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Heller in Pink Tights
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781415706459
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 141570645X
Label: Paramount
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Manufacturer: Paramount
MPN: D059154D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 07, 2005
Running Time: 100 minutes
Studio: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: 1960
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Editorial Review:
Heller in Pink Tights features a captivating if intriguingly awkward story born of an unusual number of powerful, creative voices behind the camera. The 1960 film's screenplay was co-written by Walter Bernstein (Fail Safe), whose blacklisting following his unfriendly testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee ended the year before with Heller star Sophia Loren's wartime romance, That Kind of Woman. The equally legendary Dudley Nichols (Stagecoach) shared writing credit; Carlo Ponti (Blow-Up), Loren's strong-minded husband, co-produced; and Hollywood Golden Age director George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story) presided over the odd, Louis L'Amour-based Western.
Loren plays Angela Rossini, leading lady in a down-on-its-luck, traveling theatrical company barely held together by founder Tom Healy (a sympathetic but largely miscast Anthony Quinn). Always staying a step ahead of creditors and lawmen, the troupe stops in a Wyoming town where a hired gunman, Mabry (Steve Forrest), "wins" the reckless Angela, who has long had a romance with Healy, in a poker game. Determined to keep her even as he eludes assassins, Mabry attaches himself to the dispirited Healy's company as it rides through dangerous Indian territory. The final act finds all the principals battling their way to a resolution behind the scenes of a play at a theater Angela has built for Tom with money she stole from Mabry. It's all a little clunky, but Cukor ensures a certain vitality in the proceedings, moves comfortably between striking shifts of comedy to intense drama, makes Loren look great, and exposes--to an unexpected degree--a psychological bond between Angela and Mabry. --Tom Keogh
Based on a novel by Louis L'Amour and full of witty exchanges and a striking visual style, the film follows a vaudeville troupe that stays one step ahead of the bill collector as it tours the frontier circa 1880. The central premise finds ringleaders Angela Rossini (Loren) and Tom Healy (Quinn) needing a more flamboyant act than normal in order to entertain the citizens of the wild West.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - AN ENJOYABLE FILM
As you can tell from the other reviews, this is a film loosely, very loosely, based on one of Louis L'Amour's early western novels. I imagine the only enjoyment Louis derived from this film was the money received in exchange for using his book.
The book was published in 1955, and the book's title was Heller With A Gun, not the title of this film. The book languished in paperback from Fawcett Gold Medal mass market books for years before Bantam republished it in 1984, 20 ... Read More
Rating:  - Rather dull, but worth it to see La Loren as a blonde
"Heller in Pink Tights" is not one of Sophia Loren's best (it's kind of boring, actually) or best-known offerings, but it's certainly worth a look, if only to see what she looks like as a blonde. I don't think she quite works as an Old West entertainer, though. If you're looking for late-1800's/early-1900's period pieces starring Sophia, I think "A Breath of Scandal" is a much better bet.
Rating:  - Heller in Pink Tights 1960
Inspired by best-selling Western author Louis L'Amour (1908-1988) , HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS bring's the curtain up on the traveling Healy dramatic company , a barnstorming 1880s theatrical troupe that speeds part of it's time emoting on stage - and most of its time fending off controntational townfolk , irate creditors and suspicious sheriff . Desperate to find a more flamboyant act to keep their audience entertained , the ensemble's leader Angela Rossini (Sophia Loren 1934 - ) and Town Healy (Anthony ... Read More
Rating: - Unusual Cukor/Loren western
An odd western adapted - loosely - from a Louis L'Amour novel (Heller With a Gun,) directed by Academy Award winning director George Cukor (My Fair Lady copped the Oscar in 1964,) who was better known for more sophisticated, urban fare (Cukor directed Katharine Hepburn in nine movies,) HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS doesn't fit into any easy categories. It's the story of a traveling acting troupe in the old west, headed by Tom Healy (Anthony Quinn) and featuring the lovely Angela Rossini (Sophia Loren.)
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Rating: - Loren and Quinn in rousing Western backstage tale
Entertaining western comedy with the ever-lovely Sophia Loren. Anthony Quinn has a great role as Tom Healy, the manager of a touring Western theatrical troupe who is always trying to keep his star actress Angela Rossini (Loren) under control.
Colourful tale based on the novel "Heller with a Gun" by Louis L'Amour, deftly-directed by George Cukor (whose background in theatre served him in good stead in this backstage-flavoured story). As usual, Edith Head comes up trumps with her costumes ... Read More
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