Vittorio de Sica, Isabelle Corey & June Laverick
Isabelle Corey was born in Metz, France in 1939. She was discovered by directorJean-Pierre Melville, walking the streets of Montmartre. Her film debut was his film noir Bob le flambeur/Bob the Gambler (1956, Jean-Pierre Melville) starringRoger Duchesne as an old gangster and Corey played his young femme fatale, Anne. When Anne is down on her luck Bob takes her under his wing, hoping to steer her away from a life of prostitution. But Anne begins a love affair with Paulo (Daniel Cauchy), one of Bob’s young associates. Alice Liddel at IMDb writes: “Isabelle Corey is unprecedented among all film heroines, her amoral, seemingly indifferent sexuality far more suggestive and powerful than her contemporary, Bardot’s”. That same year Corey appeared opposite Brigitte Bardot
in the hit Et Dieu… créa la femme/And God created Woman (1956, Roger Vadim), which made a superstar of BB. James Travers writes at Films de France: “Vadim was so impressed with his work that he remade the film in the late 1980’s, but, lacking the presence of Bardot, the result was scarcely a patch on the original. The original Et Dieu… créa la femme succeeded, despite the shallowness of its subject matter, because it happened at just the right time. Its impact on French cinema can only be guessed at, but it was probably very considerable indeed”.
The following years Isabelle Corey played in several French-Italian coproductions, filmed in Italy. Among them were the romantic comediesVacanze a Ischia/Holiday Island (1957, Mario Camerini) with Vittorio de Sica,Souvenir d’Italie/It Happened in Rome (1957, Antonio Pietrangeli), and Adorabili e bugiarde/Adorable and a Liar (1958, Nunzio Malasomma). More interesting were the comedies Giovani mariti/Young Husbands (1958, Mauro Bolognini) based on a screenplay by Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Amore a prima vista/Love at First Sight(1958, Franco Rossi) with Walter Chiari. Three years later, she reunited with director Mauro Bolognini for La Giornata balorda/A Crazy day (1961, Mauro Bolognini) which featured Jean Sorel
and Lea Massari. Again the script was written by Pier Paolo Pasolini, before he became a director himself. It is a black-and-white film about the lower class of Rome, based on a novel by Alberto Moravia. Corey then worked with the future horror master Mario Bava at the peplum spectacle L’Ultimo dei Vikinghi/Last of the Vikings (1961, Giacomo Gentilomo, Mario Bava) starring Cameron Michell in the good-guy role and Edmund Purdom as the mincing, giggling villain. That year she also worked with maestro Roberto Rossellini on the costume dramaVanina Vanini/The Betrayer (1961, Roberto Rossellini) starring Sandra Milo andLaurent Terzieff. This is her last film according to IMDb. Rovi also lists the Italian/Spanish peplum Il Gladiatore Invincibile/Invincible Gladiators (1963, Alberto de Martino, Robert Mauri) with Richard Harrison. After only 16 films Isabelle Corey’s film career was over.
Trailer for Bob le flambeur/Bob the Gambler (1956). Source: CynicalC1 (YouTube).
Sources: James Travers
(Films de France), Rovi, Wikipedia
and IMDb.
The above entry can be accessed online here.
