| Woman Times Seven | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Vittorio De Sica |
| Produced by | Arthur Cohn Joseph E. Levine |
| Written by | Cesare Zavattini |
| Starring | Shirley MacLaine Peter Sellers Michael Caine Lex Barker Anita Ekberg Adrienne Corri Vittorio Gassman |
| Music by | Riz Ortolani |
| Cinematography | Christian Matras |
| Distributed by | Embassy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1967 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | France Italy United States |
| Language | English French Italian |
Woman Times Seven (Sette Volte Donna in Italian) is a 1967 Italian/French/American co-production anthology film of seven different episodes, all starring Shirley MacLaine with most based on aspects of adultery. Filmed in Paris, the wardrobe was done by Pierre Cardin, jewellery by Van Cleef & Arpels, furs by Henri Stern, and hairdressing by Louis Alexandre Raimon.
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Leading a walking funeral procession behind the hearse containing the remains of her late husband, a widow is propositioned by her family doctor (Peter Sellers). Vittorio DeSica has a cameo as one of the mourners.
Surprised by her husband (Rossano Brazzi) in bed with her best friend, a shocked wife vows to have sex with the first man she sees as revenge. She meets a flourish of strumpets who help her accomplish her goal.
A Scotsman (Clinton Greyn) and an Italian (Vittorio Gassman) are invited to the room of a translator who reads T.S. Elliot in the nude. Linda has a photo of her lover (Marlon Brando) on a table.
A fashion queen is horrified when her archrival Mme Lisari (Adrienne Corri) has been photographed in what her husband (Patrick Wymark) had promised was an exclusive creation for her alone. When asking her archrival not to wear it encourages her to do the opposite, the research and development head of her husband's fashion house suggests planting a bomb in her archrival's car. Louis Alexandre Raimon has a cameo as himself.[1]
Ignored by her bestselling author husband (Lex Barker) who is only interested in his fictional female creation, Simone, a neglected wife turns her visions of her as Simone into reality. Her shocked husband invites a psychiatrist (Robert Morley) to dinner to examine her for mental illness, but the husband, guest, and housekeeper (Jessie Robins) insist that the guest is a lawyer.
Two lovers, feeling rejected by the world decide on committing suicide in their small room dressed for the wedding they will never have. Fred (Alan Arkin) however is afraid of pills, doesn't want to mess up his tuxedo by jumping out the window, and doesn't trust Marie to use his father's pistol on him in case she only wounds him or kills him and changes her mind.
Two friends meet for lunch on a winter afternoon. They notice a handsome, but seedy looking man (Michael Caine) who appears to be following them. Claudie (Anita Ekberg) suggests the two leave the restaurant and go their separate ways to see which one of them he follows. As Paris is hit by a sudden blizzard, Jeanne realises that the man if following her.
Woman Times Seven was the first of a projected three films with Joseph E. Levine, producer Arthur Cohn and Vittorio DeSica working together.[2] As Levine and DeSica had a critical and financial success with the films Marriage Italian-Style and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Levine asked DeSica for a similar type film. DeSica's collaborator Cesare Zavattini had some sketches laying about that they turned into the movie.[3] The first choice for the lead, Natalie Wood turned the film down.[4]
The concepts of adultery in the film have a European flavor. In the film, Vittorio Gassman reminds Clinton Greyn that divorce was, at the time of filming, impossible for an Italian.
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