Lady L
Lady L | |
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Original film poster by Robert McGinnis
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Directed by | Peter Ustinov |
Produced by | Carlo Ponti |
Screenplay by | Peter Ustinov |
Based on | Lady L 1963 novel by Romain Gary |
Starring | Sophia Loren Paul Newman David Niven |
Music by | Jean Françaix |
Cinematography | Henri Alekan |
Edited by | Roger Dwyre |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates
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Running time
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117 minutes |
Country | France Italy United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $2.7 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1] |
Lady L is a 1965 comedy film based on the novel by Romain Gary and directed by Peter Ustinov. Starring Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven and Cecil Parker,[2] the film focuses on an elderly Corsican lady as she recalls the loves of her life, including an anarchist and an English aristocrat. The ending of the film is very different from the ending of the novel.[3]
Plot
As she approaches her 80th birthday, the sophisticated and still attractive Lady Lendale (widely known as "Lady L") recounts to her biographer, Sir Percy, the story of her life.
Fleeing her humble origins in Corsica, she travels to Paris, where she finds work in a brothel. There she falls in love with a thief and anarchist, Armand, and becomes pregnant by him. But before he can use a bomb to assassinate a Bavarian prince, she meets the wealthy Lord Lendale, who is so enchanted by the young woman that he offers to help her and Armand escape if she will agree to marry him. He explains that several of his high society relatives are mad and he wants new blood in his family.
Lady L becomes a woman of means, moving in high society, and together she and Lord Lendale raise a large family and many of their children achieve high class positions. In the end, however, she reveals her secret: with Lord Lendale's help, she has continued to be the lover of Armand, who has fathered all their children while posing as the family's chauffeur.
Cast
- Sophia Loren as Lady Louise Lendale / Lady L
- Paul Newman as Armand Denis
- David Niven as Dicky, Lord Lendale
- Marcel Dalio as Sapper
- Cecil Parker as Sir Percy
- Philippe Noiret as Ambroise Gérôme
- Jacques Dufilho Dufilho as Bealu
- Eugene Deckers as Koenigstein
- Daniel Emilfork as Kobeleff
- Hella Petri as Madam
- Jean Wiener as Krajewski
- Roger Trapp as police inspector Dubaron
- Jean Rupert
- Joe Dassin as a police inspector
- Jacques Legras as a police inspector
- Mario Feliciani as Italian anarchist
- Sacha Pitoëff as Bomb-throwing revolutionary
- Arthur Howard as Butler
- Dorothy Reynolds
- Jacques Ciron
- Hazel Hughes
- Michel Piccolii as Lecoeur
- Claude Dauphin as Inspector Mercier
- Catherine Allégret as Pantoufle
- France Arnel as Brunette
- Dorothée Blank as Blonde girl
- Jean-Paul Cauvin as The Little Orphan
- Lo Ann Chan as the Chinese girl
- Sylvain Levignac
- Laurence Lignières as High society girl
- Tanya Lopert as Agneau
- Moustache as Delcour
- John Wood (uncredited) as the Photographer
- Jenny Orléans as Blonde girl
- Peter Ustinov as Prince Otto of Bavaria
- Janet Wilson as an extra
Production
MGM spent $2 million on pre-production for the film before cancelling the project.[4]
It was later restarted as an international co-production between France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Castle Howard in Yorkshire was used for the shooting of some scenes. Interiors were shot at the Victorine Studios in Nice.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in the West End of London on 25 November 1965.[5]
References
- ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p 8
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059377/[user-generated source]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Times 25/11/65, page 2
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. |
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lady L at IMDb
- Lady L at AllMovie
- Lady L at the TCM Movie Database
- Lady L at the American Film Institute Catalog
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- Accuracy disputes from March 2022
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- Use dmy dates from June 2015
- Use British English from June 2015
- 1965 films
- English-language films
- 1965 comedy films
- Films about anarchism
- Films based on works by Romain Gary
- Films directed by Peter Ustinov
- Films set in the 1900s
- Films set in Paris
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- Films based on French novels
- English-language French films
- Films shot at Victorine Studios
- 1960s English-language films
- 1960s comedy film stubs