I have been watching episodes of the old Mission: Impossible TV series (Season 2, 1967) starring Peter Graves, et al. They have a gravity the MI movies with Tom Cruise do not have. What is also noteworthy is the mode of labor of men and women at a time before feminism, whatever its virtues, came in and spoiled 50 percent of what goes on in TV shows and movies. Cinnamon Carter, played by the classy Barbara Bain, is a brave agent in one accord with the men she works with. She cooperates with them and they with her, and she harbors no anti-sexist agenda. It must be conceded, though, that the men are decent. (Everyone on the Right Side is decent.) They would never sexually harass anyone. Their attitude toward women is what it should be. In fact I can’t help sensing that Cinnamon knows this and loves it.

The main character in the 1955 Italian movie, Scandal in Sorrento (a.k.a. Pane, amore e . . .), is a womanizing gent who returns to his hometown—Sorrento—and becomes infatuated with the widowed fishmonger who has been living in his house. She is not a good match for him, and the woman, Violante, in whose elegant home he becomes a lodger begins to love him. However, Violante (expertly acted by Lea Padovani) is a devoted and prudish Catholic, and it is hardly certain what it would mean for the womanizer to return her love, or try to.

Dino Rosi‘s film is a minor comedy with very little plot (which is fine) and few laughs. Those who have called it charming, though, are right, and its characters hold our interest. They held mine, anyway. No great comic acting was needed from Vittoria De Sica and Sophia Loren, who purvey the necessary agility and sparkle. I give credit to Netflix for showing the film: one which is in color and features lovely seaside images. Moreover, Scandal is made in such a way that the whole of Italy seems to obtain here. A nice sensation.

(In Italian with English subtitles)