Spoilers ahead.
A warm, brilliantly realized melodrama reuniting three stars of 1949's Bitter Rice, Anna was wildly successful, becoming the first italian film to earn a billion lira, and topping the box office for the 1951-1952 season. Even today it remains beloved, holding a spot in the top 50 of the most-viewed Italian films of all time.
And it's immediately apparent why the film was so successful. In addition to featuring the considerable charms of Silvana Mangano (who also happened to be the new wife of producer Dino De Laurentiis (OMG SHE'S GIADA'S GRANDMOTHER YOU GUYS)) in the title role, Raf Vallone (as the noble, humorless Andrea), and Vittorio Gassman (playing his usual alluring dirtbag, here cleverly named Vittorio), it's…