''Loves of Three Queens'' ( it, L'amante di Paride), also known as ''The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships'', is a 1954 Italian anthology film. It was directed by Marc Allégret and Edgar G. Ulmer and stars

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...

Plot

A woman going to a costume party tries to work out which Queen she will dress up as. The film follows scenes from the lives of each of the queens.

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...

, Josephine, and

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

Cast

as Hedy Windsor / Helen of Troy /

Empress Joséphine Joséphine Bonaparte (, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was Empress of the French as the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810 ...

Genevieve of Brabant Genevieve (also Genoveva or Genoveffa ) of Brabant is a heroine of medieval legend. The story is told in the "Golden Legend" and concerns a virtuous wife falsely accused of infidelity. Legend Her story is a typical example of the widespread ta ...

Massimo Serato Massimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, (31 May 1916 – 22 December 1989) was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years. Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in ...

as Pâris *

Alba Arnova Alba Arnova (15 March 1930 – 11 March 2018) was an Italian-Argentine ballerina and film actress. Life and career Born in Buenos Aires as Alba Fossati, daughter of two Italian emigrants, Arnova studied piano at the Conservatory and enrolled ...

as Vénus *

Elli Parvo Elli Parvo (17 October 1915 – 19 February 2010) was an Italian film actress, born in Milan as Elvira Gobbo. She appeared in more than 50 films between 1934 and 1960. Selected filmography * ''Loyalty of Love'' (1934) as La nobildonna al b ...

as Junon *

Cathy O'Donnell Cathy O'Donnell (born Ann Steely, July 6, 1923 – April 11, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in '' The Best Years of Our Lives,'' '' Ben-Hur,'' and films noir such as ''Detective Story'' and '' They Live by Night''. Early life O' ...

as Enone *

Cesare Danova Cesare Danova (March 1, 1926 – March 19, 1992) was an Italian television and screen actor. Best known for his roles in ''The Captain's Daughter'' (1947), ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964), '' Chamber of Horrors'' (1966), '' Mean Streets'' (1973), and ...

as Count Siegfried *

Terence Morgan Terence Ivor Grant Morgan (8 December 1921 – 25 August 2005) was an English actor in theatre, cinema and television. He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical ...

as Golo * Gérard Oury as

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Milly Vitale Camilla "Milly" Vitale (16 July 1933 – 2 November 2006) was an Italian actress. She was the daughter of Riccardo Vitale (Rome Opera House Director, deceased 1979) and choreographer Natasha Shidlowski Vitale (deceased 1994). She appeared in n ...

as Marie-Louise *

Richard O'Sullivan Richard O'Sullivan (born 7 May 1944) is an English comedy actor, who is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the 1970s sitcoms ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and ''Robin's Nest (TV series), Robin's Nest'' (1977–1981) and as the title c ...

as Benoni *

John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...

as Drago *

Piero Pastore Pietro Mario Pastore, also known as Piero Pastore (3 April 1908, in Padua – 8 January 1968, in Rome) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a striker; he later became an actor. Football career Pastore was the youngest ever play ...

as Simon *

Enrico Glori Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), ...

as Priam *

Robert Beatty Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK. Early years Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of ...

as Ménélas *

Anna Amendola Anna Amendola (December 23, 1931 - August 31, 2019) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than ten films from 1952 to 1958. Amendola died on August 31, 2019, in Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC ...

as Minerve *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two Spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. He was born ...

as Jupiter

Production

The film had its genesis in a proposed television

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

called ''Great Loves''. Inspired by her success in ''

Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns * ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown * "Samson and Delilah" (t ...

'', Hedy Lamarr and Victor Pahlen intended to produce the series about the love affairs of famous women throughout history. The episodes were to be directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who had collaborated with Hedy Lamarr in her production of '' The Strange Woman''. The

runaway production Runaway production is a term used by the American Hollywood industry to describe filmmaking and television productions that are intended for initial release/exhibition or television broadcast in the U.S., but are actually filmed outside of the ...

series was to consist of 39 half hour episodes photographed in colour with exteriors to be filmed on Continental European locations using frozen profits of American film producers. Star Hedy Lamarr was to be costumed by Haute couture fashion houses such as

Jacques Fath Jacques Fath (6 September 1912 in Maisons-Laffitte, France – 13 November 1954 in Paris, France) was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on postwar haute couture, the others being Christian Dior and ...

and Dior. When the television series idea was shelved, three of the teleplays were put together as the film to be shot in Italy. The original director Edgar G. Ulmer had multiple disputes with Hedy Lamarr and walked off the film.pp.101-102 Irvin, Richard ''Film Stars’ Television Projects: Pilots and Series of 50+ Movie Greats, 1948–1985'' McFarland, 8 Sep. 2017

References

External links

*
''Loves of Three Queens''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

Italian anthology films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub