{"id":34161,"date":"2026-08-28T01:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T08:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=34161"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:14:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T08:14:52","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-magnificent-cuckold-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=34161","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE MAGNIFICENT CUCKOLD (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is\navailable for purchase on September 1st<\/sup>, 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019ve read this column, then you\u2019ll know that, for a few years now, Radiance Films has been restoring and releasing incredible international films (and a few domestic ones too) that aren\u2019t necessarily well-known in the western world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously enough, this week sees the arrival of a hugely successful Italian comedy that faded a bit from the cultural consciousness a decade or so after it left cinemas. However, critics and historians have been rediscovering and singing the praises of the movie over the past decade. They want viewers to know that it isn\u2019t just darkly funny, but far ahead of its time in terms of dealing with and criticizing the culture of the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, it is an impressive film. While shot in black-and-white, The Magnificent Cuckold<\/em> initially feels like a lavish Hollywood rom-com with some big-name performers following the story of a jealous husband, before it subtly and convincingly turns into something decidedly darker and sharper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lavish home and hotel sets make an impression, as does the costuming on the characters (particularly the female leads) and there are some genuinely funny bits before the movie\u2019s lead goes to a darker, more unhinged place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrea Artusi (Ugo Tognazzi) is a middle-aged, rich and\npowerful, recently-married head of a hat- producing film. His sweet, young and\nbeautiful new spouse Maria Grazie (Claudia Cardinale, whom North American\naudiences will recognize from Once Upon a Time in the West<\/em>) has an eye\nfor interior design and working on building them a lavish villa on the\noutskirts of town. Despite Andrea\u2019s wealth, status, and incredible partner,\nsomething is nagging at Andrea. At some very stiff, upper-class parties, it\nbecomes clear among many male elites that rumor and gossip is popular, and some\nwithin the group claim to be embarking on affairs with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrea initially blows it off, until he becomes enamored\nwith the wife of a partner, Cristiana (Mich\u00e8le Girardon). They begin an affair,\nwith the lead noting that he can\u2019t believe he\u2019s cheating on Maria. Cristiana\nmakes a passing comment that, when things seem fine, it\u2019s the best time to\nembark on extramarital activities. Andrea suddenly becomes convinced that Maria\nmust be cheating on him as well. He comically goes through her things, follows\nher, has her followed and invents imaginary, increasingly elaborate scenarios\nof whom she might be sleeping with, and how she is getting away with it. As his\nintensity builds, Andrea\u2019s behavior becomes paranoid, frightening and more\nerratic to Maria, in a manner that almost seems to be pushing her to cheat on\nhim for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an amusing concept and the film does an excellent job of showing just how hypocritical, absurd and irrational Andrea\u2019s behavior is. Initially, it does appear to be guilt causing some of his actions, but things get progressively worse as his imagination takes control and he rationalizes his behavior. There is a comment from another within his group that I\u2019m paraphrasing here, suggesting that, \u201cYou can\u2019t ever prove your wife is innocent, but it is possible to prove her guilt,\u201d leading to more and more extreme actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The true darkness in the story builds slowly and along the\nway there are a few amusing antics. One bit involves Andrea visiting a hotel\nwhere he believes Maria may be meeting a lover. After seeing a woman in\nlingerie and presumably imagining the floor is full of illicit affairs, he\nfollows the figure and ends up interrupting a lingerie show (which his wife is\nattending). Even some bits later on are amusing, as Andrea fires a young worker\nwhom he fears might attempt to seduce Maria, only to hire a gruff, less-than-handsome\nelderly man who then starts catcalling women around the property. Just before\nhis complete break from, the lead decides to fake an international business\ntrip. He pulls off the road outside his home, takes a blanket, a thermos,\nbinoculars, and smokes, planting himself behind a wall outside the home. Maria\nand all the staff look on in frustration, watching as puffs of smoke appear\nfrom behind the wall.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It all does become serious as Andrea soon becomes completely\nunhinged, threatening and pushing her to change how she views her husband and\nherself. In the end, Andrea backs off and gives up his pursuit, but the damage\nto their relationship is already done and Maria has also changed. Not to give\naway the finale, but it paints a sad picture of life among the upper-class,\nwith all the characters detached and living separate lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This release presents a 4K image restoration from the\noriginal sound and camera negatives. It looks fantastic. As mentioned, there\u2019s\nsome incredible detail on display, from faces and costumes to locations. It may\nsound silly, but my eyes were checking out details during a party scene in the\nfinished villa. The dream sequences are intentionally fuzzy, and one shot\nfeatures a hair in the gate at the top of the frame for 30 seconds), but that\u2019s\nliterally a result of a camera operator not checking the lens during\nproduction. The movie looks beautiful, exactly as it was shot more than 60\nyears ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extras on the disc are also enlightening. There is a\ncolor sequence from a 1971 reissue of the movie. During the lead character\u2019s\ndreams, the image is tinted here and there with a yellow, green, blue or red.\nIt\u2019s an interesting effect and is fun to see here, but doesn\u2019t really add\nanything to the presentation and is better as an extra than in the actual\npicture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a visual essay on the picture from critic Remi\nFournier Lanzoni, who clarifies what was going on in Italy at the time and the\nideas that the movie was playing with. The early 1960s were a period of\neconomic boom and growth for the country, with industry on the rise (as well as\nthe emergence of more extravagant spending, particularly among the rich and\npowerful, including upper-class businessmen). He explains that the film does\nappear to be stating the fact that, despite all the money and influence in the\nworld, the lives of many of these people are still complicated, unsatisfying\nand even empty. It\u2019s an interesting track that does add a thematic layer to the\nproceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for a 42-minute interview with Italian film\nexpert Richard Dyer. He details the movie\u2019s history and that it was based on a\nplay (which explains why the movie adaptation is literally split into two acts).\nThe speaker also continues with the previously stated themes, suggesting that Andrea\u2019s\nstatus and appearances are a hugely important factor in the lives of these\npeople. Andrea\u2019s self-induced paranoia and increasing rage, as well as revenge fantasies,\nis just about how he might be viewed by others as much as it is about his own\njealousy. He talks about specific examples in the movie, as well as Maria\u2019s\ncharacter and how it transforms over the course of the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are further themes addressed as well, and the\ndiscussion puts them all clearly into focus. Dyer also sings the praises of\ndirector Antonio Pietrangeli, believing that his work is incredibly dense and\nunderrated, with a lot of ideas and influences that many may have missed the\nfirst time around. He shows the filmmaker\u2019s influences, including neorealism,\nand how the director deftly mixes elements of both exaggerated fantasy and\nrealism in his movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Magnificent Cuckold<\/em> is an exceptional movie that\nmade a splash for a reason back in 1964. But it also holds up incredibly well\nin today\u2019s age, still dealing with relatable themes and offering a social\ncritique in the process. The picture looks excellent and the extras included\nwill help those unfamiliar with what was going on in Italy at the time even\nmore appreciative of the feature. This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is another\ngreat surprise and one that is well-worth picking up.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is available for purchase on September 1st, 2026. If you\u2019ve read this column, then you\u2019ll know that, for a few years now, Radiance Films has been restoring and releasing incredible international films (and a few domestic ones too) that aren\u2019t necessarily well-known in the western world. Curiously enough, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":34175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[94,799,2923,2928,4495,5213,6251,9803,10042,16584,18632,21482,21483,21484,23467],"class_list":["post-34161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-94","tag-affair","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-claudia-cardinale","tag-dark-comedy","tag-drama","tag-infidelity","tag-italy","tag-radiance-films","tag-social-satire","tag-the-magnificent-cuckold","tag-the-magnificent-cuckold-blu-ray-review","tag-the-magnificent-cuckold-review","tag-ugo-tognazzi"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}