1954 feature film
Loosely adapted from the novel "La Madre" by the Nobel Prize winning Sardinian writer Grazia Deledda,
"Proibito" follows the attempts of a solemn young priest to bring peace to two warring
Italian families.
Mel Ferrer plays Don Paolo Solinas, the earnest priest who is assigned to renovate and reopen
a small Sardinian church. He soon becomes embroiled in the local feud
between the Barras and Corraine clans, which he tries to end by arranging to
have the daughter of the Barras family marry a Corraine. But his plan falls apart when Agnese Barras falls in love with him instead. Fearful of his own feelings, the priest tries to withdraw from the conflict, but he's urged to remain in Cagliari, where he successfully brokers a peace through
the Carraine patriarch, played by noted Italian actor Amedeo Nazzari.
"Romeo and Juliet" crossed with "The Hatfields and the McCoys," the film was
an early directing effort by distinguished Italian screenwriter Mario
Monicelli, who was better known for his comedies and was at the time fresh
off a small but significant success directing the young Gina Lollobrigida in
"The Unfaithfuls". He would later win numerous Italian awards for his
writing as well as awards at The Cannes Film Festival and two Oscar
nominations in the 1970s. Agnes Barras was played by celebrated Italian
actress Lea Massari in her very first film role.
Known as "Forbidden" in the United States, the film enjoyed only modest
success and is almost impossible to find these days - rarely broadcast
and never released on video. It was an unusual choice of roles for
Mel Ferrer at this point in his career - particularly after the success
of "Lili" - and he almost assuredly took the part to be near Audrey
Hepburn, who was recuperating in Switzerland at the time and would soon
become his wife during a weekend break from shooting the movie. Although
the film certainly has merit, Ferrer
had refused several Hollywood offers during this period of time, ones
that probably would have better promoted his own career.
The movie has additional significance as Ferrer's first European film,
as he would over the ensuing years become better known as an actor in France,
Germany and Italy than in the United States. Since Hepburn always
preferred living in Europe, Ferrer's choices and focus changed abruptly
at this time. It's also a small indication of Ferrer's uncanny ability
to align himself with talented professionals whose names would become
more famous in the future.
