YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

The award-winning actress and international sex symbol tells her life story, from her childhood in Naples, Italy, to her rise to the top of the Hollywood A-list.

In this occasionally revealing memoir, Loren (Sophia Loren's Recipes and Memories, 1998, etc.) opens her "treasure trove of memories.” She is amusing and engaging when discussing her teenage ambition to be a star. She participated in beauty pageants (in one, she earned a "Miss Eleganza" sash) and became a popular model in Italian "photo-romance" novels before beginning her career as a movie actress. However, when she chronicles her relationship with Italian film producer Carlo Ponti—who brought her to the United States and helped make her an international star—Loren’s directness evaporates and the narrative falters. She describes Ponti as "a determined businessman" and an “authoritative gentleman,” but she gives only glancing acknowledgement of his wife and two small children—not to mention the fact that he was 39 and she was only 17 when their affair began. (To modern ears, the charges Ponti's family later brought against the couple for "bigamy and concubinage" will seem archaic.) Along with her blithe dismissal of inconvenient facts, Loren repeatedly describes herself as a shy woman of high moral character; as proof, she haughtily reveals the story behind the infamous photo of her staring at Jayne Mansfield's deep neckline at a Hollywood party in 1957—Loren claims she was scandalized and "terrified" because "one of her breasts [was] in my plate.” Throughout, Loren earnestly tells her many stories in the sentimental and often amused voice of "Nonna Sofia,” though without much scrutiny or a sharp wit. A short appendix lists each of the author’s acting roles by year.

A nostalgic recollection of the great beauty's movies and memories.