Here Edwige Fenech shot the film that made her one of the most admired women in the world: «The strange vice of Mrs. Wardh», an “Italian-style” thriller by Sergio Martino (1971) from which Quentin Tarantino based his “Kill Bill 2”. «The exteriors of the house where the rich Julie, played by Fenech, lives, were filmed in Viennathe interiors of the Papanice house” recalls Edomondo Papanice, last heir of the building that his grandfather Pasquale commissioned from the star architect Paolo Portoghesi with the engineer Vittorio Gigliotti. Author of the volume «Casa Papanice», Edmondo has long been the protagonist of a battle against what he considers to be wicked interventions by the current owners of the villa on Nomentana, the Jordanian embassy.
A pirated version in Türkiye of the film shot at the Papanice house
Precisely on the occasion of an upcoming presentation of the volume dedicated to the glorious history of the house, Edwige Fenech wrote to the author: «I wish you great success for the presentation of your beautiful book. What beautiful memories.” Fenech, now a producer, played the owner of the house, and it was precisely with that film that the actress’s fame as one of the most beautiful and sensual women in the world was born. As director Sergio Martino recalled in his 2017 autobiography: «Edwige conquered the public and became a sex symbol. Today as then, entire generations of spectators fall in love with her, seeing her take on the role of Mrs. Wardh. The film was also successful abroad and was dubbed into many languages: I’ve even seen some a pirated version made in Türkiye from scratch, with local actors and technicians but practically identical”.
The film set cottage is no longer visible
A lot of good memories, therefore, for Edwige Fenech, who Edmondo describes as a very kind person. Intact in his memory are the circular rooms streaked with colours, and the balconies bordered by organ pipes, which left him enraptured. Federico Fellini and were the backdrop to other films of those years, from «Drama of jealousy (all the details in the news)» with Marcello Mastroianni and Monica Vitti, to the B movie «
