People

By Guy D. Garcia

They are both first-rank film farceurs and leading dramatic actors. But Jack Lemmon, 60, and Marcello Mastroianni, also 60, never worked together until they did Maccheroni, an Italian film due out this fall about an American and an Italian who cross paths in Naples 40 years after meeting during World War II. At first, Lemmon was wary of Naples. But when he took a walk, "someone would recognize me, smile and then start clapping. Soon somebody else would follow suit, and in a little while the whole street or piazza was clapping." What actor could resist? Adds Mastroianni: "In Naples the people will smile at you and whisper, 'Hallo, Marcello, we are getting old; come and have a coffee.' But in Rome, God protect you. They will snigger behind your back, 'Now he is old. Look at those lines.' " In such an atmosphere, the two actors could hardly help becoming friends and daydreaming about a possible second film, in the U.S.