The Cinema Sirens Collection (2004)

Too Hot to Handle?

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Girl with a Suitcase on DVD.

Born in 1927 Italy, Gina Lollobrigida was once dubbed "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World." Despite her beauty, she was capable of playing down-to-earth working-class women. She is perhaps best known in this country for playing opposite Humphrey Bogart in John Huston's Beat the Devil (1954), as well as a role in the hit 1980s television series, "Falcon Crest."

She stars here in Alina (1950), playing a wife forced to take part in a smuggling ring to support her sick husband, and crossing the remote, snowy border between France and Italy. It's a ridiculous melodrama but oddly effective thanks to Lollobrigida's wonderful, heartbreaking presence. In one scene, she's forced to stay the night at a nightclub and she's given a lovely dress to wear. She suddenly appears in a doorway, and it's a moment for the ages. Unfortunately, this Italian film is dubbed into English with no other optional soundtracks or subtitles.

Jayne Mansfield (1933-67) will always be known as a kind of "B"-movie version of Marilyn Monroe, though she certainly had an appeal of her own. She reportedly spoke five languages and sported an above-genius IQ. A voluptuous, blonde with a true hourglass figure, she was best used as a cartoonish sex kitten by director Frank Tashlin in The Girl Can't Help It (1956) and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), the latter of which she also performed on Broadway.

In the Cinema Sirens Collection, she stars in Too Hot to Handle and It Takes a Thief (both 1960), both shot in England. In the first, she plays a stripper (wearing a nearly see-through sequined gown) in a seedy club overrun with corruption, and in the second, she plays an unusual role: the leader of a criminal gang.

Too Hot to Handle was directed by Terence Young of "James Bond" fame, and co-stars the great Christopher Lee.

Born in 1934 in Paris, Brigitte Bardot reached international stardom as the object of desire at the center of Roger Vadim's 1956 film And God Created Woman. Famous for her blonde hair and her adorable pout, her greatest role to date is undoubtedly in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963). She retired from the movies in the late 70s and devoted her time to animal activism.

Her contribution to the Cinema Sirens Collection is The Bear and the Doll (1969), another badly dubbed feature in a poor transfer. She plays a sexy woman who finds the one man resistant to her charms.

Born in 1938 in Tunisia, Gorgeous Claudia Cardinale is one of the few beauty queens who crossed the barrier from sex symbol to respected international star. During her extraordinary career, she has worked with Luchino Visconti (Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard), Federico Fellini (8 1/2), Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther), Richard Brooks (The Professionals), Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in the West) and Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo).

In the Cinema Sirens Collection, Girl with a Suitcase (1960) has perhaps the poorest transfer of the five films, though it's a toss-up. It's also dubbed from Italian into English. Cardinale plays a woman who becomes involved with a smitten 16 year-old.

With: Gina Lollobrigida, Jayne Mansfield, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Christopher Lee, Anthony Quayle, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jacques Perrin
Written by: Giorgio Pastina, Carlo Duse, Herbert Kretzmer, John Gilling, Michel Deville, Nina Companéez, Valerio Zurlini
Directed by: Giorgio Pastina, Terence Young, John Gilling, Michel Deville, Valerio Zurlini
MPAA Rating: Unrated, GP
Language: English, French, Italian, with English subtitles
Running Time: 478 minutes (total)
Date: September 10, 2002