Giacomo "Chevalier" Casanova 1725 to 98, wrote the autobiography "Story of My Life" which is one of the most sizzling true sources of scandalous information about the habits and sex lives of the European rich and famous during the 18th century. Many films have been done about his life.
This is a sex comedy directed by Franz Antel (under the pseudonym François Legrand). By 1977, Curtis was no longer at the peak of his career. He was still a recognizable name, but was no longer landing leading roles in major Hollywood productions. International co-productions offered work, and this film likely came with a decent paycheck.
The movie was not a box office smash but it did respectably internationally. It had a relatively low budget typical of European co-productions of this type, and its distribution across several European markets was the real reason it made money.
It is an uppity version of a sexploitation film given its higher caliber of stars. This was another way Hollywood got around the censorship codes during this time. Many stars were lured by the pay day offered by such movies released throughout the world but without much publicity in the US.
The real stars of this movie are the women. Sylva Koscina was a Yugoslav-born Italian actress. She played a lot of princesses, goddesses, or other glamorous figures in historical epics. Her success in Italy led to roles in international productions, including American films alongside David McCallum, Kirk Douglas, Paul Newman, Dean Martin and Rock Hudson. In addition, she graced the cover of Playboy, in 1967.
Marisa Mell was an Austrian actress best known for her roles in European films. A car accident in France severely injured her face and she spent the next two years having plastic surgeries and made an amazing recovery. Mell reportedly faced financial difficulties. There were also reports of a challenging temperament.
Britt Ekland was a sexy Swedish actress, model, and singer. She acted in numerous well known films. She married Peter Sellers. She had a high-profile relationship with Rod Stewart in 70s. She also married Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, who was considerably younger than her. She published her autobiography, True Britt, in 1980.
Marisa Berenson is a distinguished American actress with an extensive resume. Mell and her were the only ones that kept their clothes on during the film.
This movie is set in 1746 and is a parody where our great lover (Tony Curtis) is rescued from jail by his "emotional" love (the Duchess played by Marisa Mell) but his manhood has stopped functioning reliably. However, lucky for him, there is a petty con-man that looks exactly like him (Giacomino) and the two go back and forth frolicking with all sorts of nuns, wives and Ladies. His long time lover brings him back to life with two bottles of Geritol. There are references to the girls scouts, expresso machines, lady toys, subscription to playgirl, Las Vegas, and Disneyland. It was hard to find this movie in English. I would say this is a lot of Benny Hill style satire with some Flip Wilson coolness.
