The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
1965 film by Delmer Daves
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita is a 1965 British drama film, based on the 1963 novel by Rumer Godden, directed by Delmer Daves. It stars Maureen O'Hara and Rossano Brazzi.
This was the last film for Delmer Daves who, two years earlier, wrote, produced and directed another film in which Maureen O'Hara played the female lead, Spencer's Mountain. This is the first film for Argentina-born English actress Olivia Hussey who, three years later, played Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.
Synopsis
In Italy, two children, Michael (Martin Stephens) and Debbie (Elizabeth Dear), learn that their mother, Moira (Maureen O'Hara) has left them for a lover, Lorenzo (Rossano Brazzi) who is a famous Italian composer. Michael convinces his sister to run away with him to the Villa Fiorita, where the couple are staying, to fetch their mother; he forces Debbie to sell her prized pony to afford the journey.
When Michael and Debbie arrive, Lorenzo calls their father to tell him the children are there and that he will send them home. However, Michael falls ill and Lorenzo allows them both to stay. Debbie joins forces with Lorenzo's daughter Donna to manipulate Moira into returning to Britain. A hunger strike by the girls ensues, but fails and ends in Moira slapping Debbie and Lorenzo spanking Donna.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3206509. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965 and 1963.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Battle of the Villa Fiorita” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.