Marriage Italian Style

Marriage Italian Style follows Filumena Marturano, a woman who turns to prostitution to survive the bombing of Naples during World War II. There she meets Domenico Soriano, a well-off businessman, and over the following years she becomes both servant and mistress in his household. When Domenico chooses to marry a younger woman instead of making their union official, Filumena resorts to a deception to force him to the altar, a scheme that also brings to light the sons she has raised.

Vittorio De Sica directed the film, which came in 1964 between Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and The Witches. Earlier in his career he had directed Shoeshine, Bicycle Thieves, Miracle in Milan and Umberto D., as well as Two Women, which also starred Sophia Loren. The screenplay was written by Leonardo Benvenuti, Tonino Guerra and Renato Castellani, and Carlo Ponti produced. Sophia Loren plays Filumena opposite Marcello Mastroianni as Domenico, with Aldo Puglisi, Tecla Scarano, Marilù Tolo and Gianni Ridolfi in supporting roles.

The film grossed about 13 million dollars worldwide. It holds an IMDb rating of 7.4 from roughly 12,000 votes and a TMDB rating of 7.7 from 559 votes, showing a consistent, favourable audience response across both platforms. A critics' rating of 8.5 from seven reviews places it somewhat higher than those audience scores, though based on a much smaller sample.