The White Sheik (Lo Sceicco Bianco), Fellini's first solo flight as director, is a gentle lampoon of the idolatry heaped upon movie stars. An impressionable young bride, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) accompanies her husband Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) on a dull honeymoon, full of meetings with family members and the papal father. Bovo fantasizes over matinee idol Fernando Rivoli, AKA The White Sheik (Alberto Sordi), the hero of a photo strip comic. She repeatedly drifts away from her husband and back, in
periodic attempts to find The Sheik, ultimately repairing to the location site where Sordi's latest film, The White Shiek, is in production. Her inevitable disillusionment with the vainglorious Sordi is intercut with her husband's comic (and desperate) attempts to explain his wife's absences at family gatherings to his disgruntled relatives. After a comically inept suicide attempt, Bovo and Trieste are reunited. Featured in the cast is Fellini's wife Giuletta Masina as a prostitute named Cabiria, who'd be given a vehicle of her own, Nights of Cabiria, in 1955. Based on "an idea" by Michelangelo Antonioni, The White Sheik was the main inspiration for Gene Wilder's The World's Greatest Lover (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Fellini's solo directing debut, a charming fable about a newlywed couple, shows themes and characters that will reappear in his future work, not to mention the significance of wife actress Masina.
Not one of Fellini's masterworks (and uncharacteristically farcical), but it is a must-see for those interested in the director's oeuvre and an entertaining piece on its own.
Federico Fellini's first film, a charming caper that follows a pair of tormented honeymooners through their slapstick adventures in Rome, has put to rest my ungrounded fear of Fellini.
Probably shouldn't be your first stop into the wonderfully weird world of Fellini, but his fans should absolutely find something to savour in this enjoyable little farce.
The White Sheik is definitely Fellini's most light-hearted Neo-realistic film and certainly his funniest. It's worth watching for Leopoldo Trieste's performance alone, although Brunella Bovo is quite lovely too and is just as strong. Fellini is a director of two halves really but I love his early work just as much as
his later films.
a fun and adventurous little charmer from fellini. a unique story with a perfect running time for quick entertainment, the film struck me as a solid portrayal of emotion as well as a quirky look into the italian psyche in the 1950's. dont expect one of fellini's masterpieces, but the film was a lot of fun.
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