"Girl With A Suitcase" Is Released

Girl with a suitcase (Italian: La Ragazza con la valigia) is a 1961 Italian romantic drama film by Italian Director Valerio Zurlini starring Claudia Cardinale as a naive nightclub singer who lives on the good will of others.

It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.

When Aida (Claudia Cardinale) is dumped by her lover, she travels alone to the big city. Her former lover's brother Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin) takes her in, protecting her and the two become lovers. The pair have many obstacles their ages (Lorenzo being only 16) and Lorenzo's family, who go to great lengths trying to stop this cross-class affair. Aida begins a relationship with a new man but Lorenzo is unwilling to let go. When they do eventually part Lorenzo leaves Aida with a large sum of money as a farewell gift.

The title character, played by Claudia Cardinale, is a young woman who heads out alone to the big city after being dumped by her lover. She is befriended and protected by her ex-suitor's younger brother Jacques Perrin, who eventually becomes her new romance, despite the difference in ages (Perrin is 16, while Cardinale is...somewhat older). When Cardinale begins a new relationship with a musician, she tries to let Perrin down easily, but the young man is too headstrong for that. When they finally do part, Perrin gives Cardinale a large sum of money as a farewell gift. Despite the fact that Claudia Cardinale subsists off the kindness of strangers in this film, Girl With a Suitcase (originally La Fille de La Valise in France and La Ragazza Con la Valigia in Italy) treats her character with warmth and sympathy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide