Light in the Piazza (MGM) (1962)

— GALLANTRY AND YOUNG LOVERS IN “LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA” While Rossano Brazzi displays a typical Continental gallantry toward Olivia de Havilland, his son, George Hamilton, has eyes only for Yvette Mimieux in this scene from “‘Light in the Piazza.”’ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s filmization of Elizabeth Spencer’s prize-winning novel was filmed in CinemaScope and color on locations in Florence and Rome. The Arthur Freed production was directed by Guy Green. Still 5062-60 Light in the Piazza Mat 3-A COULDN'T BUY THIS SET WITH ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD! Keeping up with the Medicis in Florence, Italy, cost a Hollywood film company a variety of backaches, two sprained wrists, a broken toe — and a vista of beauty never before recorded by a motion picture camera. For the first time in the history of KEEPS VALISE HANDY Before becoming a movie star, Yvette Mimieux’s only trip outside the United States was a visit to Mexico, where her mother was born. However, since winning her MetroGoldwyn-Mayer contract, the lovely young actress has seen more of the world. She spent months in Paris and the French chateau country for her role as Glenn Ford’s sister in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” and no sooner had finished this picture than she was off to Florence and Rome for location filming of “Light in the Piazza.” Nor was this the end of her traveling. Following a brief vacation in Hollywood, Yvette boarded a plane again — this time for Germany and her role as a fairy tale Princess in the MGM-Cinerama production, “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm,” produced by George Pel. Lovely Yvette Mimieux, as the young American girl who falls in love with George Hamilton while visiting Italy, in MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s ‘‘Lightin the Piazza.”’ Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi and Barry Sullivan also star in the Arthur Freed production, filmed in CinemaScope and color on locationsinFlorenceand Rome. Still 5406 Light in the Piazza Mat 1-C Florence’s Uffizi Art Gallery, housed in the Palazzo Vecchio, a motion picture company was allowed to photograph within its ancient walls. The Medici family collected much of the world’s finest works of art for the treasure-filled Uffizi Gallery. Its corridors, lined with Greek and Roman sculptures and hung with priceless tapestries, provided a setting that could not have been purchased with the combined fortunes of the world. It was “given” to Producer Arthur Freed and Director Guy Green for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Light in the Piazza,” film version of the prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Spencer. No amount of money could have bought or re-created it. Stars Oliva de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux and George Hamilton, along with a wardrobe girl, make-up man, grips and prop-men, were free to look upon the works of the Masters without a single tourist peering over their shoulders. Before them were Raffaelo’s “Madonna of the Goldfinch,” Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and “Spring,” a wealth of da Vincis, Giottos, Caravaggios, Correggios, Filippo Lippis, Durer’s “Adoration of the Three Wise Men” and what is probably the greatest single painting in the Michelangelo’s “Holy Family.” world, But capturing this beauty for the screen meant back-breaking work for the crew. Notwithstanding the cooperation of the Italian government, there were certain restrictions, No flashlights were allowed and no private cameras. No pencil and paper, no paint brushes, no canvases. These pro DIOR WARDROBE FOR MISS DE HAVILLAND The world-famous designer, Christian Dior, created the wardrobe worn by Olivia de Havilland as the wealthy American woman visiting Italy with her daughter in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Light in the Piazza,” filmed on location in Rome and Florence. Miss de Havilland’s clothes, which range from daytime dresses to sports clothes and evening gowns, promise a new silhouette for fashion-minded moviegoers. Yvette Mimieux plays the daughter who falls in love with George Hamilton in the screen version of Elizabeth Spencer’s prize-winnng novel, produced by Arthur Freed. Also starred are Rozzano Brazzi and Barry Sullivan. hibitions were easily observed. The major problem concerned the movement of equipment needed to film the interiors. It could not be transported by the elevator. The “lift,” which had withstood centuries of use and had transported royal visitors from time immemorial to the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, could not be endangered by heavy movie equipment. By its fragile appearance, perhaps it was just as well. This meant that six giant Technicolor arc lamps, each weighing 250 pounds, the camera itself, an 800 pound item, an additional ten tons of sound and electrical equipment, plus 7,000 feet of cable, had to be carried by hand up four flights of carved marble stairs 121 feet above street level, with the resultant aforementioned casualties. More than 14 hours of preparatory work took place before Director Green gave the signal to Cameraman Otto Heller to start the cameras turning. The first long shot panned through the magnificence of the marble corridors and its priceless objects to the end windows, picking up the panoramic vistas of the Arno River, Ponte Vecchio and the city of Florence. NOTHING COULD STOP GEORGE HAMILTON FROM GETTING ROLE OF ITALIAN LOVER Armed with a tape recorder, determination and a Palm Beach tan, George Hamilton set out to get the role nobody wanted him to have. His Ivy League good looks were not what Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives had in mind for the boy who would play the youthful Italian lover in “Light in the Piazza.” Director Guy Green, in London, was busy testing young Italian actors. Producer Arthur Freed, in Hollywood, was busy interviewing young American actors. Green wanted “the real thing,” Freed, a “big name.” What neither anticipated was a tenday siege by George Hamilton. They were bombarded by cables and _ telegrams from Palm Beach, Florida. The day Green arrived in Hollywood from London to confer with Freed on final casting, a tall, dark, long-haired youth met him outside the producer’s office. “Come sta” and “Saluti a Hollywood” accompanied the wide smile which greeted Green. When the director walked into Freed’s office, the young man was close behind. Green was puzzled. Freed burst out laughing. It was Hamilton. For fifteen minutes the two men listened to a taped voice speak the dialogue of Elizabeth Spencer’s tender THIS TRIP WAS ON MGM When British director Guy Green came to Hollywood for finishing touches on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Light in the Piazza,” which he had directed on locations in Florence and Rome, his passage was paid for by the studio. It was not always thus. In 1931, Green made his first trip to America via the ocean liner, Majestic. This was long before he had won an Academy Award for his photography on “Great Expectations”; or had achieved fame as the director of “The Angry Silence” and “The Mark”; or had guided Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux and George Hamilton in “Light in the Biazzay? On that first trip, Green paid for his passage by working as the ship’s movie projectionist ! Yvette Mimieux is delighted with George Hamilton’s gift of a puppy in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s ‘‘Light in the Piazza.” The moving love story, based on Elizabeth Spencer’s prize-winning novel, was filmed in CinemaScope and color on locations in Florence and Rome. Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi and Barry Sullivan also star in the Arthur Freed production, directed by Guy Green. Still 5062-52 Light in the Piazza Mat 2-B George Hamilton, one of the screen’s most popular young stars, portrays an impetuous and romantic Italian in MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s*‘Lightin the Piazza.”’ The picture also stars Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi and Barry Sullivan, with Yvette Mimieux, the girl with whom Hamilton falls in love. The Arthur Freed production was filmed in CinemaScope and color on locations in Florence and Rome. Still 7119 Light in the Piazza Mat 1-B love scenes, The Italian was excellent. So was the voice. Both fitted the concept of director and producer. How did it happen? “A blitz course in Italian at the Kerlitz School of Languages; a quick flight to Hollywood; an all-night session with Rossano Brazzi to record his voice and accent; another all-night cramming session to study the record; taping of a scene from the script; and a break-neck ride to MGM to beat Guy Green to Freed’s office,” explains Hamilton. In short, Hamilton knew that if he wanted this role with a top-flight cast of stars, including Olivia de Havilland, Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux and Barry Sullivan, he had to prove that he was more than an Ivy League type. “TI must have played my recording of Rossano’s voice a thousand times,” he recalls. “In the film he plays the boy’s father and I knew we would have to complement each other. All I wanted was a chance to test for the role.” He was given the chance and passed the test with flying colors. Even Green capitulated, tossing aside the tests of the Europeans he had brought along with him, Hamilton out-Italianed the best ! ROSSANO BRAZZI'S WAY WITH LADIES Rossano Brazzi, long an _ Italian matinee idol, also has an enviable list of movie glamour queens to his credit. Among feminine stars with whom he has appeared are Deborah Kerr (“Count Your Blessings’), Joan Crawford (“The Story of Esther Costello”), Ava Gardner (‘“The Barefoot Contessa”), Sophia Loren (“Legend of the Lost’), Joan Fontaine (“A Certain Smile”), Katharine Hepburn (“Summertime”) Mitzi Gaynor (“South Pacific”), June Allyson (“Interlude’’) and Elizabeth Taylor in his Hollywood film debut in “Little Women.” Latest in Brazzi’s impressive roster of lovely leading ladies is Olivia de Havilland, whom he sweeps off her feet in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s new romantic drama, “Light in the Piazza.” Based on the prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Spencer, the film also stars Yvette Mimieux, George Hamilton and Barry Sullivan. It was filmed in CinemaScope and color on locations in Florence and Rome. 3