''The Law'' ( it, La legge, french: La Loi and originally released in America as ''Where the Hot Wind Blows'') is a 1959 French-Italian film directed by

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

Plot

Beautiful Marietta (

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...

) is a small-town girl who lives in southern Italian fishing village of Porto Manacore, a corrupt village ruled by a petty crook Matteo Brigante (

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held strong ...

). An engineer, Enrico Tosso (

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

) comes into town to drain the marshes, and helps the villagers to take back their town.

Cast

- Marietta *

Pierre Brasseur Pierre Brasseur (22 December 1905 – 16 August 1972), born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor. Biography The son of actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur, the latter a cousin of Albert Brasseur; his grandfather, Jules B ...

- Don Cesare *

- Enrico Tosso, the Engineer *

Melina Mercouri Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a political family that was prominent over multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination a ...

- Donna Lucrezia *

- Matteo Brigante * Raf Mattioli - Francesco Brigante *

Vittorio Caprioli Vittorio Caprioli (15 August 1921 – 2 October 1989) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 109 films between 1946 and 1990, mostly in French productions. Biography Caprioli was born in Naples. Having graduated fr ...

- Attilio, the Inspector *

Lidia Alfonsi Lydia Alfonsi (28 April 1928 – 21 September 2022) was an Italian actress. Life and career Born Lidia Alfonsi in Parma into a wealthy middle-class family, Alfonsi interrupted her accounting studies at a young age to pursue a career in theate ...

- Giuseppina *

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 ...

- First Loafer * Nino Vingelli - Pizzaccio * Bruno Carotenuto - Balbo *

Luisa Rivelli Luisa Rivelli (10 February 1931 – 12 June 2013) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 50 films between 1951 and 1994. Rivelli died in Guidonia Montecelio on 12 June 2013, at the age of 82. Selected filmography * '' La figlia del diavo ...

- Elvira *

Anna Maria Bottini Anna Maria Bottini (24 March 1916 – 9 August 2020) was an Italian actress. Biography Bottini attended the Accademia dei Filodrammatici in Milan, where she graduated in 1936, beginning her acting career at the end of World War II. A character a ...

- Maria *

Anna Arena Anna Arena (June 21, 1919 – August 19, 1974) was an Italian film actress.Smith p.116 Selected filmography * ''Jealousy'' (1942) * '' Vacation with a Gangster'' (1951) * ''The Piano Tuner Has Arrived'' (1952) * '' Beauties in Capri'' (1952) * ' ...

- Anna, Attilio's wife *

Edda Soligo Edda Soligo (1905–1984) was an Italian film and television actress.Verdone p.111 Selected filmography * '' Adam's Tree'' (1936) * '' The Man from Nowhere'' (1937) * '' The Former Mattia Pascal'' (1937) * ''Il signor Max'' (1937) * '' To Live'' ...

- Giulia *

Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; 5 November 1938 – 20 August 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter and actor. He was the son of film director Jules Dassin. Early life Dassin was born in New York City to American film director Jules Dassin (1911 ...

- Nico

Production

The shooting took place in particular in the Gargano: precisely in Carpino, while some scenes were shot in Rodi Garganico, Ischitella, Peschici and San Menaio. The locality "Baia di Manacore" really exists a short distance from Peschici. It is one of the first films shot on the Gargano promontory. If in the novel and in the French version the story is set in the Gargano, in the Italian version the setting of the story is moved to Corsica.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $750,000 in the US and Canada and $325,000 elsewhere, resulting in a net loss to the studio of $39,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, The 1959 films 1959 drama films French drama films Italian drama films English-language French films English-language Italian films 1950s French-language films 1950s Italian-language films French black-and-white films Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Jules Dassin Films shot in Corsica Films set in Italy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films