AVANTI (DVD/16X9/WS/2.35:1/B&W/1964/ORIGINAL THEATRICAL TRAILER) DVD

Avanti!
This enchanting yet dark romantic comedy stars Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills as a pair of mismatched lovers helplessly drawn into a series of seemingly hopeless but humorous situations as in Lemmon's The Out-of -Towners two years earlier. Lemmon is Wendell Armbruster Jr., an overbearing American business tycoon forced to travel to the beautiful Italian island of Ischia to claim the body of his recently departed father. What begins with a rather elementary premise evolves into a succession of somber twists and turns, as Armbruster meets Pamela Piggott (Mills), the daughter of his father's mistress, who, Lemmon is appalled to learn, died alongside Armbruster Sr., while zipping through the Italian countryside in his sportscar. Even worse, the family who owns the vineyard that his father's car crashed into has stolen the bodies in exchange for damages. Although plagued with a plethora of such problems, as well as an inability to enjoy life (and the ulcers to prove it), Wendell eventually falls in love with Pamela, almost exactly as his father did with her mother. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Cast Jack Lemmon as Wendell Armbruster Juliet Mills as Pamela Pigott Clive Revill as Carlo Carlucci Edward Andrews as J.J. Blodgett Gianfranco Barra as Bruno

Crew Ferdinando Scarfiotti - Art Director Billy Wilder - Director Ralph Winters - Editor Carlo Rustichelli - Composer (Music Score) Carlo Rustichelli - Musical Arrangement Luigi Kuveiller - Cinematographer Billy Wilder - Producer Basil Fenton-Smith - Sound/Sound Designer Billy Wilder - Screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond - Screenwriter Samuel A.Taylor - Play Author

Avanti!
Overlooked and underrated, Avanti! may be late Billy Wilder, but it still sports his inimitable touch (even with the uncharacteristically salty language and nudity). Scripted by Wilder and longtime collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, Avanti! covers familiar Wilder/Diamond comic territory with its story of uptight rich American Jack Lemmon finding more than he bargained for, particularly in the person of overripe Brit Juliet Mills, while on an emergency trip to Europe. Sardonically clear-eyed about the compromises of life and romance, Avanti!'s love story is also sweetly wistful as Lemmon and Mills reenact their parents' Italian pas de deux, complete with a humorous skinny dip at dawn. Wilder keeps it all moving with aplomb, yet takes the time to let the glorious Ischia locations work their seductive charms. Clive Revill provides superb support as the scheming hotel manager, while Pippo Franco's one scene as an Italian coroner elevates bureaucratic efficiency to an art form. Though not as renowned as such prior Lemmon/Wilder/Diamond classics as The Apartment (1960) and Some Like It Hot (1959), Avanti! is well worth a look. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

Billy Wilder: Golden Globe, Best Director (nominated) Billy Wilder: Golden Globe, Best Screenplay (nominated) Clive Revill: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actor (nominated) I.A.L. Diamond: Golden Globe, Best Screenplay (nominated) Jack Lemmon: Golden Globe, Best Actor - Musical or Comedy (winner) Juliet Mills: Golden Globe, Best Actress - Musical or Comedy (nominated)

Golden Globe, Best Picture - Musical or Comedy (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Original theatrical trailer English mono, French mono English, French & Spanish language subtitles DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 144 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. New York-Rome Exchange [4:31] 2. Main Title/Identity Issues [4:42] 3. "Eulogy, First Draft" [2:03] 4. Italian for Beginners [6:18] 5. Apologies and Formalities [8:16] 6. Same Time Every Summer [7:12] 7. The Coolest Place in Town [11:33] 8. Love in Perfect Polaroid [4:54] 9. Bad News, Worse News [1:12] 10. Playing It Caldo [2:50] 11. Their Parents' Footprints [4:53] 12. Kate and Willy in the Sun [8:33] 13. The Trotta Family Racket [1:49] 14. Like Two Baby Seals [3:44] 15. Coffee, News, Extortion [5:26] 16. A Chambermaid Scorned [11:27] 17. Miss Piggott's Island Tour [8:11] 18. Carlucci Takes Charge [3:00] 19. Amorous Assumption [3:37] 20. Lunchtime in Ischia [:32] 21. Love Across Class Lines [3:44] 22. The State Department Calls [10:48] 23. The Dead Attaché [2:28] 24. End Credits [4:48]