After her father dies in battle, young Pia of Ptolemy (Ilaria Ochini) agrees to wed his mortal enemy, the Mayor of Sienna, to bring peace to the region but this devil's bargain is like a knife in the heart to the young artist (Jacques Sernas) who loves her...
A brief voice-over narration at the outset would lead us to believe this tale of star-crossed lovers torn apart by warring Italian clans in the Middle Ages was based on a true story but except for the tragic ending (and the substitution of "Mayor" for "Caliph"), it's reely just a redux of all those 1940s Universal sex & sandal opuses starring Maria Montez & Jon Hall. A low-budget swashbuckler with very little derring-do on display (only one sword fight!), PIA is undistinguished at best but the back lot foggy bogs actually help give the tale a slightly surreal feel towards the end as the bodies begin to pile up. Horse-faced Bella Darvi, movie mogul Darryl Zanuck's one-time mistress, plays a treacherous noblewoman who's more scary than sexy in her medieval garb and seeing her eventually gobbled up by quicksand was well worth the price of admission.
A brief voice-over narration at the outset would lead us to believe this tale of star-crossed lovers torn apart by warring Italian clans in the Middle Ages was based on a true story but except for the tragic ending (and the substitution of "Mayor" for "Caliph"), it's reely just a redux of all those 1940s Universal sex & sandal opuses starring Maria Montez & Jon Hall. A low-budget swashbuckler with very little derring-do on display (only one sword fight!), PIA is undistinguished at best but the back lot foggy bogs actually help give the tale a slightly surreal feel towards the end as the bodies begin to pile up. Horse-faced Bella Darvi, movie mogul Darryl Zanuck's one-time mistress, plays a treacherous noblewoman who's more scary than sexy in her medieval garb and seeing her eventually gobbled up by quicksand was well worth the price of admission.