The Birds, The Bees & The Italians [DVD] [1966]

Pietro Germi's funny anthology combines the standard sex comedy format with some unexpectedly subtle observations about village life. The film centers on three stories exposing the sexual secrets of the Italian town of Treviso. Toni Gasparini (Alberto Lionello) pretends to be impotent in order to wrangle an illicit affair with his doctor's wife. Bank clerk Osvaldo Bisigato (Gastone Moschin) leaves his shrewish wife (Nora Ricci) to move in with his mistress Milena (Virna Lisi), a cafe cashier, but Treviso's jealous husbands unite to cost the lovers their jobs and have them arrested. Meanwhile, most of the village's men are busy seducing a promiscuous teenager (Patrizia Valturri), whose father eventually reveals that she is underage. Franco Fabrizi, Beba Loncar, and cult filmmaker Giulio Questi are among the cast, and Carlo Rustichelli provided the score. Signore e Signori won the Best Film award at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.~Robert Firsching