L’amor che mi rovina (1951), produced by Niccolò Theodoli, grandmother Luisa’s second husband, boasted a respectable cast, starting with Walter Chiari and Lucia Bosé, in addition to Mario Soldati’s direction and a screenplay by Enrico Blasi, Mario Monicelli, Steno and Bernardo Zapponi. The film ‘is a pleasant sci-fi comedy ante litteram that benefits from a very well-rehearsed cast’(https://www.fantafilm.net, 6/6/23). The film had a good box-office success and all in all positive reviews, if not for the story, generally considered insulting, for the excellent direction and acting.
In spite of the film being entirely shot in the snow and Chiari’s off-screen shots with a reindeer jumper regulation and a ski instructor next to him, as in the second picture, both he and Bosé (who were also a couple in life at the time) did not know how to ski. Skiing was one of the few sports that Chiari did not play, he who was a top amateur athlete in boxing, swimming, tennis and more.
