IT STARTED IN NAPLES: Blu-ray (Paramount, 1960) Paramount Home Video

Immediately following WWII, Hollywood begrudgingly came to the realization motion pictures could no longer be confined to their studio facilities. Some moguls were more progressive in their thinking here – particularly, 2oth Century-Fox’s Darryl F. Zanuck, who began experimenting with ‘locations’ throughout the 1940’s. Returning war vets had brought home a real taste of Europe. This could not be duplicated on a soundstage. Worse, television had cannibalized ticket-buying audiences, cutting theater attendance by nearly half. So, the mid-fifties push for ‘realism’ – still, largely escapist – was wed to new technologies developing on the horizon. Widescreen replaced the standard ‘academy ratio’ for mode of presentation, and stereophonic sound and color films became all the rage.  Paramount’s contribution to this mid-50’s feeding frenzy was VistaVision – a higher resolution 35mm format unencumbered by Cinemasope’s anamorphic squeeze, with its film negative running horizontally (rather than vertically) through the camera gate, exposing a larger, fine-grain nuanced image in projection. It was a short theatrical run – barely 7 years in America, though VistaVision has since found a use producing very high-quality rear projection opticals for movies shot digitally.

VistaVision is the real/reel star of director, Melville Shavelson’s It Started in Naples (1960) – a haplessly strung together rom/com. Despite marking the final appearance of legendary Hollywood he-man, Clark Gable (well past his prime, and tragically, to die from a heart attack this same year, age 59), as the stuffed shirt, smart-mouthed industrialist, Michael Hamilton, and, sultry sexpot on the rise, Sophia Loren (as his potential amante, the tart-mouthed/loud-talking Lucia Curcio), It Started in Naples would be nothing at all without its breathtaking panoramic Italian vistas, sparkling with enough earthy splendor to make me want to pack an ‘overnight’ and catch the first plane to Napoli, never to come home again. Less convincing on every level is Suso Cecchi d'Amico’s brutally strained screenplay (based on a story by Michael Pertwee and Jack Davies). This rips into just about every cheap cliché, hyperbole and knock-off from the Chico Marx handbook of ‘how to be an Italian,’ coming a cropper of the subtler nuances, finesse and yes – charm - that ought to have accompanied such a glorious travelogue. Aside: subtlety is not d’Amico’s thing. It doesn’t appear to be Sophia Loren’s either. She gets to sing two songs, Carrina, and, ‘Tu vuò fà l'americano’, (translation – You Want to Be American, written by Neopolitan composer, Renato Carosone): neither of them – well, but the latter, since gone on to become something of an anthem in trattorias and nightclubs from Genoa to Sicily, and, most recently resurrected on film in Anthony Minghella’s 1999 thriller, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Alessandro Cicognini and Carlo Savina’s underscore certainly has its own flourish of pizza and pesto, with gently strumming guitars to typify these soft and enveloping Mediterranean breezes.

But the plot, to involve Gable’s unfeeling industrialist on the cusp of marriage to a Philadelphian highborn heiress we never see, is mediocre at best. Gable’s Mike, newly arrived to settle his late brother’s accounts in Naples, discovers he has a ragamuffin nephew, Nando (Carlo Angeletti, no stitch of English and learning his lines phonetically) being reared by an even more slovenly and devil-may-care aunt - Loren’s Lucia.  Throwing caution aside, Mike begins a whirlwind romance with Lucia, while scheming to steal the child from her for his own good and ‘proper’ rearing in America. This positively reeks of smug superiority and the stereotypical ‘ugly American’. I suspect, d’Amico’s screenplay is meant strictly for laughs. Alas, too few are served up outside of a pithy barb.  Is d’Amico poking his silly stick at Americans or Italians? Not sure. And there is no good reason to utterly waste imminent 4-time Oscar-winning director, Vittorio De Sica (as Mike’s attorney, Mario Vitale, with a chronically roving eye for feminine boodle) in this tripe, except De Sica had already made a splash in front of the cameras in 1957’s otherwise commercially panned stinker for David O. Selznick, A Farewell to Arms.

It Started In Naples falls to bits almost immediately after its colorful main titles and our first exhilarating glimpse, omnipotently floating over the picturesque coastal fringe of that fabled Italian port. Mike Hamilton descends from on high to a crowded train platform, met at the station by the ebullient Mario who wastes no time informing him, his late brother (and brother’s wife’s) untimely demise has left his only living relative, the prepubescent Nando in the care of a wayward aunt, Lucia, presently involved as ‘the queen’ of a local parade strictly staged for the tourist trade. Sophia Loren’s introduction, draped in queenly rags and immaculately coiffed, belies the earthy gal lurking beneath these petticoats – the one who will dominate the bulk of this story. Nevertheless, it plays directly into Loren’s international moniker as ‘the Italian Cinderella’. In her royal duds, Lucia peaks Mike’s interest. Not so much after he arrives at the Villa Palazzo to discover a seedy, stone-walled hovel on the edge of the docks, and Lucia, curler-haired and sleeping in the middle of the afternoon.

Mike is appalled by Nando’s appearance. He is dirty, barefoot and schooled only in the art of pouring drinks, smoking cigarettes and making pasta. His life has no structure and, seemingly, no future either. Later that evening, after telephoning his fiancée back in Philadelphia (one of the ongoing gags is Mike’s inability to connect with his lover via telephone), Mike decides to go slumming. He discovers Lucia as a crass nightclub performer and is mildly amused. But Lucia only has ideas how to convince Mike to allow her to maintain custody of his brother’s child once he has left for home. Mike hires Mario to plead his case in the local courts. Meanwhile, he sets about plying his charm on Nando, releasing the rest of his late brother’s fireworks into the air, as Nando holds a special place in his heart for these pyrotechnics. Having easily won the heart of a boy, Mike conspires to earn Lucia’s trust. As his tenuous engagement back home dissolves, he decides to seduce Lucia into seeing things his way. She is swayed…to a point, but then reneges on her decision to allow Nando to go to America. In the courts, Mario suavely defends Mike’s position. But it is no use. The judges rule in Lucia’s favor. A disgruntled Mike makes immediate plans to depart for America. Alas, after being accompanied to the station by Nando, Mike cannot leave the boy behind. Instead, he elects to return to Naples and pursue a relationship with Lucia, who is also grateful for his return.

It Started in Naples remains harmless, antiseptic fluff and nonsense with zero staying power. Its’ picture postcard locales cannot eclipse, much less rival the pedestrian storytelling and C-grade acting from Gable and Loren.  Enamored with the local cuisine, Gable put on considerable weight throughout the shoot, noticeable on the screen. Alas, there is no romantic chemistry between Gable (then, 59) and Loren (turning 25 on the set). In reality, they did not get on; Loren, accusing director, Shavelson of favoring her co-star’s profile during the scenes they shared, causing Gable to become disgusted by Loren’s vanity. Precisely why Gable had agreed to make the picture at all remains a mystery as, only the year before, he had announced to the press he was officially ‘done’ with playing romantic leads. Nevertheless, and despite their mutual animosity, Gable was instrumental in smuggling producer, Carlo Ponti onto the set to surprise Loren for her birthday. The couple’s Mexican marriage was considered illegal under Italian law as Ponti was already wed to another on his native soil. In an interesting bit of foreshadowing, the court room finale features a tearful and overwrought plea from Loren’s Lucia, prompting Mike to condescendingly reply, “I forgot, who won the Academy Award this year." Ironically, Loren would win a Best Actress Oscar (Best Actress) for Two Women (1960) the following year. Anemic, cloying, and obvious, It Started In Naples is the sort of movie that could have been so much more entertaining - but isn’t, despite its many virtues. Today, it stands as neither a testament to its stars, nor as a particularly memorable travelogue in post-war Rome, Capri and Naples. Want a better movie, similarly set against the sun-drenched vistas of Italy? Try, Jean Negulesco’s Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) or David Lean’s exquisite, Summertime (1955) and leave Gable and Loren to their memories in old Napoli.

There is far better news for It Started In Naples on Blu-ray. Paramount has apparently culled this 1080p transfer from restored elements, revealing tons of fine detail and absolutely gorgeous color saturation throughout. Black levels are deep and satisfying. There are no age-related artifacts. The image is razor sharp without any untoward edge enhancement.  There is some very brief and exceptionally minor image flicker in several shots. Blink and you’ll miss it. The 2.0 mono audio is adequate for this presentation. Lest we forget, VistaVision’s rum limitation in the age of stereophonic sound was that its expanded image clarity contained no place to fit a true stereo soundtrack. While several VistaVision pictures were afforded Perspecta soundtracks (a directionalized mono option) this movie does not seem to have been the beneficiary of that technology. Odd, but gratifying of Paramount (known more recently for a spotty record in remastering its back catalog in hi-def) to have invested necessarily to restore and present this image as it likely appeared theatrically over 60 years ago. Singular shortcoming (other than the movie)…no extras – not even a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: for those seeking mindless, good-natured and even better-looking pictures that move – very highly recommended. Others can sincerely pass and be very glad that they did.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

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VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5

EXTRAS

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