Sensational title aside, this 1964 Italian film takes a humorous look at society’s rapidly changing views on monogamy and gender roles in the early days of the sexual revolution. Ugo Tognazzi stars as a veteran businessman and husband who falls for the advances of an open-minded female friend. Instead of enjoying his infidelity, he’s consumed with unprovoked thoughts about his faithful young wife (Claudia Cardinale) engaging in similar activity, to the point that he spends more time secretly monitoring her activities than covering his own lascivious tracks.
Buy The Magnificent CuckoldThe film feels very much like a Jack Lemmon vehicle, where his nervous energy would be fully engaged in endlessly obsessing about his wife. Unfortunately, Tognazzi is no Lemmon, instead playing the role as a concerned but not particularly animated husband. There’s also a massive 16-year age gap between the leads, making his character’s affection for his wife seem more paternal than amorous. Of course, the other woman’s husband is even older, clearly influencing her desire to fool around outside her marriage.
The plot doesn’t progress much past its core concept, with its two-hour runtime padded out by recreations of the husband’s fevered imagination. This provides Cardinale with ample opportunities to shed her devoted young-wife persona and engage in some truly inspired dream sequences. She makes the most of the chance, lighting up the screen with her naughty flirting with an army of eligible young bachelors. She’s positively incandescent, dominating the placid Tognazzi and showing off her star power in the wake of her triumphs in 8 ½ and The Pink Panther one year earlier.
The new Radiance Blu-ray is limited to 3000 copies and represents the film’s worldwide English-subtitled Blu-ray premiere. The film has been restored in 4K from original sound and camera negatives, presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with original uncompressed mono sound. The superb transfer shows minimal grain and no noticeable flaws, with excellent separation of its black and white tones.
Special features are a new interview with an Italian cinema expert, an exhaustive visual essay by an Italian cinema professor, and a fascinating alternate post-tinted color sequence used in a souped-up theatrical re-release years later. The limited-edition booklet includes a new essay by a film critic, and the reversible sleeve features original and newly commissioned artwork.
