The millionairess

Product Information Anthony Asquith, more famous for his direction of George Bernard Shaw's PYGMALION, here adapts the lighter, though still socially conscious Shaw play, THE MILLIONAIRESS. Sophia Loren, as the beautiful, statuesque heiress, Epifinia, can't find a man who measures up to her late father's marriage test. The prospective groom must be able to turn five hundred pounds into fifteen thousand pounds in three months. In despair she jumps into the Thames, only to be ignored by Doctor Kabir (Peter Sellers), who's passing by in his row boat. Though less slapstick than his portrayal of the bumbling Indian actor in THE PARTY, Sellers still brings his characteristic humorous fumbling to the role of the devoted doctor. He's married to science, and thus resists marriage to the spoiled Epifinia. Besides, to pass his mother's test a prospective bride is sent out with just the clothes on her back and five hundred rupees and must make her way in the world for three months.

When they both accept the test Epifinia goes to work for Joe, a small time pasta maker, played by Vittorio De Sica. Known more as a director (he directed Loren in her Oscar winning performance in TWO WOMEN), De Sica brings a quiet dignity to his part. Just as Dr. Kabir is about to fail at his test he receives some unexpected help from Epifinia's lawyer, the ever delightful Alistair Sim and from his old teacher, Professor Noel, who bears a distinct similarity, in looks and appearance, to G.B. Shaw. On a tangential note, in the final scene Sophia Loren wears one of the silliest hats in the history of the movies.