Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollobrigida
In BEAT THE DEVIL
RAVELLO
Practically every region or little town in Italy has been a set for film productions, both Italian and foreign ones. The towns of Sorrento, Ravello, Amalfi, and Positano, along with the islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida, along withe the vibrant city of Naples have all been used as movie sets for Hollywood Movies as well as ones made by Italian film makers.
Beat the Devil; this classic Hollywood film directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart (above), Jennifer Jones and Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida shows the beauties of Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo in Ravello. The film, however, was panned by critics and audience.
Sophia Loren
At MARINA GRANDE SORRENTO
Filming of “SCANDAL in SORRENTO”
Scandal in Sorrento; the third installment of a 4 films saga, it starred Italian director and actor Vittorio De Sica and Italian actress Sophia Loren (above), who replaced Gina Lollobrigida. The film is entirely set in Sorrento, which was becoming an international destination in those years. Between a Tarantella and a Limoncello, the film also consolidated Loren’s reputation, and a few years later she started a successful career in Hollywood. She is today Sorrento’s honorary citizen.
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WHAT ?
What?; this relatively forgotten film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Marcello Mastroianni, is set in a beautiful villa in Amalfi owned by producer Carlo Ponti, Sophia Loren’s husband. The town of Amalfi is prominently featured too.
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The DECAMERON
This adaptation of the XIV Italian poem of Giovanni Boccaccio was directed by Pierpaolo Pasolini, one of the most controversial directors in Italy, and is noted for many nudity and sex scenes. With most scenes shot in Amalfi and Sorrento, one of the most striking is the convent adjacent to the Church of San Francesco in Ravello.
NEED a Hotel
The TALENTED Mr. RIPLEY
Probably one of the most famous films set in Italy, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, it is mainly set in Ischia and Procida, but Positano’s roads were used as the inspiration for the fictional port-town of Mongibello.
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Via San Rocco , PROCIDA
The TALENTED Mr. RIPLEY
UNDER The TUSCAN SUN
Yet another Italy-as-seen-by-Hollywood film, it sees Diane Lane seduced by Italian playboy Raoul Bova in the gorgeous setting of Positano.
A GOOD WOMAN
This little known 2005 adaptation of an Oscar Wilde’s comedy, Lady Windermere’s Fan, starring Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson is a pleasure for Amalfi coast lovers, as it is entirely set and shot in the 1930s Amalfi.
Love is All you Need; when you hear in the soundtrack “That’s Amore”, it’s always a sign that a funny, romantic, typical Italian love scene is going to take place in a film. This 2012 movie directed by respectful Danish director Susanne Bier and starring Pierce Brosnan is no exception. However Sorrento is the real protagonist of the film, and Brosnan admitted he fell in love with the place while shooting.
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JUDE LAW & GWYNETH PALTROW
On The BEACH in PROCIDA
Also Starring MAT DAMON
and The Late Great PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN
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Sophia Loren and Clark Gable
Marina Grande
CAPRI
in “IT STARTED in NAPLES”
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Clark Gable and Sophia Loren
IT STARTED in NAPLES
SOPHIA & CLARK
IT STARTED in NAPLES
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IT STARTED in NAPLES
Starring CLARK GABLE and SOPHIA LOREN
“IT STARTED in NAPLES” however most of the Film is set on The ISLE of CAPRI
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POSITANO
The AMALFI COAST COOKBOOK
TRAVEL GUIDE
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Diane Lane and Raoul Bova in POSITANO
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
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Robert Downey Jr. , MARISA TOMEI , Bonny Hunt
in FERRARI on The AMALFI DRIVE , POSITANO
Filming “ONLY YOU”
1994
ONLY YOU
This film is definitely in the top 10 of the most stereotyped movies about Italy. It is 1994 comedy/ romance that sees Marisa Tomei hunting for her presumed soulmate all around Italy, ending her journey in Positano. One of Hope’s (Marisa Tomei) two love interest is played by Robert Downey Jr. with Bonnie Hunt’s character, friend and sister-in-law to Hope. Love hi-jinx ensues, as Tomei and Downey have great chemistry together.
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They Arrive at le SIRENUSE Hotel
POSITANO’S BEST LUXURY HOTEL
Le SIRENUSE HOTEL
POSITANO
Where MARISA TOMEI’S character HOPE stayed in “ONLY YOU”
WANT to Book It !
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Cove Saraceni Hotel
POSITANO
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Ristorante Terrazzo at Hotel Cove Saraceni Hotel
Where MARISA TOMEI and BILLY ZANE Had Dinner
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Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren
GREAT DEALS !
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Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills starred in the Golden Globe winning comedy AVANTI, in 1972. Lemmon played the role of the son of a rich industrialist who spent every August in Ischia enjoying therapeutic mud-baths at The Grand Hotel Excelsior. Lemmon travels to Ischia after his Dad dies in an accident and starts a romantic affair with Juliet Mills who plays the role of the daughter of the woman that Lemmon’s father was having an affair with.
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Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills on The ISLAND of ISCHIA
Filming of AVANTI
1972
AVANTI
This Billy Wilder movie starring Jack Lemmon is mainly set on the Island of Ischia. Parts of the movie was shot in Sorrento and Atrani as well. The main hotel setting was actually in Sorrento.
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MACCHERONI
Set in Naples
Macaroni (Italian: Maccheroni) is a 1985 Italian comedy film directed by Ettore Scola. The film was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Jack Lemmon plays a successful, physically exhausted, pill-popping American businessman, going through a divorce, who visits Naples, Italy. He spends several days there as a guest of a local business acquaintance, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who has a more laid-back philosophy and is devoted to his large family. In the process, Lemmon’s character learns how to relax and live the good life.
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SUNDAY SAUCE
WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK
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POSITANO
The SNEAKER
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POSITANO 