Hotel Paradiso (DVD)

Alec Guinness and Gina Lollobrigida lead an international cast in this sparkling Gallic comedy, originally written by French dramatist Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres. The lavish setting is the gilded fin de siecle era known as La Belle Epoque. Guinness plays Benedict Boniface, a Parisian gentleman quite taken with his equally married next-door neighbor, Marcelle Cot (Lollobrigida), who's feeling neglected by her pompous husband (Robert Morley). When Boniface hears of a certain disreputable hotel, it's off to the races -- and they're soon joined by a gaggle of clandestine guests! These include Madame Cot's libidinous upstairs maid, an imbecile valet, gendarmes, giggling schoolgirls, a half-naked diva and a doddering duke, all busily ducking spouses and slamming doors in a setting reminiscent of the works of Toulouse-Lautrec. British director Peter Glenville (Becket) and writer Jean-Claude Carriere adapted Feydeau's farce for this stylish, frothy, funny film.

• comedy
• romance