Anna Magnani - Acting Career - The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

In one of her last film roles, The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969), she co-starred with Anthony Quinn, and they played husband and wife in what Life magazine called "perhaps the most memorable fight since Jimmy Cagney smashed Mae Clarke in the face with a half a grapefruit." Magnani and Quinn did feud in private outside view of the cameras, however, and their animosity spilled over into their scenes:

"By the time the movie makers were ready to shoot the fight scene, the stars were ready too. Magnani not only went for Quinn with the pasta and with a rolling pin, but with her foot; she kicked so hard she broke a bone in her right foot. She also bit him in the neck. 'That's not in the script', Quinn protested. Magnani snarled, 'I'm supposed to win this fight, remember?"

She later played herself (within a dramatic context) in Federico Fellini's Roma (1972). Towards the end of her career, Magnani was quoted as having said, "The day has gone when I deluded myself that making movies was art. Movies today are made up of…intellectuals who always make out that they’re teaching something".