Details
Synopsis
This biography looks at Sophia Loren's life an actress, mother, and successful businesswoman, and delves into her relationships with Carlo Ponti, Cary Grant, and Richard Burton.
| Size | | Length: | 399 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 24.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
Screen legend Sophia Loren has led a colorful life, and Harris's (Audrey Hepburn, LJ 4/15/94) presentation of it makes for entertaining reading. She was born Sofia Scicolone, an illegitimate child in Fascist Italy, and eventually overcame poverty and malnourishment and developed into a beautiful teenager. Sophia's mother, a frustrated actress, began to push Sophia into the spotlight, and eventually Sophia caught the attention of producer Carlo Ponti, who recognized her potential. Sophia's beauty and physical attributes brought her immediate success in films but she proved that she could act as well and eventually won an Academy AwardR. On the personal side, her marriage to Ponti in 1957 was not recognized by Italian law because of Ponti's previous Mexican divorce, and shady financial dealings resulted in Sophia herself spending 30 days in jail. Harris covers all of this with considerable ease, for the most part avoiding gossip. An assessment of her appeal and talents would have made this a better biography, but it is one that will be enjoyed by fans and is recommended for public libraries. Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama Lib., Florence
Moore
Screen legend Sophia Loren has led a colorful life, and Harris's . . . presentation of it makes for entertaining reading. She was born Sofia Scicolone, an illegitimate child in Fascist Italy. . . . Sophia's beauty and physical attributes brought her immediate success in films but she proved that she could act as well and eventually won an Academy Award. On the personal side, her marriage to [Carlo] Ponti in 1957 was not recognized by Italian law because of Ponti's previous Mexican divorce, and shady financial dealings resulted in Sophia herself spending 30 days in jail. Harris covers all of this with considerable ease, for the most part avoiding gossip. An assessment of her appeal and talents would have made this a better biography, but it is one that will be enjoyed by fans and is recommended for public libraries.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Tribby
This biography will please neither Loren's fervent admirers nor those seeking gossip. Harris is both bitchy (commenting on Loren's ageing body in Pret-a-Porter) and coy about the star's supposed romances with Cary Grant and Jack Kennedy. This is an awkwardly written book characterised by such inelegant translations from Italian as 'I am waiting a baby.'
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Bruzzi
The tempestuous life of Italian film star and international sex symbol Sophia Loren is given a thorough but not very insightful treatment by veteran celebrity biographer Harris (Lucy & Desi; Cary Grant). The book's strongest section is the opening, as Harris recounts the well-known but still fascinating story of Loren's illegitimate birth as Sofia Scicolone she was universally considered an ugly baby as well as her hardscrabble upbringing in Mussolini's Italy, her terrifying wartime years in Naples and her discovery by producer Carlo Ponti, who later became her husband. Without Loren's participation, the author is forced to rely on earlier biographies and magazine interviews. As a result, he writes of the affairs Loren might have had with co-stars Cary Grant and Peter Sellers, while admitting that, in the end, he really doesn't know. Perhaps to make up for this, there's a bit too much about Ponti's producing career, but even there the author never really comes to grip with the fact that, under Ponti's guidance, Loren, apart from a few films (most notably Two Women, which brought her an Oscar), has mostly appeared in forgettable movies. Still, the book is enlivened by interviews with Loren's co-workers the always entertaining Peter O'Toole tells of cutthroat poker games on the set of Man of La Mancha and the pace is brisk, with enough gossip to satisfy the curious. Forty b&w photos, not seen by PW. (Jan.)
Lopate
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
All rights reserved.
