R.I.P. Carlo Ponti (1912-2007)

As a prolific producer of international productions, Carlo Ponti's 150-odd credits range from the raw edginess of Italian Neorealism and French New Wave (Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7) to the Pop Art kineticism of the Swinging Sixties (Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up, Elio Petri's The 10th Victim) to the sprawling excess of epic cinema and disaster dramas (David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, George P. Cosmatos' The Cassandra Crossing). Not incidentally, he also was known and widely envied as the husband of Sophia Loren.