CIAO, BELLA!

During the mid-Sixties a number of American actors (including Sean Flynn, Brett Halsey, Ken Clark, George Nader, Peter Lupus etc.) went to Europe, Italy in particular, to star in movies of the spy and spaghetti western variety. There wasn't as much opportunity for American actresses but two who gave la dolce vita a whirl were Tina Louise and Pamela Tiffin.

Tina Louise ran off to Italy in 1959 or so after turning down a lead role opposite Cary Grant in the hit comedy Operation Petticoat. When she returned in 1963, the busy red-haired beauty appeared in For Those Who Think Young with Pamela Tiffin, got accepted into the Actor's Studio in New York, and co-starred with Carol Burnett in the hit Broadway musical Fade In, Fade Out all before getting stranded on Gilligan's Island. In between seasons of the TV show, Tina journeyed back to Italy to star opposite one of that country's most popular leading comics, Ugo Tognazzi. His name unfortunately meant nothing in the U.S. so their film Il Fischio al Naso (1966) was never released here. Too bad because based on the trailer Tina looks absolutely stunning in it.



Below is the trailer for Pamela Tiffin's first Italian production the trilogy Oggi, Domani, Dopodomani (1966) where she co-starred opposite Marcello Mastroianni in "The Blonde Wife" segment. After Sue Lyon didn't work out, the brunette beauty took over for her hesitantly because she knew she would have to bleach her hair. Once she did, Pamela realized blondes do have more fun and never went back to brown. The movie as is never made it to the U.S. but in 1968 MGM released a re-edited version as Kiss the Other Sheik with the main focus on Tiffin's segment.