Tony Mastroianni Review Collection

Gina Lollobrigida Looks as Good Off Screen as On

Cleveland Press February 20, 1965

NEW YORK -- For the ladies, and they seem to dote on such details, she wore an empire dress of black silk, a sapphire mink coat, a three strand necklace of Etruscan relics (some of them dating to 4000 B. C.) and her hair was styled in a short page boy with bangs.

For the men -- Gina Lollobrigida looks as good off the screen as on.

At 36 the Italian beauty is an international movie star who most recently has found her forte in light comedy.

Her latest film is "Strange Bedfellows" with Rock Hudson. Still to be released are several movies made in Italy.

Meanwhile, she is taking time out to visit Washington, D. C., and Rio de Janeiro.

"I GO to Washington to present to the President a special edition of "The Divine Comedy." Salvador Dali did the illustrations and my husband is the publisher. It is a limited edition, 25 copies I think, and it is in nine volumes."

Her husband is Dr. Drago Milko Skofic.

"And then from Washington I go to Rio," she went on.

To make a movie?

"No, I go for fun," she explained, seeming just a little surprised. "It is carnival time there."

The Skofics have one child, a son.

"MY SON I had with me all the time until he is six. Now he is seven years old and he is in school. And he is like 10 kids," she added with a look of mock horror.

Her next movie will be made in Rome, a war film she said.

"My career now is more important than at the beginning. It takes a long time to prepare a film."

"I have a story of my own, a book that I bought, that I want to make a movie from. It is called "Tower of Ivory."

"AN AMERICAN film," I suggested.

"The main character is raped," she said passing by my question.

"An Italian film," I muttered.

"We are making it in English in Hong Kong. De Sica will direct."

You just can't categorize these movies anymore.