a little comic whirlwind. He is wonderful in his naturalness in his scenes with Loren. A skinny ball of ingenuity and energy he is particularly funny when he is trying to get his way with both Loren and Gable.
The great Italian director Vittorio De Sica nearly runs off with the cameras, set and crew in his performance as Sophia's lawyer. He works so well with her, and why not, he was her director in "Gold of Naples", "Two Women" and the wonderful "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." His speech in the courtroom scene is a standout.
All this wonderful talent surrounds Sophia Loren in what is really her show. She is pure magic as Lucia Curcio, a woman of passionate love of life and family.
She dominates the picture as well she should because it is her talent as an actress and her incredible beauty that brought her to this point in her career. Her comedic turns and use of Italian gestures turn this into a joyous romp for both her and the audience.
