Evening star., 1955-07-31
LoIIo'
Hires Self
AMustoche

Henry Thody. a Briton.
tells here ,Dhy he's glad he
iDent to all the trouble of groD-
ing a handlebar n,ustncte that
measures nearly sic inches
from tip to tip
BY HENRY THODY
ROME, July 3l.-The film
script called for an English
man with a curly, Edwardian
mustache. Italy. it seemed.
was unable to provide an ac-
tor who grew such a prop"
The problem was resolved on
a platform in Rome's glass
and marble railway station
where I had gone to say good.
bye to Miss Gina Lollobrigida.
I carried a bouquet of flow
ers. This was no impulsiye
gesture. Like most foreign
correspondents in Rome, !
had had occasion to inter-
view the extraordinary young
film star known from Messina
to Ventimiglia as La Lollo.
The train was just about
to pun out when Miss Lollo-
brigida leaned from her win
dow and put the classic ques-
tion: How" she said, would
you like to be in pictures?"
Not Really Work
The film, she added, was
the life story of Lima Cava-
lieri. an Italian beauty of half
a century ago. whom DAN
nunzio described as ''the SUI
preme testimony of Venus on
earth" La Cavalieri had
many admirers" continued
Lollobrigida. "One of them
was an English lord who took
a job as her chauffeur to be
near to her. With your won
derful Edwardian mustache
you are made for that part.
VIII you work with me?"
I was still holding the hoW-
ers Is minutes after the train
hac left. / remembered vague-
ly having said that such an
assignment could hardly be de-
scribed as work.
On the set the films vet
eran Hollywood director, Rob-
ert z. Leonard, did not ap-
pear to share the same en-
thusiasrn for the amateur.
The Italian cinema's penchant
for realism left him unn1oved.
He appreciated the fact that
Lollobrlgida'S career had be-
gun in the same vein. Offered
a small part in a film in which
she was expected to box the
male stars ears, she executed
this histrionic gesture to such
effect that he fell fiat on his
face. Grubby shoeshine boys
were all right in their way.
but an English neWspaperman
with "handlebars" =.
Leonard Gave In
whats the point?" Leonard
is reported to have said. "A
makeup man can put a mus
tache on an actor in 10 min
uteS."
"Why a false mustache on
an Italian when we have a
genuine mustache on a real
Englishman?" replied the star
Leonard gave in.
At the studio I was fitted
out with a chauffeur's uni
torn tailored, for some unex-
planned reason, after the style
affected by the Russian I'M
perial Guard, a braided cap,
tails, an opera hat and q 1900
open Fiat with a reluctant
gear-change On the call-board
they posted the following days
schedule. 1t read: Miss Gina
Lollobrigida. Mr.. Henry
Thody." There were other less
important names, of course,
The set was a large one:
A reproduction of a Partisan
square. on one side Of which
stood music hall in the man.
ner of the Folies Bergere
Theatergoers awaiting La Ca
valieri all wore full evening
dress. The men in fancy bro
cade waistcoats, tails, silk
lined cloaks and opera hats;
the women with glittering dia-
monds at their throats and
swaying ostrich feathers.
In the cobbled square
crowded also with st. Cyr ca
diets in dashing uniforms, ham
som cabmen held on to the
bits of their horses. scared
s. At- ---zz~A - ,.awy I.A~~n