Trivia / Senso

• Focus Group Ending: Luchino Visconti originally wanted to end the film on a more ambiguous note, with the deranged Livia running off into the night while crying out Franz’s name, but the studio forced him to add the final scene (which was was present in Camillo Boito’s original novella) in the hopes of redressing the moral balance of the film.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Alida Valli, who plays the anti-Austrian Italian countess, was actually descended from Austrian nobility and held the title Baroness von Marckenstein-Frauenberg.
• What Could Have Been: Visconti had hoped to cast Ingrid Bergman and Marlon Brando in the lead roles. However, Bergman was then married to Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who would not allow her to work for other directors, and Brando was rejected by the producers, who considered Farley Granger a bigger star at the time.

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