Oh! Que mambo. 1959. France/Italy. Directed by John Berry. Screenplay by René Masson, Jean Aurel, Dino Verde. With Magali Noël, Darío Moreno, Jean Poiret. In French; English subtitles. 82 min.
In 1951, months after the release of his breakthrough collaboration with John Garfield, He Ran All the Way, John Berry was fingered as a Communist by Hollywood Ten director Edward Dmytryk and entered a decade-long exile in Europe. This rarely screened French-Italian screwball comedy, set in the French Riviera, stars Alberto Sordi as an Italian fitness instructor on the make, the Turkish pop singer Dario Moreno as a hapless naïve who finds sudden notoriety, and sexy Magali Noël—soon to become a star of Fellini films—as his wayward wife. Look for Charles Aznavour in a funny cabaret cameo.