Signora Di Tutt, Lai

Easily one of greatest of his films, Max Ophuls (Letter from an
Unknown Woman, 1948; Caught in the vise, 1949; Awe, 1949) made the
tragic melodrama La Signora di Tutti in 1934 after fleeing anti-Semitic
persecution in Germany to Italy.

The only film he made in his new haven, it was commissioned by entrepreneur, newspaper publisher and aspiring film producer Angelo Rizzoli,
who wanted the novel by Salvator Gotta, that was serialized in one of
the newspapers, to be brought to the big screen. Here, the master of
melodrama does what he does best, pushing the limits of technology
with his elaborate trademarks, including, of course, his long elegant
shots that have been long imitated by filmmakers, since. The usual
themes are there: the femme fatale, men who buy women’s sexual favors,
the complex direction of actors, expressing nuances of character and
romantic feeling and even… staircases.

La Signora di Tutti (Everybody’s Woman) is about a suicidal, successful film star Gaby Doriot (Miranda) who reflects on a life wracked with doomed romantic relationships, even squeezing in a father and son,
for good measure. And boy does she pack the tragedy in. As a student in
a boarding school, a teacher commits suicide over her. She’s then
seduced by Leonardo (Benassi),
an old and rich tycoon whose handicapped wife, feeling betrayed, kills
herself. Gaby complicates matters by falling in love his son, Roberto (Benfer).
He also loves her, but in the turn of events, ditches the baggage and
marries her sister. Gaby has become a star in the very fickle world of
the movies.but as they say, money doesn’t buy love recognising the
failure of her life’s emotional trajectory, and with her power
dissipated, she kills herself.

Her debut role in the film, it is easy to see why the film was
vehicle that catapulted the beautiful Italian actress Isa Miranda into a
international stardom. A plane ride to Hollywood after the film’s
release set her up as the Italian equivalent to Marlene Dietrich.

Emotive and luxurious -another masterpiece from Eureka distributors.