Adua e le compagne: The catch up
The bar where Adua, Milly, Marilina, Lolita, and Fosca la Bionda (Valeria Fabrizi), the day after the closing of the "houses", meet, is the Dal Bolognese restaurant (and not at the nearby Caffè Rosati) in the square del Popolo in Rome, already seen in many other films.
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PLOT:
19 September 1958: at midnight, the Merlin law is passed, and the brothels close forever. The last customers leave and the young ladies organise their own departure. Adua, with Lolita, Marilina, and Caterina decides to open a trattoria on the outskirts of Rome. With 'rooms' upstairs. To obtain a license, they ask for help from a blameless Commendatore who actually wants to become their patron. Between melodrama and denunciation, this is a tough and sympathetic film, supported by four perfect performers, sunny or nocturnal, disenchanted or ditzy, by a screenplay that does not make allowances for men (the villain Claudio Gora, the cowardly Mastroianni), by a lucid photography that gives us a finale of great visual power. On the other hand, Antonio Pietrangeli was an author who knew women well.