Lady L

1965 "She's the only lady who ever got a boyfriend for a wedding present!"
5.5| 1h57m| en
Details

Lady L is an elegant 80-year-old woman who recalls her amorous life story, including past loves and lusty, scandalous adventures she has lived through.

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Reviews

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Michael_Elliott Lady L (1965) ** (out of 4) Lady Louise Lendale (Sophia Loren) recounts her younger years and the relationship she had with two different type of men (Paul Newman, David Niven).LADY L was a box office flop when it was released and it's never really been beloved by fans of any of the three leads or director Peter Ustinov. Later in life Ustinov blamed a lot of different things for the film's failure including the fact that the Loren and Newman apparently didn't get along and the director also said the budget was simply too big for the type of film it was.I actually agree with both of those statements. For starters, the story itself is extremely flat and there's just no energy, no spark or any real point to anything we're watching. Loren and Newman sleepwalk through their roles and I'd agree that there's not an inch of chemistry between the two. The first portion of the film is like a bad comedy but when Niven enters the picture is just becomes boring and flat. I really don't recall too many times where the three leads were as bland as they are here.Another major problem with the film is that it looks terrific but there's no substance to it. Perhaps this is why the director blamed the budget. I'm going to guess that his main focus was on making the picture look like a big budget instead of getting anything better on the page. LADY L certainly didn't destroy the leads careers but at the same time it's easy to see why the film has pretty much been forgotten.
atlasmb This film is not rated very highly, but the reviews here are mostly positive. Perhaps that is due to the enjoyment people receive seeing older films with actors they enjoy.Sophia Loren plays Lady Lendale, an octogenarian recounting some memories from her wacky past. She had been married to Lord Lendale (David Niven) until his death in 1924. Before that she was involved with Armand Denis (Paul Newman), an anarchist whose only goal in life was to destroy things owned by those with money or position.The portion of the film that starts with the meeting of Lord and Lady L is enjoyable. Niven plays a unique character. He seeks love, and desires a woman who is not the usual society bore. Loren, as she opens to his strange concept of love, is an interesting foil to his intelligent perspective. Their relationship is the highlight of the film.Newman is out of place here, filling a silly role. After Lord L leaves the story, things devolve into a pointless collection of sight gags, on par with "The Apple Dumpling Gang".
bkoganbing Sophia Loren is cast in the title role of Lady L whom we first see like Jeanette MacDonald as an 80+ woman who with some prodding from her dear friend poet Cecil Parker is about to tell her scandalous life story. Believe me this woman has seen things and done things that would shock the proper British society that she's married into. MacDonald in Maytime had a story to tell in flashback and come to think of it so did James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.Back in the day Sophia was a laundress and one of her main clients was a prominent French brothel and it was there she met thief and anarchist Paul Newman and her later husband David Niven who provided a title and the good life in the United Kingdom. How both effect her life and story is the basis of Lady L.Loren while in old lady character sounds a lot like Martita Hunt, I wouldn't be surprised if she dubbed her, if not Sophia does a real good imitation. Newman is not quite right for the part, they should have gotten someone really French like Yves Montand.As for David Niven he just saunters through the film as David Niven. His good friend Peter Ustinov both wrote and directed Lady L and Code restraints being what they were Niven if it were done today would be more explicitly gay. That would far better explain his position and the relationship that develops afterward between all three of the principal characters.Lady L is not bad, but it suffers from some miscasting and too much Code imposed discretion.
whpratt1 Enjoyed seeing a very young Sophia Loren, (Lady L) and a very handsome Paul Newman, (Armand Denis) both playing unbelievable comic roles. Lady L is a woman who takes in laundry to make a living and visits a bordello to collect dirty clothes and meets up with Armand who manages to fall in love with her and it is not too long before they have a baby. Lady L finds that Armand is more interested in making a bomb and and joining a secret spy ring that wants to kill a nobleman in high office. Lady L meets up with David Niven who owns a great deal of money and wants to marry her even though she is already married to Armand. As soon as Lady L obtains fancy jewelry, Armand wants to give it to the poor like a Robin Hood of his day. There are flashbacks as Lady L recalls her past to a man who wants to write her biography, however, it is so immoral, he decides to change his mind. A real crazy comedy, but enjoyable from 1965, enjoy.