The Eye of the Needle
Cast & Crew
Marcello Andrei
Annette Strøyberg
Gérard Blain
Nino Castelnuovo
Mariangela Giordano
Vittorio Gassman
Film Details
Synopsis
Toto and Nicola, two young Sicilians, leave an exhibition of belly dancing with their passions aroused. On their way home they get caught in a rainstorm and seek shelter in an abandoned house. They find that Rosaria, a very pretty girl, has also taken shelter there and has removed her clothes to dry them. The two men deflower the virgin, in turn forcing their attentions upon her. Carmelina, Rosaria's friend, sees the men leave, and then Carmelina has to tell her that she had been raped. Following the local customs and the Sicilian code of honor, one of the pair is required to marry Rosaria, but neither wants to have his honor besmirched by marrying a woman the other has possessed. The refusal of either to marry their victim sets the various elements of Sicilian society in action to right the wrong. Rosaria's father wants to force a shotgun wedding, but the local carabinieri arrest the pair for their own safety. The two are put on trial for rape. Toto's father hires Mafia lawyer Mazzaro, and he and Lawyer D'Angelo each try to pin the blame on the other's client. While the trial is in progress, Toto and Rosaria find themselves falling in love, as do Nicola and Carmelina. The basis for Toto's defense is that he was provoked to commit the crime and that Rosaria did not resist. As Mazzaro says, a moving needle is hard to thread. D'Angelo, on the other hand, portrays Nicola as impotent and therefore incapable of commiting the crime. The two are acquitted; Toto and Rosaria marry with honor; and Nicola's doubts about his masculinity are relieved by his marriage to Carmelina.
Director
Marcello Andrei
Cast
Annette Strøyberg
Gérard Blain
Nino Castelnuovo
Mariangela Giordano
Vittorio Gassman
Gino Cervi
Umberto Spadaro
Ernesto Calindri
Ignazio Balsamo
Alfredo Varelli
Rina Franchetti
Carla Calò
Leopoldo Trieste
Enrichetta Medin
Crew
Marcello Andrei
Giuseppe Berto
Alberto Bevilacqua
Aldo Calamara
Otello Cocchi
William Demby
Achille Filo Della Torre
Giuseppe Mangione
Riccardo Pallottini
Carlo Rustichelli
Dante Troisi
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Rome opening: February 1963 as La smania addosso; running time: 105 min? The precise functions of the three members of the production staff are undetermined. Sources vary in crediting the role played by Rina Franchetti.
