One of the last century's great life forces Sophia Loren is on fine display in this entertaining piece of screwball Italiano as she teams up with Marcello Mastroianni for the first of fifteen pairings. Loren is Lina Stroppiani who along with her father (Vittorio De Sica) are professional thieves. With two male accomplices Lina attempts to steal Paolo's (Mastroianni) taxi but instead of taking her to the police he grudgingly and through much frustration falls for her.Too Bad's thin and inane plot is brusquely carried along by the energetic, suave and sexy style of its cast. Loren's face, breasts and hips seduce the camera and dominate the scenery as she understandably flusters the comic Marcello. Loren's presence negates anyone stealing the film from her but De Sica as her father shrewdly manipulates with a suave charm, especially in one of the film's final scenes where he all but takes over a police station.Over a half a century later Too Bad She's Bad retains its comic energy and entertainment value much in part to the ideal melding of opera and screwball and the earthy blinding presence of the stunning Ms. Loren strolling the sidewalks of Rome.

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.

***SLIGHT SPOILERS*** This off-the-wall "commedia all'italiana" pairs Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni for the very first time, and it is a delightful piece of nonsense from beginning to end. Roman taxi-driver Paolo (Mastroianni) is entrusted by his cab company with a new car, which he manages to drive into little fender-benders virtually every ten minutes. His biggest worry is his encounter with beauty Lina (Sophia Loren). It isn't long before he realizes that she and her two "boyfriends" hire him to take them to the beach just so they can attempt to steal the car.A little recourse to the girl's dad doesn't help. He turns out to be a thief himself who specializes in suitcases of wealthy travelers. The entire family, as a matter of fact, is a group of incorrigible thieves, right down to wallet-lifting grandma. Lina's father is played by Vittorio De Sica in a characterization that for me steals the entire show. You can't help liking a guy who, while a compulsive bag-snatcher, constantly laments the decline of morals and values of the times.Paolo is helpless in trying to convince the authorities about the crooked family's shenanigans, even after witnessing Lina's fingering of a wallet on a bus. He cannot compete with the girl's crafty wiles or dad's lunatic manipulation of reality. It is inevitable, of course, that Paolo and Lina fall in love, that he propose to keep her on the right side of the law, and that in their final public display of kissing, all will be forgiven. Love overcomes larceny.Actor De Sica, of course, is the great actor/director who would later helm Mastroianni and Loren's most popular films together: MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE and YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. This movie was made by veteran director Alessandro Blasetti, who had a sure hand with this sort of thing. And although it is not up to his greatest films of previous years like PRIMA COMUNIONE, QUATTRO PASSI FRA LE NUVOLE, and 1860, it is well-crafted and very enjoyable. A subsequent film Blasetti made a year later, LUCKY TO BE A WOMAN, pairs Mastroianni and Loren once again.