STROMBOLI

Volcanic is the perfect word to describe the emotional landscape of <![CDATA[<i>]]>Stromboli<![CDATA[</i>]]> (1949), Ingrid Bergman's first film with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. Not only is the film set on an isolated island in the Tyrrhenian Sea with an active volcano but the scandal that arose from the subsequent production sent resounding tremors through the Hollywood community. Bergman fell in love with her director during the filming, left her husband and daughter Pia, and became pregnant, bearing Rossellini a son. The public's outrage, fanned by unforgiving gossip columnists, helped end Bergman's career in Hollywood for many years and greatly tarnished her image as the wholesome Swedish beauty who had won a Best Actress Oscar for <![CDATA[<i>]]>Gaslight<![CDATA[</i>]]> (1944) and achieved screen immortality as Ilsa, opposite Humphrey Bogart's Rick, in <![CDATA[<i>]]>Casablanca<![CDATA[</i>]]> (1942).