''Il merlo maschio'' (''The Male Blackbird''), known in the United Kingdom as ''The Naked Cello'' or ''Secret Fantasy'' in the United States, is an Italian film in the ''

commedia sexy all'italiana The commedia sexy all'italiana (, lit. "sex comedy Italian style"), also known as commedia scollacciata or commedia erotica all'italiana, is a subgenre of Italian ''commedia all'italiana'' film genre. Style ''Commedia sexy'' is characterized typ ...

'' style, and presents a theme of candaulism, that was very rare at the time. It was filmed in 1971 by director

Pasquale Festa Campanile Pasquale Festa Campanile (28 July 1927 – 25 February 1986) was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the commedia all'italiana genre. Life and career Born at Melfi, in the province ...

, and starred

Laura Antonelli Laura Antonelli ( Antonaz; 28 November 1941 – 22 June 2015) was an Italian film actress who appeared in 45 films between 1964 and 1991. Early years Antonelli was born Laura Antonaz in Pola, Kingdom of Italy (in Croatian, Pula), former cap ...

and

Lando Buzzanca Gerlando "Lando" Buzzanca (24 August 1935 – 18 December 2022) was an Italian stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned 65 years. Life and career Early years Born in Palermo the son of a cinema projectionist, at 16 years old Buz ...

Synopsis

Niccolò Vivaldi (

) is a frustrated

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

player whose career has stalled and who is unappreciated by his orchestra director. He discovers that the beauty of his wife, Costanza (

), arouses in him admiration for her, and reflects on him. From then on, he decides to show it in public in order to gain personal glory. He takes photographs of her in poses that gradually became pornographic, and he begins to show the images to his friend and colleague Cavalmoretti (

Lino Toffolo Lino Toffolo (31 December 1934 – 16 May 2016) was an Italian actor, singer-songwriter, author, and television presenter. Life and career Born in Murano (Venice), shortly after his debut he moved to Milan where he obtained his first successe ...

) and in a moment of madness to all the other members of the orchestra. Eventually, in a crescendo of exhibitionism, she playfully encourages him to photograph her nude in sensual poses, such as the screenshot below, and finally he exposes her completely nude (by an apparent accident with her dress) in front of everyone at

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

during the showing of ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

''.

Cast

Il merlo maschio (1971) - Laura Antonelli

: Costanza Vivaldi *

: Niccolò Vivaldi *

Gianrico Tedeschi Gianrico Tedeschi (20 April 1920 – 27 July 2020) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan in April 1920, Tedeschi got a degree in pedagogy before enrolling at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art, wh ...

: Orchestra conductor *

: Cavalmoretti *

Luciano Bianciardi Luciano Bianciardi (; 14 December 1922 – 14 November 1971) was an Italian journalist, translator and writer of short stories and novels. He contributed significantly to the cultural ferment in post-war Italy, working actively with various pub ...

: Mazzacurati *

Gino Cavalieri Gino Cavalieri (25 July 1895 – 15 October 1992) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 20 films between 1937 and 1983. Filmography External links * 1895 births 1992 deaths Italian male film actors 20th-century Italian m ...

: Costanza's father *

Elsa Vazzoler Elsa Vazzoler (10 May 1920 – 8 August 1989) was an Italian stage, film, television and voice actress. Life and career Born in Treviso, Vazzoler started studying acting and ballet after finishing high school. She debuted with dialect amateur ...

: Costanza's mother * Ferruccio De Ceresa: Psychoanalyst *

Aldo Puglisi Aldo Puglisi (born 12 April 1935) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Catania, the son of two Sicilian language theatrical actors, Puglisi made his stage debut at very young age with the company of his parents. He made his film debut ...

: Pharmacist *

Pietro Tordi Pietro Tordi (12 July 1906 – 14 December 1990) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1942 and 1988. He was born in Florence, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Doctor Antonio'' (1937) - L'altro conspiratore * '' Don C ...

: Doctor

Comment

This motion picture was filmed in

, and it shows many situations in the environment of practicing

symphonic orchestra A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

s that at certain moment of the year are allowed to play in

. ''Il Merlo Maschio'' represents the ''

Commedia all'italiana Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mar ...

''. Unlike most Italian comedy films in that epoch, always repeating the storyboards of the first erotic dreams of the symbolic teenager Pierino, or the arousal reactions of secluded soldiers that watch for the first time the shapes of a beauty queen (

Gloria Guida Gloria Guida (; born 19 November 1952) is an Italian actress and model. She is best known for starring in commedia erotica all'italiana, particularly the '' La liceale'' series, and also in erotic coming-of-age-drama films in the mid-1970s. L ...

, etc.), ''The Male Blackbird'' is also a light and discrete

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

presentation of the theme of candaulism, something very frequent today (husbands that buy transparent panties and bras for their wives) but that was very rare at those times: the apparently casual, but carefully planned exposing of the spouse by her husband (Candaulism is classified by psychiatrist as a mania or

paraphilia Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo maschio, Il 1971 films Erotic fantasy films 1970s sex comedy films 1970s Italian-language films Commedia all'italiana Films directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile Commedia sexy all'italiana Films scored by Riz Ortolani 1971 comedy films 1970s Italian films