Woman Times Seven (1967, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Morley)

In this seven-episode comedy/drama, Shirley MacLaine – backed up by an impressive array of supporting actors – plays a bevy of sixties-style feminine types. The seven vignettes, which vary in playing time from eight to sixteen minutes, feature MacLaine in roles ranging from a woman successfully seduced at her husband’s funeral to an intense lover planning a joint suicide in a flophouse. MacLaine was nominated for a 1968 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical Comedy.

Director Vittorio De Sica and writer Cesare Zavattini, who revolutionized world cinema as pioneers of the Italian neorealist movement with films like 1946’s Shoeshine and 1948’s The Bicycle Thief, continued their collaboration into the 1970s. During the 1960s they worked on a number of international productions starring Hollywood actors like Clint Eastwood, Victor Mature, and in this case, Shirley MacLaine.

production details
USA – Italy – France / Embassy / 100 minutes / 1967

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Producer: Arthur Cohn
Director of Photography: Christian Matras
Editor: Teddy Darvas, Victoria Spiri-Mercanton
Music: Riz Ortolani
Script: Cesare Zavattini
Art Direction: Bernard Evein

cast
Shirley MacLaine as Paulette / Maria Teresa / Linda / Edith / Eve Minou / Marie / Jeanne
Robert Morley as Dr. Xavier
Anita Ekberg as Claudie
Patrick Wymark as Henri
Lex Barker as Rik
Catherine Samie as Jeannine
Adrienne Corri as Mme. Lisiere
Alan Arkin as Fred
Philippe Noiret as Victor
Elsa Martinelli as Pretty Woman
Judith Magre as Bitter Thirty
Michael Brennan as
Peter Sellers as Jean
Rossano Brazzi as Giorgio
Michael Caine as Handsome Stranger
Jessie Robins as Marianne
Robert Duranton as Didi
Zanie Campan as
Laurence Badie as Unknown