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Hollywood Glamour in Postwar Italy
was problematic. This especially was the case with Lollobrigida who, ever since
she had come second in the Miss Italy contest of 1947, had been seen as a typical
representative of young Italian womanhood. As Le ore wrote in 1954:
According to the Americans, Gina’s beauty is a special beauty. Everyone admits that it
is “sexy,” i.e. “provocative,” but her fiercest supporters have defined her as a “typical
Italian brunette,” a definition that, understood in the traditional way, should rule out a
“sexy” content; rather it is used to refer to types of women whose beauty is serene, pure
and a little ingenuous. 22
In the mid-1950s, Lollobrigida was the leading Italian star. She bought a pink
stucco villa on the Via Appia Antica and was frequently featured on magazine
covers in full star regalia. She became something of an uncrowned queen, a
national representative whose demeanor and manner provoked admiration. 23 For
Americans, the glamorous image she and others offered was a variant on the conventional
that involved a touch of the Latin exotic. This had various commercial
applications, for example by the Revlon Corporation, which tied in the launch of
its Fire and Ice range with the Italian stars. 24 It gave Italy a material identity which
aided exports too.
To foreigners, the Italian stars were undoubtedly glamorous. But, in fact, there
was a significant difference between Italian and American stars. Silvana Mangano
(who had been elected Miss Rome in 1946) was the first Italian star to come to
the attention of the public through an image. Launched when Rita Hayworth’s
popularity was at its height, she became known through a famous still photograph
from Riso amaro which set her in shorts in a rice-field. Released as a promotional
device because of the delayed launch of the film, the picture became an internationally
celebrated pin-up. But Mangano never acquired in Italy the artificial
appeal and manufactured beauty of the Hollywood image. She was too specific
and earthy, too individual and familiar. Moreover, she hated her sexy image and
did everything possible to throw it off and assert herself as an actress.
With reference to postwar Britain, Paul Swann and Jackie Stacey have separately
argued that domestic stars were always seen as less packaged and less overtly
sexual than the glamour queens of Hollywood. 25 They had personality and talent
rather than looks, and were respectable and reserved. Only American femininity
signified excitement and sexuality as well as luxury and abundance. The American
stars were awesome and fantastic for ordinary girls. Erica Carter makes some
similar points in relation to Germany. 26 In Italy these differences also prevailed,
with important distinctions. While Italian stars took on the trappings of glamour
more eagerly than some British or German actors, they did not become their
defining feature. Moreover, Italian stars were not manufactured or artificial. They
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