Following in RISO AMARO’S (BITTER RICE) footsteps, the 1948 masterwork directed by Giuseppe De santis and starring a beautiful Silvana Mangano, come 2 Italian “”melodramas”” of the ’50, LA DONNA DEL FIUME (THE RIVER GIRL) and LA RISAIA (RICE GIRL). LA DONNA DEL FIUME was directed in 1954 by Mario Soldati, starring a young and exuberant Sophia Loren. La donna del fiume is Sophia’s first film to get American producers’ attention. It is the film that convinces Stanley Kramer and MGM to sign Sophia in The Pride and the Passion two years later. Splendid Technicolor photography heightens Sophia’s voluptuousness who is billed in the USA as “”Sophia the Sizzler”” and “”the most luscious female on the screen today””. LA RISAIA was directed in 1955 by Raffaello Matarazzo, starring a very young and charming Elsa Marineli, who later became a sophisticated and smart actress in many Italian and American Thrillers.