Tea with Mussolini (1999)

March 25, 1999 (GB) • Comedy, Drama, War • 117m

Overview

In 1930s fascist Italy, adolescent Luca just lost his mother. His father, a callous businessman, sends him to be taken care of by British expatriate Mary Wallace. Mary and her cultured friends - including artist Arabella, young widow Elsa, and archaeologist Georgie - keep a watchful eye over the boy. But the women's cultivated lives take a dramatic turn when Allied forces declare war on Mussolini.

Director

Franco Zeffirelli

Writers

John Mortimer, Franco Zeffirelli

Top Billed

Maggie Smith

Keywords

hotel ambassador loss of loved one italy widow world war ii female friendship benito mussolini florence, italy expatriate 1940s 1930s

Where to watch

Rent

Amazon Video

Buy

Amazon Video

Top Billed Cast

Maggie Smith

Lady Hester Random

Judi Dench

Arabella

Joan Plowright

Mary Wallace

Cher

Elsa Strauss-Almerson

Lily Tomlin

Georgina "Georgie" Rockwell

Baird Wallace

Luca

Charlie Lucas

Luca (Child)

Michael Williams

British Consul

Paul Chequer

Wilfred Random, aka Miss Lucy

Massimo Ghini

Paolo

Paolo Seganti

Vittorio Fanfanni

Tessa Pritchard

Connie Raynor

Claudio Spadaro

Benito Mussolini

Roberto Farnesi

Maurizio

Chris Larkin

Major Gibson

Giacomo Gonnella

First Carabiniere

Allan Caister Pearce

American Dealer

Hermann Weiskopf

German Officer

Pino Colizzi

Grandi

Crew

Alessio Vlad

Music

Stefano Arnaldi

Music

John Mortimer

Screenplay

Tariq Anwar

Editor

Marco Chimenz

Producer

Franco Zeffirelli

Novel

Clive Parsons

Producer

David Watkin

Director of Photography

Franco Zeffirelli

Director

Carlo Centolavigna

Art Direction

Marco Allegri

Set Decoration

Biagio Fersini

Art Direction

Jenny Beavan

Costume Design

Alberto Spiazzi

Costume Design

Anna Anni

Costume Design

Fiorella Mariani

Art Direction

Leonard Engelman

Makeup Artist

John Bateman

ADR Mixer

Franco Corridoni

Key Makeup Artist

Richard Fettes

Foley Editor

Dean Humphreys

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Maria Teresa Corridoni

Hairstylist

Vivian McAteer

Hairstylist

Colin Ritchie

ADR Editor

Frederick Muller

Producer

Giovannella Zannoni

Producer

Craig Irving

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Victoria Wood

Wigmaker

Gerry Humphreys

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Mirta Guarnaschelli

Casting

Emma Style

Casting

Riccardo Tozzi

Producer

Zoe Tahir

Hairstylist

Reviews

CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

December 20, 2025

The “Scorpioni” are a bunch of entitled and privileged British women who live in Florence in the 1930s under the leadership of “Lady Hester” (Dame Maggie Smith). She is the widow of the former British Ambassador and is not entirely unsympathetic to the aspirations of “Il Duce”. Occasionally, they have to tolerate the interloping presence of the brash and wealthy American actress “Elsa” (Cher) but even with the aggressive rise of the fascists, that appears to be the only inconvenience in their rarified world. One of their number, “Mary” (Joan Plowright) is a kindly soul, and has taken the recently orphaned young “Luca” (Charlie Lucas) under her wing - and that provides a link, of sorts, between herself and the American who also cares deeply for the young lad and who wants to make some providion for his future. When the civil disorder starts to interrupt the sanctity of afternoon tea, “Lady Hester” is outraged and seeks an audience with Mussolini and whilst there she promised that he will personally guarantee her safety. Doubtless, as soon as she left his palace he had forgotten all about her, but armed with a photo of the two together she assumes he is as good as his word. When war breaks out between Italy and Britain, the ladies are dragooned into a dormitory and thence to an hotel, and she still believes she is being looked after. We, on the other hand, soon learn just who their guardian angel actually is, and when the US enters the war, even “Elsa” finds herself on a sticky wicket. “Luca” (now Baird Wallace) has got himself involved with the resistance and so is trying to help the ladies when he can, but after “Elsa” makes quite an important error of judgement just about everyone is in peril from the Gestapo. The story is a little strung out, but it’s beautiful settings in Florence and Siena and that lovely sunshine on the stonework gives the film a gorgeous richness to it’s look. The ensemble cast are a formidable array of talents, and although only really sparingly used it’s worth noting Dame Judi Dench’s effort as the somewhat windswept artist “Arabella” and the frequently scene-stealing Lily Tomlin as the no-nonsense “Georgie” - quite possibly the only woman with her head screwed on properly amongst the lot of them. The story has something of the end of empire to it, epitomised by a distinct change in attitudes towards English as opposed to German at school, and the writing does contain some humour as we follow the antics of these ladies who, I have to say, never really had much of a clue as to the goings-on in the real world anyway. It spans pretty much an whole decade and is prone to quite considerable leaps in time, but that actually serves quite well to showcase some of the starkness of the changes in their attitudes and behaviour as the war raged on. Might it be autobiographical from Zeffirelli? Well it has a haphazard authenticity to it that could suggest some of these characters might have been real, or almost real, and the amiability of it all makes it worth a watch - just to see these pros both in front and behind the camera in action.

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$12,000,000

Revenue

$21,001,563

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Tea with Mussolini (1999)

John Mortimer, Franco Zeffirelli

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

CinemaSerf

Recommended Movies

Crocodile Dundee

Jefferson in Paris

Hokum

The Shining

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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