Chachi and Zsa Zsa De Stephano were a husband and wife Italian production team in the seventies. They met on the set of the peplum epic SWORDS AND SANDALS (1961), where she was the script girl and he was the sandal wrangler. Over the ensuing years as their love blossomed, their ranks in the film business started to increase with every film. Cumulating in 1974 when the couple formed Radiant Cut Productions.
Radiant Cut started small, with a rural sex comedy called UN'INFERMIERA DELLA GRANDE CITTA PUO CURARE I MALI DI UNA PICCOLA CITTA (1974) aka A NURSE FROM THE BIG CITY CAN CURE ALL SMALL-TOWN ILLS, released in English speaking territories as SWEET LOVE’N NURSEY.
PLOT: In small town in Northern Italy, whose residents have been struggling through a malaise of sorts. No one is having sex. No one is amorous or with nary an impure thought. The situation has gotten so dire that the local stud playboy, Aldo, has lost interest in the opposite sex and has taken up gardening. The town’s mayor calls for an emergency meeting, and they come to the conclusion that the town needs help. Is it something in the water? Is it seasonal? They need answers! Enter Isabella, a nurse from Rome, who is brought in to help the dispassionate constituents. Can Isabella use her years of study and feminine charms to upright the citizens? Adding pep to their step and zip in their beds? Dear reader, do you really have to ask?
The sensuous nurse was played by Letizia Grassi, who had a few small parts prior to be hired as the lead. Grassi went on to star as naive young woman who travels to an exotic location to learn the ways of love in IL SUO SETTIMANA IINDIMENTICABILE A POSITANO (1975) aka HER UNFORGETTABLE WEEK IN POSITANO and a sexual thriller called I GUAI ARRIVARONO SUL TRENO (1976) aka TROUBLE ARRIVED ON THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN.
Director Rico Zello went on to direct LIAISONS PERICOLOSE A CAPRI (1976) aka DANGEROUS LIAISONS IN CAPRI and UNO PER TUTTI E TUTTI PER IL SESSO (1979) aka ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR SEX. He transitioned to pornography on the eighties with ORGASMO UOMO aka ORGASM MAN (1981) and I SEGRETI DEL MIO SUCCESSO SESSUALE (1982) aka THE SECRETS OF MY SEXCESS.
Next up for Radiant Cut, another sexy comedy. IL PASTAIO E LA SUA PICCOLA POLPETTINA PICCANTER (1975) aka THE PASTA MAKER AND HIS LITTLE SPICY MEATBALL.
PLOT: Enzo (Ugo Zanussi), known as the best pasta maker in town, finds his reputation at risk when an alluring female pasta maker (Isabella Bellone) opens a shop right across the street from his own.
Ugo Zanussi appeared in many Italian comedies including AVVENTURE EROTICHE DEI TRE SESSUATORI aka EROTIC ADVENTURES OF THE THREE SEXATEERS (1972), IL MONSIGNER E CON L'OCCHIO ERRANTE aka THE MONSIGNOR WITH THE WANDERING EYE (1973) and COSI GIOVANE, COSI ADORABILE, COSI FACILE aka SO YOUNG, SO LOVELY SO EASY (1975).
Isabella Bellone considered herself a serious actress stuck in sexy comedies. The most serious being DONNE DIPENDENTI DALL'AMORE E GLI UOMINI CHE DESIDERANO aka FEMALE LOVE ADDICTS AND THE MEN THEY CRAVE (1976).
Director Bruno Mancini made a creepy horror movie called LA CASA DOVE VIVONO SOLO I MORTI (1978) aka THE HOUSE WHERE ONLY THE DEAD LIVE. He also directed a creepy sex comedy called L'INSEGNANTE VIENE DATA UNA LEZIONE (1979) aka THE FEMALE SCHOOLTEACHER GETS TAUGHT A LESSON BY THE GLEE CLUB.
Encouraged by the results, Radiant Cut purchased a first-class seat on the ever-popular sexy stewardess genre. LE RAGAZZE CHE FANNO VOLARE L'AEREO aka THE GIRLS WHO MAKE THE AIRPLANE FLY aka SUPER STEW aka A FISTFULL OF STEWARDESSES (rumored, but unconfirmed).
PLOT: Sandy Surprise is most definitely a super stewardess. She is never without a welcoming smile to passengers. She is always at the ready with snack, pillow or earphones. Sandy is not above dating passengers, but she draws a solid unbreakable line with all airline personal, which drives the cockpit crew green with envy, as they all foam at the mouth for her. Sandy is also accomplished in the martial arts, shooting (guns, archery, barbs) and cunnilingus. The first three are used to defend herself and the latter is just for fun. Though sometimes the first three morph into the latter. On a red eye flight Sandy hooks up with a handsome and seemingly pleasant businessman for some fun in Rome but instead finds herself in the middle of some good old fashioned international intrigue when the businessman’s business turns out to be bad business. Always lighthearted in tone, SUPER STEW brings bountiful nudity from its star, along with some high kicking, hard punching, albeit clumsy action sequences.
Radiant Cut's final release would be the fun diamond smuggling crime adventure, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS. A Turkish co-production that had a healthy budget and great production values. Filmed in Turkish locations along the Bosporus, Cairo, around the Great Pyramids. DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS turned out to be a worldwide hit, even making the top five films in the United States in its initial release week. . . It did fall off the charts by the next week.
The three leads all credited under pseudonyms; Marcello Del Gatto under John Smith, Gian Carlo Lombardo as Michael Jones and Rosina Volpe as Brenda Day Hill.
Marcello Del Gatto was a mainstay on the Italian stage and garages, as he worked as a mechanic to make ends meet.
Gian Carlo Lombardo appeared in minor roles in Poliziotteschi films like L'ISPETTORE ROSSI AFFRONTA LA MAFIA (1974), aka INSPECTOR ROSSI TACKLES THE MAFIA, IN FUGA DAL PADRINO (1977), aka ON THE RUN FROM THE GODFATHER, and in the comedic spaghetti western TRINITY NON È MAI STATO IL MIO NOME (1970), aka TRINITY WAS NEVER MY NAME.
For Rosina Volpe,
this would be her only starring role.
Volpe was mainly used as an adornment for proceedings, tons of non-speaking roles, playing hookers
and mafioso's girlfriends was her specialty.
But the De Stephanos saw something more in her and thus offered a
starring role for this film.
Directed by Renato Casini under his Humphrey Hinkleberry alias. The action is plentiful, lively and varied. Roof top chases, car chases, boat chases, helicopter chases . . . you name a type of pursuit, and it can be found in DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS. There is a plot that rears it’s out from time to time but doesn’t interfere with the chase scenes.
Chachi and Zsa Zsa De Stephano were
interviewed in the April/May 1979 issue of Continental Crap Film Revue.
Can you tell me about the origins of
Radiant Cut’s biggest production, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS?
Chachi: That was all Zsa Zsa. There were a lot of movies at the time about diamond smuggling. The James Bond Film, Diamonds are Forever, being the most popular. . . So, what to do? Zsa Zsa came up with the idea of the “super diamond” . . . a pure diamond as big as a couch. . . Or a love seat.
ZSA ZSA: I just adore diamonds, darling. Diamonds and furs are my two favorite
things. I always dreamed have having the
world’s largest diamond.
Chachi De Stephano: I took that idea, conveyed to our
screenwriter Benito De Luca and he came up with everything else.
The movie turned out to be a worldwide hit. Did this surprise you?
Chachi De Stephano: Not at all.
One always has hopes and dreams of great success. We knew that the movie was good.
What was the super diamond made out
of?
Chachi De Stephano: Glass.
Does it still exist?
Chachi De Stephano: No.
It is long gone.
The De Stephanos dabbled in numerous ventures during this period, including launching a line of men’s cologne and women’s perfume under the brand name “DeScentphano.” The fragrances were praised for their distinctive scent, rumored to spark strong attraction from the opposite sex—and occasionally a stray barnyard animal. They divorced in 1988. Zsa Zsa passed away in 1996 after choking on one of the diamonds that she liked to sprinkle over her cereal. Chachi went on to become a restaurateur.
