Director Alberto Lattuada based this movie on the classic Sicilian story and drama by Giovanni Verga, author of "Cavalleria rusticana." A middle-aged woman is named "la lupa" or "the she-wolf" because of her rather aggressive libido. She sets her heart on a young soldier on duty near the town. Her own young daughter has the same feelings and snatches the man away from her. They have a child and throw the mother out of the house. Naturally the "she-wolf" seeks revenge. The "she-wolf" is played by Kerima; her daughter is May Britt, and Ettore Manni is the object of their desire. Franco Zeffirelli created a very successful stage version of the play with actress Anna Magnani in Rome in 1965. How we in the United States all would have loved to see Anna Magnani in the stage version of LA LUPA, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, which was promised a U.S. tour in the late 1960's but which never happened.
Review of The Devil Is a Woman
