Pietro Germi - 100th anniversary

[Wellesnet]

Pietro Germi, an Italian director/actor Welles thought very highly of, had his own centennial last year in September. Here's a nice tribute to him:
http://www.swide.com/art-culture/best-5 ... 2014/09/14

From the "This is Orson Welles" tapes:

ON DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE (1961):

OW: I've seen it three times. No really, I think it's one of the marvelous comedies of all time.

PB: Recently I saw it on television dubbed, and maybe that...

OW: Oh, it's marvelous in Italian, and such a great script. Peter, it's marvelous. One of the best scripts I've ever seen. It's Lubitsch level of construction.

PB: You know it may have been cut and everything. I'll see it properly.

OW: Marvelous put together as a script. He's enormously talented, Germi. Very underrated man, I think.

PB: Really? I've only seen the...

OW: Very good actor too. Super director, I think. He's made marvelous Westerns and action pictures. Yes, he has a big range as a director. Very much your kind of a director I would say. You know in the tradition of the kind of directors you admire, like Hawks.

PB: I'll have to go see it.

OW: Do see DIVORCE ITALIANO in Italian once. It's a riot, it's so funny.

"Divorce, Italian Style" and Germi's 1964 followup, "Seduced and Abandoned", are both available on DVD from Criterion.