Italian actress Alida Valli has died at 84. Notable films include the noir classic The Third Man, Hitchcock's The Paradine Case, and the 1942 Italian film of Wethe Living, which is beautifully filmed and quite moving, and a more successful screen adaptation of an Ayn Rand novel than the American film of The Fountainhead. True story: I had never read any Rand, but when the restored version of this film was released, my curiosity was piqued, and I went to see it, and was amazed. It was seeing this Italian film, and Valli's performance as Kira, that prompted me to read Rand, whose novels I continue to regard as woefully underrated. Anyway, ciao Alida, RIP.

UPDATE: On rereading the NYT obit, I couldn't help but notice that they describe We the Living as"an anti-communist film." It is, of course, but it's anti-fascist as well."Anti-totalitarian" or"anti-collectivist" would be more complete descriptions, and, given the historical use of the expression"anti-communist" in America, less misleading. Just a thought.

UPDATE 2: David Boaz has more here.