Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, La Dolce Vita, was an instant hit in 1960. After winning the Palme d’Or it was received well by audiences throughout Europe and America. It was a breakthrough film for actor Marcello Mastroianni, an actor who has since become an icon in European film culture, and a man with a painful degree of what cinema has since determined to be charm, style, and sex appeal.

Visually, he’s everything Hollywood could ever want in a leading man, as well as being a phenomenal acting talent. Why then, should he not have found, or even particularly looked for success in the states?