The Contessa's Secret
The Contessa's Secret is a 1954 French-Italian film starring Yvonne De Carlo as Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione.
Cast
- Yvonne De Carlo as Virginia Oldoini
- Georges Marchal as Lucio Falengo
- Paul Meurisse as Napoleon III
- Rossano Brazzi as Count Cavour
- Lucienne Legrand as Empress Eugénie
- Lea Padovani as Princess Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
- Georges Lannes as Mocquart
- Michel Etcheverry as Pietri
- Tamara Lees as Princess of Metternich
- Claude Boissol as Nigra
- Lisette Lebon as Luisa
- Alberto Bonucci as Castiglione
- Roldano Lupi as Orsini
- Pierre Flourens as M. de Nieuwerkerke
- Charles Bouillaud as Un indicateur
Production
De Carlo signed on for the film in late December 1953. The film would be the first starring a Hollywood actor to have been shot in French without an English version. It was originally called Castiglione and Raf Vallone and Georges Marchall were meant to co-star.Filming had to be brought forward earlier than planned so De Carlo could make a film with Cornel Wilde.
The film was shot in France in March 1954. De Carlo did not enjoy working for the producers. "I was very much put out when they gave me a stand in for a French dialogue coach," she said. "I thought I deserved better than that, particularly as I studied day and night to perfect myself in the reading of the lines. That was only one of numerous irksome things which not only I but other people had to put up with in that French production."
She later claimed the film was the first time a Hollywood actress did the lead in a film for which there was no English language version. "It was a distinction that made me feel proud."