Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Diane Keaton and Woody Allen. Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
Italian movie legends Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni appeared in more than ten films together and the chemistry between the two made them become the most celebrated Italian actors in the world.
In 1965, when Photoplay magazine asked its readers to vote for their favorite Hollywood stars Italian born, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren came in the top two on a list that included giants like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
“Every time I was asked to do a film with Marcello, I said, “Yes, yes, yes,” without reading a script. Because I knew that with him everything was going to be all right. Because he knew me and I knew him. His sense of humor. His way of improvising. His way of not learning his lines, ever. And sometimes he would come on the set with his eyes open like this and say, “What am I going to say now?” And I’d say, “No it’s your problem, you should have woken up in the morning a little earlier and learned your lines.” So there was always this kind of joke with Marcello, but of course, when you work with your partner for twenty years of your life, you know him as he was your brother, your husband, your everything.”
- Sophia Loren
With the passing of the years, their friendship became stronger and stronger.
“Marcello is a man who thinks like a man, talks like a man…is a man! He has so much magnetism, he brings out the very soul in a woman.”
- Sophia Loren
“Sophia is my love, my passion. Everybody knows that. We are like Laurel and Hardy, always together.”
- Marcello Mastroianni
These internationally famous superstars created the enviable image of the cool, fascinating Italian style, and proved us that true friendship actually exists.