View source for Lady Liberty (film)

{{Short description|1971 Italian-French film}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Lady Liberty
| image          = Lady Liberty (film).jpg
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Mario Monicelli]]
| producer       = Carlo Ponti
| writer         = [[Leonard Melfi]]<br />[[Suso Cecchi D'Amico]]<br />Don Carlos Dunaway<br />[[Ring Lardner Jr.]] <small>(uncredited)</small>
| narrator       = 
| starring       = [[Sophia Loren]]<br />[[William Devane]]<br />[[Gigi Proietti]]<br />[[Susan Sarandon]]<br />[[Danny DeVito]]
| music          = [[Ron (singer)|Ron]]-[[Lucio Dalla]]
| cinematography = [[Alfio Contini]]
| editing        = [[Ruggero Mastroianni]]
| studio         = Compagnia Cinematografica Champion<br>Les Films Concordia 
| distributor    = [[United Artists]] (United States and Canada)<br>[[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]<ref name="afi" /> (International)
| released       = {{Film date|1971|12|23|Italy|1972|06|7|USA|df=y}}
| runtime        = 97 minutes
| country        = Italy<br>France<br>United States<ref name="afi">{{cite web|title=Lady Liberty (1971)|website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|access-date=10 May 2025|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54743-LADY-LIBERTY?sid=619eb914-a9b3-4310-99e6-c262df7bee7a&sr=4.8513393&cp=1&pos=5}}</ref>
| language       = English
| budget         = 
}}

'''''Lady Liberty''''' ({{langx|it|La mortadella}}) is a 1971 [[comedy film]] directed by [[Mario Monicelli]], and starring [[Sophia Loren]], [[William Devane]], [[Gigi Proietti]], [[Susan Sarandon]], [[Danny DeVito]] and [[Edward Herrmann]] in his film debut.<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0068970|title=Lady Liberty}}</ref>

It was shot at the [[Cinecittà|Cinecittà Studios]] in [[Rome]] and [[location shooting|on location]] in [[Emilia-Romagna]] and [[New York City|New York]]. The film's sets were designed by the art director [[Mario Garbuglia]].

==Plot summary==
Maddalena Ciarrapico arrives in New York City from Italy to get married and brings her fiancé a gift of [[mortadella]] (large Italian pork sausage) from her co-workers at the sausage factory where she used to work. But she is refused permission to bring the mortadella into the country because of the ban on meat which may contain food-borne diseases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/65333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114110035/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/65333 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-01-14 |title=La MORTADELLA (1971) &#124; BFI |website=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk |access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref>  An indignant Maddalena refuses to hand the sausage over, staying in the customs office at the airport, sparking a diplomatic incident in which she attracts widespread sympathy and support.

==Cast==
* [[Sophia Loren]] as Maddalena Ciarrapico
* [[William Devane]] as Jock Fenner
* [[Gigi Proietti]] as Michael Bruni
* Beeson Carroll as Dominic
* [[David Doyle]] as O'Henry
* [[Danny DeVito]] as Fred Mancuso
* [[Susan Sarandon]] as Sally

==Soundtrack==
A song by [[Harry Nilsson]], "[[I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City]]," was included in the movie.

==Reception==
''[[The New York Times]]'' was scathing in its review of the film, observing that "Probably no other woman has so triumphantly survived as many rotten movies in such a short space of time as Sophia Loren." Although "the farcical premise is promising" it was "a comedy that manages to be both too serious and not serious enough and that, at no point matches the level of the humor and intelligence of its principal performance". It also questioned "the grindingly bleak New York settings in which so much of the film is set".<ref>{{cite web|last=Canby |first=Vincent |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B01E5DD1F3EE63BBC4053DFB0668389669EDE |title=Movie Review - - Sophia Loren Leads Cast of 'Lady Liberty':Ponti-Produced Farce Opens on Double Bill Posse Chases Bronson in 'Chato's Land' |website=Movies.nytimes.com |date=1972-06-08 |access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0068970}}

{{Mario Monicelli}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:French comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language French films]]
[[Category:English-language Italian films]]
[[Category:1970s Italian-language films]]
[[Category:1971 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:Films about immigration to the United States]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mario Monicelli]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ring Lardner Jr.]]
[[Category:Italian comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Cinecittà Studios]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s Italian films]]
[[Category:1970s French films]]
[[Category:Foreign films set in the United States]]


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