May 23, 1964 - Although he greatly appreciates the Oscar he won for “8½,” Italy’s Federico Fellini (right) is not a director to rest on his gold-plated statuette. He has just begun production near Rome of “Juliet of the Spirits,” in which his wife, Giulietta Masina (left), plays the title role. Last week, a spokesman for Rizzoli Films, the producers, cleared up some of the mystery surround “Spirits.”
“It has to do with a middle-aged woman (Masina) who has been betrayed by her husband,” he explained, “and gets solace by talking to the ghosts of people long dead. Another woman tries to convert her to normal life. In the end, in a dream sequence, she discovers that she was too concerned about people because she was too close and too involved with them. “Of course,” he added, “Fellini has been known to change his scripts so that this might not be the final story after all.”
Fellini, the director said in conclusion, also has signed to do a film for Dino De Laurentiis and while there may be no connection, he revealed that Fellini had had discussions with Mae West in Hollywood about appearing in a Fellini vehicle.
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