Good start, but then it gets ruined

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

the above reviewer has it wrong.As mentioned in the opening credits of this movie,Gina sings ALL the tunes HERSELF!!! and that includes arias from Tosca.Actually,i also thought she had to be dubbed because the voice is too good for any film star but incredibly when i checked the credits thats what it says,its all Gina. This is the fictitious story of a real person called Lina Cavalieri who was known at the time as "the most beautiful woman in the world". Certainly more perfect casting couldn't be done by casting Gina in the role.She looks absolutely stunning even in turn of the century clothes and in glorious color.The sets are well done and the production pretty good .The story is typical romantic fluff with Gasman playing the beau,with the usual misunderstandings but its all worth just to see the beautiful Gina.

Lollobrigida is a feast for the eye,but the screenplay leaves something to be desired.The movie is in turn: -a biography of a prima donna at the dawn of the twentieth century.Or to be precise a biographical novel.A long and winding road where Lina learns that the way to the top might go through men's beds.-a musical.-a comedy:when she pays a visit to her sick mother at the hospital,she sees a priest come out of her bedroom;Gina fights a duel (you read well) with a rival.-a romantic melodrama :Lina /Gina has a love affair with a nephew of czar Nicolas II who appears in the flesh with wife Alexandra.-a whodunit !During a performance of "la Tosca" a murder is committed,and for Lina,the handsome nephew(see above) ,played by Vittorio Gassman,is a suspect.You've got five movies for the price of one.And anyway Lollobrigida is so many women..

This film's Italian title is "The Most Beautiful Woman In The World", and with that 10 inch waist of hers, Gina Lollobrigida is easily the prima of the world's prime donne. If you want to mix bellezza with your opera, you can't go wrong here.