La Vergine, Il Toro e Il Capricorno (1977) Luciano Martino

Country: Italy| Director: Mariano Laurenti

Tired of a husband who keeps cheating on her, Gioia (Fenech) takes a holiday away from Rome, on the island of Ischia, where she wants to find a man to sleep with and thus take her revenge.

"It's impossible," gasps Edwige Fenech's character, Gioia Ferretti, while watching her husband, Gianni, and his latest mistress exit their trysting place, in the 1977 Italian sex comedy "The Virgo, the Taurus and the Capricorn." And viewers may feel inclined to agree. What man in his right mind would want to cheat on a woman that looks like Edwige, a perfect-10 Eurobabe for whom most guys would give their left nut to be with? To retaliate, Gioia does the only sensible thing: She hightails it to the island resort of Ischia (near Naples) to sleep with as many men as possible, leaving Gianni to froth and go bonkers back in Roma at the prospect of "having the horns put on him" and becoming a cuckold. (Anyone know the Italian expression for "double standard"?) Anyway, that's the setup for this very entertaining romp, whose central conceit--that of a man cheating on Edwige Fenech--almost puts it in the realm of sci-fi fantasy! Luciano Martino, who had served as producer on many earlier Edwige comedies and some top-notch gialli, here acquits himself nicely in the director's chair (the lucky bastid was also Edwige's real-life partner), Franco Pisano's score is alternately funny and coyly sexy, and Alberto Lionello is very amusing as the increasingly berserk Gianni. The film features any number of comical minor characters and, typical for these comedies, is not afraid to veer into slapstick to provoke a laff. And Edwige? OMG! Mother-naked from her very first entrance, the girl looks absolutely spectacular, whether fully bared, in poolside swimwear or even fully clothed (and she IS fully clothed at least half the time!). She is ridiculously gorgeous. Bottom line: Despite the terrible dubbing, this Italian sex comedy succeeds on both fronts. It is very sexy and pretty darn funny, too.