Tea With Mussolini

Director: Franco Zeffirelli Franco Zeffirelli

Overview

"In this sentimental release from MGM Home Video, a group of proper, well-to-do British ladies is horrified at the possibility of World War II encroaching on their comfortable and secure lifestyles after it appears that Mussolini has broken his promise to ensure their comfort during wartime. Viewable in either the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen version (enhanced for widescreen TVs) or standard 1.33:1 full-screen pan-and-scan, and offering a closed-captioned English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack along with an alternate French Dolby Digital Surround track, this release also offers optional English and French subtitles. Extra features include a collectible ""making of"" booklet and an original theatrical trailer."

Product Details

Release Date:	11/23/1999
UPC:	0027616791825
Original Release:	1999
Rating:	PG
Source:	MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:57:00
Sales rank:	186,203

Special Features

Colllectible "Making Of" booklet; Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cher	Elsa
Judi Dench	Arabella
Joan Plowright	Mary
Maggie Smith	Hester
Lily Tomlin	Georgie
Baird Wallace	Luca (as a teenager)
Charlie Lucas	Luca (as a child),Actor
Massimo Ghini	Paolo
Paolo Seganti	Vittorio
Claudio Spadaro	Mussolini
Mino Bellei	Cesare
Paul Chequer	Wilfred
Tessa Pritchard	Connie
Michael Williams	British Consul
Paula Jacobs	Molly
Bettine Milne	Edith
Hazel Parsons	Hazel
Helen Stirling	Ursula
Kathleen Doyle	Norma
Giselle Mathews	Elderly Lady
Gianna Giachetti	Signora Badaloni
Chris Larkin	Major Gibson
Giovanni Nannini	Sacristan
Pino Colizzi	Dino Grandi
Jack Basehart	Count Bernardini
Giacomo Gonnella	First Carabiniere
Clemente Abete	Second Carabiniere
Roberto Farnese	Maurizio
Chris Tattanelli	Carmelo
Claudia Piccoli	Anna
Allan Caister Pearce	American Dealer
Herman Weiskopf	German Officer
Benedetta Magini	Giulia Meyer
Beppe Landini	Menotti
Giuseppe Rossi Borghesano	Butler
Marcellina Ruocco	Adriana
Ferdinando Ferrini	Professor Cassuto
Massimo Salvianti	Leading Fascist
Stefano Arnaldi	Composer
Alessio Vlad	Composer

Technical Credits

Franco Zeffirelli

John Mortimer

Franco Zeffirelli	Director,Screenwriter
Marco Chimenz	Executive Producer
Mirta Guarnaschelli	Casting
Clive Parsons	Producer
Emma Style	Casting
Ricardo Tozzi	Producer,Producer
Giovannella Zannoni	Producer
Elio Bosi	Key Grip
John Mortimer	Screenwriter
Brian Simmons	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This lush, frothy coming-of-age story provides its cast full of British and American grande dames with plenty of beautiful locations and gently comic, slightly cloak-and-dagger scenarios in which to strut their famous personae and acting chops. Cher makes her most enjoyable screen outing in a decade as Elsa, a larger-than-life diva with more affection for her art collection than her many husbands. Lily Tomlin plays another fun, self-mocking lesbian role, while Judi Dench and Maggie Smith work their respective regal and ridiculous schticks to amusing effect. Writer/director Franco Zeffirelli seems to view his war-ravaged childhood through vaguely rose-tinted glasses; the title is meant to be a gentle jab at the proper biddies whose faith in the moral might of the British Empire blinded them to the danger creeping through Europe, but there's a sense here that fascism is simply a backdrop to Auntie Mame-style shenanigans. Although co-writer John Mortimer worked on the screenplay to subtle psycho-horror classic The Innocents, his work here is closer to the hamminess of the Otto Preminger oddity Bunny Lake Is Missing. Still, cinematographer David Watkin and the art team buff the visuals into a gorgeous Merchant-Ivory finish, and the charismatic performances will please fans of low-calorie, vaguely historical treats.