The Golden Coach

In an eighteenth-century Spanish colony in South America, an Italian theatre troupe arrives to open a new playhouse. Its leading performer, Camilla, catches the attention of three very different men: Felipe, a young officer travelling with the company; Ramon, a celebrated bullfighter; and the colony's viceroy. The viceroy, taken with Camilla and her ways so unlike those of his aristocratic circle, presents her with a magnificent golden coach from Europe, a gift meant only for royal journeys. His gesture causes a scandal among the local nobility, who object to both the affair and the extravagance. Camilla is left to work out where the theatre ends and her own feelings begin, since all three suitors disappoint her in turn, and the stage remains her true devotion.

Jean Renoir directed The Golden Coach, the fifth of the five films listed in his filmography here, arriving between The Southerner and French Cancan. He wrote the screenplay with Jack Kirkland and Giulio Macchi, and Francesco Alliata produced. Anna Magnani plays Camilla, heading a cast that includes Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante, Duncan Lamont and George Higgins. The production was Italian and French, and the film runs 105 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 3,700 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 90 votes, indicating a favourable but modest audience.