The Seven Deadly Sins
A French/Italian co-production with two episodes from Italy and five from France covering the seven deadly sins---actually eight as two of the sins are covered in one episode while a new "eighth unknown sin" has an episode of its own. Gerald Philipe is a wry, flip carnival barker who introduces each episode and then narrates the last episode dealing with the "eighth unknown sin" which is the sin of thinking evil where none exists. The first Italian contribution is "Avarice and Anger" concerning a well-to-do real estate agent and his frowzy wife, both uncompromisingly selfish in love and economics; the second Italian entry, "Envy", directed by Roberto Rossellini, from a story by Colette, is a glimpse into the newly-married life of an aging artist and his young wife, whom he treats as a chattel and she, consumed by the envy of his talent, friends and even his cat, tries to do away with the cat; "Pride" is about a couple of down-at-the-heels aristocrats trying to keep up pretenses in the face of utter poverty; "Lust" shows the devastating effects of careless adult behavior on an impressionable child; "Sloth" shows the powers above deciding that life on earth is moving at a too-fast pace and they send an emissary to slow things down, while "Gluttony" is a burlesque piece that the reviewers of the day called in bad taste.
