Happy 90th birthday Sophia, the icon of italian cinema

On September 20, Sophia Loren will blow out 90 candles. Ranked 21^st among the most renowned actresses according to the American Film Institute, she became, in 2021, the oldest woman in the whole history of cinema to have ever won the Davide di Donatello for best lead actress in the film “Una vita davanti a sé”, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. As a present to the great diva, we are going to take a journey back in time to some of her movies locations in Lazio.

Sophia Loren and Alberto Sordi in “Due notti con Cleopatra”

Born in Rome but raised in Pozzuoli and Naples during the Second World War, she returned to the Eternal City where, in 1950, conquered the title of “Miss Eleganza” on the stage of the “Miss Italia” beauty contest. Under the artistic name Sophia Loren, she starred alongside Alberto Sordi in “Due notti con Cleopatra”, directed by Mario Mattoli in 1953 at the Ponti-De Laurentis Studios in Rome.

To Sophia, already famous in the 50s, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated. Her amazing mambo dance performance in “Pane, amore e…” with Vittorio De Sica turned her into an icon of the Italian comedy. Shot by Dino Risi in the Sorrento Peninsula, the movie is the third episode of a tetralogy which includes “Pane, amore e fantasia” (1953) and “Pane amore e gelosia” (1955), both shot in black and white by Luigi Comencini in Castel San Pietro Romano. The fourth episode “Pane, amore e Andalusia” (1958) by Javier Setò concludes the series.

Sophia Loren and Franca Valeri in “Il segno di Venere”

In 1955 Sophia appears with Franca Valeri, on the Roman set of “Il segno di Venere” by Dino Risi, located between Piazza di Santa Emerenziana and Viale Libia. In the same year, she is portrayed in the cover photo of “Life”, the famous American magazine which paved the way to her career in Hollywood, where she acted with sacred monsters the likes of Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Perkins and Marlon Brando.

Sophia Loren at the 1961 Academy Award for “La Ciociara” (Two Women) – Facebook @SophiaLorenOfficialSite

In the 60s she has been the favourite of Italian and international great directors, such as Mario Monicelli, Ettore Scola and Charlie Chaplin. But her absolute masterpiece is “La Ciociara” (Two Women), directed by Vittorio De Sica, in which she plays the role of Cesira, duetting with Eleonora Brown as Rosetta, Cesira’s daughter. The film was shot in the villages of Fondi, Itri and Campodimele, and on the Riviera di Ulisse. In addition to several other prizes, Sophia Loren won, for this performance, the first Academy Award conferred to an Italian actress acting in an Italian movie.

Sophia Loren in “Ieri, oggi e domani”

In “Ieri, oggi e domani” (1963), Sophia plays three different characters: Adelina in Naples, Anna in Milan and Mara in Rome. Once again she is joined by Marcello Mastroianni, whom she tries to seduce by performing an unforgettable striptease, which still impresses the male audience. In 1965, the film conquered the Academy Award for the best foreign movie and Sophia Loren received the Davide di Donatello as the best lead actress.

Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in “Una giornata particolare” [Facebook photo @Cinema-Amore-Mio]

Sophia Loren is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most awarded Italian actress in the world, having won two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, one Golden Lion, one Grammy Award, one Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, one Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, one Golden Bear Career Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, one BAFTA award, eleven Davide di Donatello, four Nastro d’Argento and, who knows, maybe this year’s Nastro di Platino?

In the History of the Academy Awards, unforgettable is her great emotional enthusiasm, with which, in 1999, she proclaimed, “And the Oscar goes to… Roberto!” as she awarded Roberto Benigni.

With the same enthusiasm we wish you

“Happy Birthday Sophia”!