Italian Pietro Germi directed Seduced and Abandoned (Sedotta e abbandonata), a dark satire of Sicilian socio-sexual mores and manners.
Agnese Ascalone, daughter of prominent quarry owner Vincenzo Ascalone, lives in a small town in Sicily (specifically Sciacca).
She is seduced by her sister Matilde’s fiancé, and has a tryst with him for which she confesses and tries to repent, only to be discovered by her parents.
Vincenzo demands that the man, Peppino Califano, marry his daughter, and as a result, all kinds of antics and complications ensue.
As a dark satire of Sicilian social customs and laws, the movie is a good companion piece to Germi’s previous and better known comedy, Divorce, Italian Style.
These Sicilian customs, including a form of bride kidnapping or elopement known as fuitina and the “rehabilitating marriage” (matrimonio riparatore), became a national issue in 1966 by the case of Franca Viola, whose tale was turned into the 1970 film, “La moglie più bella” (“The Most Beautiful Wife”) by Damiano Damiani and starring Ornella Muti.
The movie played at the 1964 Cannes Film Fest.
Cast
Stefania Sandrelli – Agnese Ascalone
Saro Urzì – Don Vincenzo Ascalone
Aldo Puglisi – Peppino Califano
Lando Buzzanca – Antonio Ascalone
Lola Braccini – Amalia Califano
Leopoldo Trieste – Baron Rizieri Zappalà
Umberto Spadaro – Cousin Ascalone, a lawyer
Paola Biggio – Matilde Ascalone
Rocco D’Assunta – Orlando Califano
Oreste Palella – Police Chief Polenza
Lina Lagalla – Francesca Ascalone
Gustavo D’Arpe – Ciarpetta the Lawyer
Rosetta Urzì – Consolata the Maid
Roberta Narbonne – Rosaura Ascalone
Vincenzo Licata – Pasquale Profumo the Undertaker
Attilio Martella – The Magistrate Judge
Adelino Campardo – Police Officer Bisigato
Salvatore Fazio – Don Mariano the Priest
Italia Spadaro – Aunt Carmela
