The White Sheik

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The White Sheik ★★★ Lo Sceicco Bianco 1952

Fellini's first solo effort. A newly wed bride meets her idol from the comic pages (made with photos, not cartoons; called fumetti) and runs off with him. She soon finds he's as ordinary as her husband. Brilliant satire in charming garb. Remade as “The World's Greatest Lover.” Woody Allen's “The Purple Rose of Cairo” is in a similar spirit. In Italian with subtitles. 86m/B VHS, DVD . IT Alberto Sordi, Giulietta Masina, Brunella Bovo, Leopoldo Trieste; D: Federico Fellini; W: Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano; C: Arturo Galea; M: Nino Rota.