''The Most Beautiful Wife'' ( it, La moglie più bella) is a 1970 Italian film directed by

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mere ...

, based on the 1965 case of

Franca Viola Franca Viola (born 9 January 1948) is an Italian woman who became famous in the 1960s in Italy for refusing a "rehabilitating marriage" ( it, matrimonio riparatore) to her rapist after being kidnapped, held hostage for over one week, and raped fr ...

, who challenged the still frequent southern Italian custom of kidnapping and raping a prospective bride by refusing to marry her abductor. It was the debut film for the then 14-year-old

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and I ...

.Stephen Gundle Bellissima: Feminine Beauty and the Idea of Italy - 2007 -- Page 194 "As a result, she reflected the opportunities that women now had, as well as the discrimination they faced. In her first film, Damiano Damiani's La moglie più bella (The most beautiful wife) in..."

Cast

as Francesca Cimarosa * Alessio Orano as Vito Juvara *

Pierluigi Aprà Pierluigi is an Italian masculine given name meaning "Peter Louis". It is often an abbreviation of "Piero Luigi". Famous people with this given name include: *Pierluigi Balducci, Italian musician * Pierluigi Benedettini, Sammarinese footballer * P ...

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

Lieutenant *

Tano Cimarosa Tano Cimarosa, real name Gaetano Cisco, (1 January 1922 – 24 May 2008) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He participated in more than fifty movies. He played the "Blacksmith" in the Oscar-winning film ''Cinema Paradiso'' fr ...

as Gaetano Cimarosa *

Joe Sentieri Joe Sentieri (byname of Rino Luigi Sentieri; Genoa 3 March 1925, - Pescara 27 March 2007) was an Italian singer and actor. Career His first success was the winning of the competition "Canzonissima" in 1959 with his version of the number one hit ...

as Poidomani *

Amerigo Tot Amerigo Tot (born Imre Tóth; 27 September 1909 – 13 December 1984) was a Hungarian sculptor and occasional actor. Born in Fehérvárcsurgó, Austria-Hungary he moved to Rome towards the end of the 1920s, where he lived for the rest of his lif ...

as Don Antonino Stella *

Enzo Andronico Enzo Andronico (13 May 1924 – 26 September 2002) was an Italian character actor. Born as Vincenzo Andronico in Palermo, he had a prolific career between theater, cinema and television, appearing in more than 100 films. Andronico's career is ma ...

as Vito Juvara's Lawyer

References

External links

* 1970 films 1970 drama films Italian drama films 1970s Italian-language films Films set in Sicily Films directed by Damiano Damiani Films scored by Ennio Morricone Drama films based on actual events 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub