The Birds, the Bees and the Italians

1966 1h 55m IT

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 82

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An anthology presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso: A husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair; a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them; and local men all seduce a promiscuous young woman, but when her father eventually reveals that she is underage, they all face prosecution for statutory rape.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Virna Lisi
Milena Zulian
Gastone Moschin
Osvaldo Bisigato
Nora Ricci
Gilda Bisigato
Alberto Lionello
Toni Gasparini
Olga Villi
Ippolita Gasparini
Beba Lončar
Noemi Castellan
Franco Fabrizi
Lino Benedetti
Gigi Ballista
Giacinto Castellan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pietro Germi
Writers: Luciano Vincenzoni, Luciano Vincenzoni, Pietro Germi
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pietro Germi, shot by Aiace Parolin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carlo Rustichelli. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sergio Montanari shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Virna Lisi and Gastone Moschin and Nora Ricci carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0062271 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 82 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pietro Germi directs. Aiace Parolin behind the camera. Carlo Rustichelli scores. Sergio Montanari cuts. Produced in Italy, France. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

160 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.
3Directed by Pietro Germi, shot by Aiace Parolin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carlo Rustichelli. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Sergio Montanari shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Virna Lisi and Gastone Moschin and Nora Ricci carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0062271 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 82 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Aiace Parolin
Original score: Carlo Rustichelli
Editing: Sergio Montanari
Production design: Carlo Egidi
Costume design: Angela Sammaciccia
Makeup / hair: Raffaele Cristini
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Status: Released
Original language: IT
IMDB: The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)

Awards

Palme d'Or

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Pietro Germi

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-08-16
★ 7/10
Who knew Treviso was the place to live, if you fancied a bit of good old-fashioned infidelity? The town is positively writhing in pudgy middle-aged gentlemen who drink excessively then routinely cheat on their wives and sweethearts. There are three inter-connected stories here that follow the licentious behaviour of these citizens. The first gent, “Gasparini” (Alberto Lionello) is married to the the somewhat imperious “Ippolita” (Olga Villi) and he has been claiming impotence to avoid fulfilling his conjugal duties. He confides this problem to his doctor “Castellan” (Gigi Ballista) only he doesn’t expand upon the fact that this is a feint not only to deter his wife, but also to distract the physician from his interest in that man’s wife “Noemi” (Beba Loncar). When “Castellan” goes blabbing about this to his café friends, though, he inadvertently plays into the hands of his rival and ends up with quite a bit of egg on his face. Meantime, henpecked bank clerk “Bisgato” (Gastone Moschin) is constantly being berated by his wife (Nora Ricci) for lacking in ambition and despite her frequent interventions is repeatedly told by his employers - relatives of “Ippolita” - that he’s paid what he’s worth. He’s a bit naive, is poor old “Bisgato” for he has fallen in love with “Milena” (Virna Lisi) and the thrust of the best comedic elements of the film come from this man’s determination to escape from what he sees as the martial yoke. Cheating is one thing, moving out - well that’s something altogether different. Then finally, we meet the young “Alda” (Patrizia Valturri) whose arrival on the scene sets the cat amongst these elderly pigeons even more. That is until her father (Carlo Bagno) declares that she is but a minor, and that the police are going to be investigating charges of statutory rape. Now these men are going to have to scream for help - but whom can they run to, though? There’s a great deal of music throughout this and for the most part it works well in helping to sustain the frenetic pace, the frantically delivered dialogue and the almost slapstick nature of these men”s behaviour, adventures and peccadilloes. Along the way, the storylines shine an humorous light on many of the stereotypical attitudes that prevailed amongst the permanently horny menfolk and amongst their equally stoic, and often quite relieved, spouses. Sex is never far from the plot, neither is jealousy nor pantomime and the dynamic between Moschin and Lisi, supported by the on-form Lionello and Ricci present us with a not so subtle evaluation of the hypocrisies of modern Italian suburban life where the Christian doctrines of marriage and respect are honoured much more in the breach than the observance. There are three distinctly separate episodes here, but by the last half hour they have all melded together into something that rarely comes up for breath, and that I quite enjoyed.

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