Filomena

One of the most successful plays of the Italian play-writer Eduardo de Fillippo. A motion picture “Marriage Italian Style”, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, was based on that play.
The action is taking place in Naples. Two decades ago a successful entrepreneur don Domenico Soriano brought a prostitute Filumena Marturano into his house. After the death of the host’s wife Filumena hopes that don Domenico would marry her, but it never happened. So she just lived in his house as a semilover-semisalve, and moreover, she controlled his factories and shops, while the host himself let the good times roll in London and Paris at horse races and with women. Finally Filumena decided to put an end to her rightlessness by pretending being terminally ill. On her “death bed” she asks a priest to fulfill her last will and join her in matrimony with don Soriano. Domenico obeys. But as soon as they get married Filumena instantly recovers. Domenico understands that he has been fooled. Infuriated he swears that he will spare no expense and no pain to destroy the liar…