Sex with a Smile (1976) User Reviews (8)

How mature...

[Boba_Fett1138 · 5/10 · 22 January 2012]

This is a very typical sex comedy, with all sort of sexual jokes and innuendos in it. It really reminded me of the British 'Carry on...' film-series, in terms of its comedy, with as a difference that this movie consists out of 5 short stories and has some better looking women in it.

But it's being just as immature with its comedy basically. Seriously, it's all very childish really and not all that clever with its story and situations. A real simplistic movie, lots of people will still enjoy watching for what it is. Just not me.

Most people will say or perhaps complain that this movie is being sexist toward women because they are the ones who are showing some skin and are being portrayed as lust objects, in this movie. I however feel that this movie is just as sexist toward men, since the movie portrays almost every single male in this movie as sex hungry animal, with only one thing on his mind. I know it's all done in the name of comedy but it's just a bit too stereotypical and simplistic for my taste.

I am not complaining about it though that the movie consists out of 5 short and unrelated stories. I actually think that this was a good move for the movie to take. It ensures that the movie never drags or start to repeat itself with its comedy and situations. Each story is a fresh one, with different characters in it, however most of them really aren't that well written, funny or interesting. I only really liked the story involving Marty Feldman. That guy was truly hilarious, even in Italian. He has comedy written all over him. His story alone is really worth checking out and the only one that ever cracked me up.

A very immature Italian sex comedy, that serves its purpose well enough I guess but just never truly becomes a great, clever, surprising or hilarious movie to watch, except for all the scenes involving Marty Feldman.

5/10

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Neither very sexy nor very funny

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 27 January 2013]

With this cast, I expected more from "Sex With A Smile". In my opinion, the best episode is the 3rd, because it has the cleverest story to tell. The others range from poor-taste (the 1st) to labored (the 2nd - though Marty Feldman fans will be more appreciative of his endless mugging) and from slight (the 4th) to too-long (the 5th - though that dog is really well-trained!). Still, let's not be totally negative: the production is slicker than in today's sex comedies, the music score is fun, and Barbara Bouchet & Edwige Fenech (as well as Dayle Haddon) do get naked, so it's not a total waste of time. It's just not what it could have been. ** out of 4.

Sex with a smile

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 18 June 2023]

That title means 40 degrees in the shade of the sheet but you may know this Sergio Martino-directed. Movie better as Sex With a Smile. In the U. S., all of those ads focused on Marty Feldman, who briefly shows up in one of the film's five chapters. It's American distributor Centaur/Surrogate even cut all of the credits and just have Feldman's name in them along with changing the order of the stories.

"One for the Money" takes place in Switzerland as a rich Italian bride (Barbara Bouchet) meets a man (Enrico Montesano) who offers her 20 million lire (around $4.5 million dollars in 2023 U. S. cash) to make love. She blows him off but then starts to wonder "What if?"

"The Bodyguard" concerns a socialite (Dayle Haddon, who went from Disney movies like The World's Greatest Athlete to movies like this and Just Jaeckin's Madame Claude and The Last Romantic Lover) who hates how well her bodyguard (Feldman) keeps her secure. And then when she tries to escape him to met a new lover, she learns that maybe he was right to do his job so perfectly.

"Catch It While It's Hot" is about a countess (Giovanna Ralli, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) hooking up with her chauffeur (Alberto Lionello), while "Dream Girl" finds Edwige Fenech being so ravenous that she intrudes on the dreams of her neighbor (Tomas Milian), which he actually complains about. Come on, dude.

Finally, "A Dog's Day" has a man save a woman (Sydne Rome, The Pumaman) from jumping off the ledge outside his apartment. They make a date and that's when he meets her very jealous dog.

Martino's sex comedies basically have the most attractive women ever dealing with men who look like buffoons. But I mean, would I fair any different upon trying to speak to Edwie Fenech or Barbara Bouchet? Also: Look for an appearance by Salvatore Baccaro, who played The Beast In Heat.

There's also a sequel to this, Spogliamoci così, senza pudor, if you enjoy Italian sex comedies. In the same year that Martino made this, he also directed the poliziotteschi movies Gambling City and Silent Action as well as the giallo The Suspicious Death of a Minor. Few directors could hit so many genres with so much success.

OK but not great

[lazarillo · 15 March 2006]

It's a little hard to judge this film given the painfully unfunny dubbing of the English-language version. The people that dubbed these things often didn't seem to take their jobs too seriously and this is especially true of these Italian comedies where they apparently felt they had to "add" to the humor by giving their characters stupid voices. Unfortunately, giving goofy voices to gorgeous foreign actresses like Barbara Bouchet and Edwige Fenech doesn't make the movie any funnier, just a lot less sexy. (Strangely, the one American here, Sydney Rome, doesn't seem to have been dubbed, but it's kind of hard to tell as she talks in a stupid and annoying voice naturally).

Conceptually and visually the humor is a bit stronger. The Tomas Milan character's coke-bottle glasses and hat with a long feather that becomes "erect" when he gets excited are not nearly as funny as the filmmakers seem to think, but the famously bug-eyed comedian Marty Feldman does some fine physical humor in "The Bodyguard" sketch about a bodyguard who takes his job VERY seriously, not leaving the side of his female charge even when she is in the bath or making love.

The movie does seem to heap a lot of humiliation on the most beautiful women in the cast (typical for Italian sex comedies I guess). Barbara Bouchet is tricked into having sex with a randy business partner of her husband in the first sketch (which is pretty clever, at least) and Edwige Fenech plays a society woman who accidentally has sex with the wrong partner, who turns out to be the most overweight and grotesque of the grotesque Italian men on the street corner that leer at her everyday as she walks by in tight skirts. If they absolutely had to humiliate the female cast members, they should have gone with the irritating Sydney Rome rather than class acts like Bouchet and Fenech, but Rome gets off pretty easy playing a sexy woman with a very vicious dog in the final sketch. OK movie, but not great

A terrifically-funny comic anthology.

[Hup234! · 8/10 · 2 February 2000]

This is a fast-moving collection of comedic burlesque in anthology form. All the episodes are tightly and neatly sewed up into a hilarious package, a rare combination of dry wit and slapstick that is reminiscent of the great American film farces of the Thirties. Highly recommended to adults.

Being part Sicilian didn't help me understand this! B+

[fullvolume · 26 November 2001]

Wacky! Boobies and some girlbutt, one full frontal shot. No guyparts.

A set of skits that it helps to understand Italian humor. One scene though, where Marty Feldman is in the pool with his 'version' of a periscope, is HILARIOUS! ;o)

Got a big smile from me!

[The_Void · 8/10 · 26 August 2007]

Well, it's not big and it's not clever - but Sex with a Smile is great fun, and rather funny in places; plus it features performances from five of Italy's hottest ladies, so what's not to like? The stories in the film apparently focus on Italian humour, but to me it seemed pretty universal and I think that even people who don't know anything about Italian humour will find this funny. The film features five separate stories, all involving sex and all ending with a funny and ironic little twist. The stories are all around twenty minutes long, and most of them will raise a smile from the audience. The stories mostly seem to focus on a hot woman bewitching a weak willed man, but when the women in question are Barbara Bouchet, Dayle Haddon, Giovanna Ralli, Edwige Fenech and Sydne Rome - it's not hard to see things from the male point of view! The film is perhaps not quite as sexy as it thinks it is or wants to be, but there's no shortage of hot women lolling around in next to nothing and director Sergio Martino manages a lot of nice visuals, which are sure to keep the audience happy.

The first story is one of the best and features Barbara Bouchet as a respectable woman who decides to take a shady man up on his offer of sex for 20 million lire three times, only to find that he's not exactly playing straight with her! We then move on to Marty Feldman's bodyguard who takes his job of guarding Dayle Haddon's socialite very seriously. The tale features a little too much silly slapstick humour my liking, but it's funny in places and Dayle Haddon is great to look at! The third story is probably the weakest of the five, but nice enough as Alberto Lionello's showfer tries to woo Giovanna Ralli's countess. Edwige Fenech is up next in a tale aptly titled 'Dream Girl', starring alongside Tomas Milian, who really shows his versatility as a geeky guy who dreams about her. Fenech really does look great in this story (almost as hood as she did in Martino's excellent Giovannona Long Thigh) and this is definitely the most erotic of the quintet. The film ends on a high with a story revolving around an overprotective dog, which succeeds in ruining Aldo Maccione's chances with Sydne Rome.

This film may not appeal to everyone - I would say that if you've seen Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and didn't like it, you maybe shouldn't bother - but otherwise, Sex With a Smile is an amusing and fun little sex comedy that gets a big thumbs up from me!

A sad English voice-over of the wonderful Italian sex comedy, 40 gradia all'ombra del lenzuolo

[ocoee96 · 14 October 2012]

Remarkably, this release contains the occasional scene not found on the Italian language version. Watch the Italian version with subtitles downloaded from the web to truly appreciate this film.

Each of the five vignettes offers something to enjoy: (1) Watching Edwige Fenech walk down the street in her trademark skin tight dress is simply marvelous. Someone ought to make a 20 minute loop of that. (2) Giovanna Ralli is the ultimate in sultry Italian beauty - and her relentless abuse of "cheauffeuer" Filippo is delightful. (3) Perky Dayle Haddon was an unexpected treat - especially in the bathtub. But Marty Feldman owns the day in this thigh-slapper. (4) Barbara Bouchet is perhaps the weakest of the group - coming across a bit wooden as the target of an enigmatic man with tons of money. (5) The fresh-faced Sydne Rome plays spacey Marcella to perfection in this cautionary tale of a canine jealousy.