Many American film buffs know the names of the leading Italian neo-realists, but few would recognize that of Alberto Lattuada. He’s the director who gave Fellini his start; they helmed Luci del varietà|Variety Lights together. Now this little-seen 1962 romp gets a second shot at stateside release. Fellini veteran Alberto Sordi stars as Antonio, the manager of a Milan auto plant who after eight years away decides to take his wife, Marta (Norma Bengell), and their two daughters to Sicily to meet his family. The family greet them with bawdy, boisterous glee, shoving oodles of food at the new arrivals. But trouble looms: people consider Marta, the only blonde on the island (!), to be stuck up, and despite Antonio’s genuflections, local mob boss Don Vicenzo (Ugo Attanasio) asks him to do a favor he can’t refuse. Female facial hair, a knife fight between two octogenarians, and some Jacques Tati moments work their way into the absurd mix that’s oh so very Fellini . . . er, Lattuada-esque.
