THE WHITE SHEIK Movie Review

Lo Sceicco Bianco

Federico Fellini's first solo directing effort is a poignant and hilarious comic fable about a starry-eyed young woman (Brunella Bova) whose naive infatuation with a pot-bellied Valentino almost destroys her marriage—even though she's still on her honeymoon. The object of her obsession is a white-robed, scimitar-wielding character in the Italian fumetti—comic books with tableaux-style photos in place of drawings—who turns out to be posed by someone considerably less dashing in real life than he appears to be on paper. Alberto Sordi contributes a memorable, hilariously pathetic star turn as the White Sheik, and Leopoldo Trieste is immensely sympathetic as the confused husband whose frustration leads him to the acquaintance of a charming prostitute, played by Giulietta Masina. Masina's character was so likable and so charmingly conceived that six years later Fellini would give her a movie of her own which would not only become a classic, but would provide the vehicle for what would be Masina's greatest performance: Nights of Cabiria. (Years later, Cabiria itself would metamorphose into the stage and film musical Sweet Charity).

NEXT STOP … Variety Lights, Nights of Cabiria, The Purple Rose of Cairo

1952 86m/B IT Alberto Sordi, Giulietta Masina, Brunella Bova, Leopoldo Trieste; D: Federico Fellini; W: Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano; C: Arturo Galea; M: Nino Rota. VHS HMV, VDM, AUD