Caesar And Claretta (1975)

Fleeing toward the Swiss border as the Allies make their way to Rome, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Robert Hardy) and his mistress (Helen Mirren) are captured and spend their last night together in a small peasant cottage where they ruminate on their lives and their fate as well as their place in history. Based on a short play by Jack Russell (whose title is an amusing play on Shaw's CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA), it's an ambiguous piece as we're never quite sure what Russell's take on Mussolini is. It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to conjure up much sympathy for Il Duce as he prattles on about what a visionary he is and how he's misunderstood. Is Russell showing us the delusions of a notorious despot or is he actually trying to show what a poor tortured soul he was? It doesn't help that Hardy as Mussolini overacts pitifully though, to be fair, the script encourages such ham. The young Mirren looks quite striking as a brunette and the most honest moment in the film amongst Russell's blathering is when Hardy asks Mirren to see her breasts.