Too Bad She’s Bad – Peccato che sia una Canaglia (Alessandro Blasetti – 1954)

Looking for a classic heart-warming comedy?

Director Alessandro Blasetti is here to take you back to 1954 Rome in a brilliant comedy featuring signature performances by 20-years old Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio De Sica. The film is a fine example of the Italian comedy (commedia all’italiana) genre of the 50’s-60’s known for masterpieces by Mario Monicelli, Pietro Germi and others that self-explored the social and economic changes affecting post-war Italian society.

The chemistry between young Loren and Mastroianni is phenomenal as well as De Sica’s portrayal of Loren’s father and head of a family of thieves. Mastroianni plays a naive taxi driver that means well, but keeps falling for the swindling charms of Loren and her fast-talking.

My favorite scenes are those of Mastroianni driving his taxi chastising himself after realizing he fell for yet another sham by Loren. His range of facial expressions and self-loathing are hilarious.

Beyond the dream-team cast, the film boasts a catchy swing tune that will keep you humming bingo bango bongo… days after watching the film. Interestingly, the song written by Renzo Arbore was originally made in the 40’s as a protest against the fascist colonialism.

Here are the words to help you out with the chorus:

Oh bongo bongo bongo
stare bene solo al Congo
non mi muovo no no
bingo bango bengo
molte scuse ma non vengo
io rimango qui
no bono scarpe strette saponette
treni e tassi’
ma con questa sveglia al collo
star bene qui

By Shlomi Ron

Visual marketing guy with a penchant for fine Italian cinema.

6 comments

  1. Hi, I’ve come across this blog almost 4 years later, but was wondering if you could tell me where I could find an Italian version of the song. I saw “Too Bad She’s Bad” recently and I’m in love with the way Sophia Loren sings it. I can only find English versions up on the internet. Do you know any good (preferably older) Italian versions I could look for?
    Grazie mille! 😉

  2. This was such a wonderful movie! The 50s Rome was absolutely gorgeous! And talk about a dynamite pair in the making. I could almost see the sparks flying off these two leading actors. And Vittorio De Sica brought the much needed balance with his smooth performance.
    And Hey, thanks for the hint about the search string on the iTunes for the unforgettable song. Wish they had the version as sung by Sophia! I was so looking forward to downloading that. In any event, got a version closest to how it is sung in the movie..
    Yea, started my spring with a Cheshire cat smile indeed 🙂
    Cheers!

    1. Thanks for the clarification Vittorio and for sharing those 2 video clips. Definitely interesting to see how songs are being recycled 🙂

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