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With the Nazi terror on the ascent, master filmmaker Max Ophuls fled to Italy in 1934 and made La signora di tutti [Everybody's Lady] an exuberant, desperate melodrama that, although arriving early in Ophuls' body of work, ranks comfortably alongside Letter from an Unknown Woman, The Earrings of Madame de..., or Lola Montès in the hierarchy of the director's achievements. Isa Miranda, one of Italy's greatest stars, plays the role of a star (in the part that made her a star) pressed to revisit the entire history of her lovers to the present moment through an inexorable web of flashbacks... brought on by the anaesthetic following a failed suicide attempt. From the record revolving on a turntable in the picture's opening moments, Ophuls sets into motion one of those roundelays with fate that he alone could pull off with such eminent elegance. A precursor to the romantic themes that would culminate in Lola Montès, Ophuls' vertiginous La signora di tutti serves brilliantly as both a critique of one grande dame's own powerful narcissism, and an elevation of her glacial femininity to the level of sublime fetish. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present La signora di tutti [Everybody's Lady], the stunningly beautiful '30s masterpiece by famed auteur Max Ophuls (Letter from an Unknown Woman, The Reckless Moment, La ronde, The Earrings of Madame de..., Lola Montès) starring the legendary Italian actress Isa Miranda. Released for the first time on DVD in the UK on 15 November 2010. SPECIAL FEATURES: Beautiful new transfer from pristine film materials in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio A new and exclusive video essay about the film by film scholar Tag Gallagher Optional English subtitles A lengthy booklet containing a new and exclusive essay on the film by filmmaker and critic Luc Moullet; and newly translated excerpts of an interview with star Isa Miranda, and remarks by director Max Ophuls.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By schumann_bg
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
This early Max Ophuls is, in many ways, exquisite: it has a beautiful heroine (Isa Miranda), incredibly elegant mise-en-scene, a ravishing score ... the refinement is devastating! Everything is in place to seduce the viewer, as he sets in motion a melodrama of great ambiguity. Is Gaby a bit dim and a victim of her beauty and of men, or is she more complicit in her fate? Unfortunately the genre requires that the question remain unanswered for the spell to remain unbroken, but really it is a shortcoming because, really, she either knows or she doesn't know the effect she has on men, and the reactions are in any case ludicrously extreme, starting with a schoolteacher who apparently committed suicide over knowing her in passing. I feel a bit in two minds about the whole exercise, admiring its style and emotional charge as much as I find it over-the-top and artificial. In the end, I cannot decide, which is one of the things that keeps it alive for me. I tend to feel that melodrama, like the thriller genre, falls short as a way of representing the world, both for its simplification, and also the sense of diminishing returns with successive viewings. Nevertheless La Signore di tutti does have a surface of great seductive power. The booklet in this edition is, as with all Eureka productions, outstanding.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Catherine
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
i thought this was long lost andwas delgihted to find it still availble and well worth watching. recommended if you aare itnerested in early 20th century film
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An early Ophuls classic
23 Feb 2001
By D.A.
- Published on Amazon.com
The great Max Ophuls made this brilliant, if slightly uncertain, 1934 classic in Italy during his exile from Germany. Part of what makes this passionate study of a failing movie actress (exceptionally performed by Isa Miranda) truly remarkable is the way it prefigures Ophuls' later and more superior work. The flashback sequences that reveal the heroine's sordid past become more elaborate in "Lola Montes" and the spoiled, narcissistic stature of the actress paves the way for Danielle Darrieux's spoiled socialite Louise De in the crowning masterwork, "Madame de"! Fascinatingly, however, "La Signora di Tutti", though it has some awesome camera movements, somehow lacks the exquisite, sensuous, free-flowing camera work of "Letter from an Unknown Woman", "La Ronde" "Le Plaisir", "Madame de" and "Lola Montes"! Still, it is a great work and should be an excellent introduction to the films of one of cinema's original masters.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
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