Woman of the River Reviews

After Loren made her first big splash in GOLD OF NAPLES, Carlo Ponti rushed her into this film, a loose remake of BITTER RICE, which had shot Silvana Mangano, the wife of Ponti's partner, Dino De Laurentiis, to stardom five years before. Loren is the sexiest girl at an eel cannery and she is loved by Oury, the local constable. She, however, is in love with fisherman Battaglia, who works as a smuggler to make ends meet. Battaglia leaves town, and Loren follows him, telling him she is pregnant and the police are after him. He thinks she is simply trying to force him to marry her and he rudely sends her away. Angry and brokenhearted, she turns stool pigeon and tells Oury where to find Battaglia. Some years later, Battaglia escapes from prison and goes looking for the woman who betrayed him. Oury finds her first, working in the cane fields on the banks of the Po River to support herself and her son. When Battaglia finally tracks her down, he finds that his son has just drowned accidentally. He is watching the funeral procession when the police arrest him. Loren looks great and displays some talent here, too. But all told, the film is just another Italian potboiler of little interest to most, though it was the first screenwriting job for Pasolini, who would later go on to direct his own films. It was just after the conclusion of shooting that Ponti gave Loren an engagement ring, although he was still married. (Dubbed in English.)