Decameron Nights (1953)

★ 4.4 2h 9m IMDb

Italian poet Boccaccio (Louis Jourdan) hides in the court of Fiammetta (Joan Fontaine) and tells three tales of love and lust.

Decameron Nights

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Cast

Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine as Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella Died 2013 · Tokyo, Japan Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films...
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan as Giovanni Boccaccio / Paganino / Guilio / Don Bertando Died 2015 · Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcoc...
Binnie Barnes
Binnie Barnes as Comtesse di Firenze / Nerina / Old Witch Died 1998 · Islington, London, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Gittel Enoyce "Binnie" Barnes (25 May 1903 – 27 July 1998), later known as Gertrude Maude Barnes, was an English actress. She was born in Islington to a Jewish...
Carlos Villarías
Carlos Villarías Died 1976 · Córdoba, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain Carlos Villarías (7 July 1892 – 27 April 1976) was a Spanish actor who was born in Córdoba, Spain and died in California, USA. His most famous role is in the title role of the Spanish language version...
Carlos Díaz de Mendoza
Carlos Díaz de Mendoza Died 1960 · Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Joan Collins
Joan Collins as Pampinea / Maria Age 92 · Paddington, London, England, UK Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 5/10 Jun 22, 2022
Based on the hugely imaginative work of Giovanni Boccaccio, this is a rather lacklustre effort with Louis Jourdan taking the role of the acclaimed storyteller who is seeking shelter from the pursing troops of the invading Duke of Lorenzo. He has also learned of the location of his love "Fiametta" (Joan Fontaine) but upon arrival at the villa in which she, and four others (including a terribly wooden Joan Collins as "Pampinea") are hiding, he is only permitted to stay with them on the condition that he tells them a story each evening and that he doesn't try to seduce anyone. He agrees, but clearly plans to use his tales to arouse her ardour nonetheless. His stories challenge the strength of her morals, to varying extents: always a young woman married to much older man (always Godfrey Tearle) but the third story comes from the woman herself, and it offers an interestingly juxtaposed position to those presented in his, more opportune, depictions. The stories themselves challenge stereotypes of romance; the place of a woman in the home; the nature of love and honour and loyalty but the film itself falls well short. Fontaine is remarkably sterile and Jourdan, despite his mellifluous tones, lacks charisma. It takes for ever to get going and when we do, it all struggles to animate itself. Much like with Shakespeare, so much of the nuance of the narrative - the descriptive language that is subtle, funny and potent struggles to translate onto a screen at the best of times - and this isn't one of those. His works deserved a much more sensitive and competent adaptation for the screenplay. What we are left with here is just a confused romantic adventure with some seriously undercooked characters across the board. It runs beyond two hours, so there is no real excuse for this short-selling. Pity.

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