Light in the Piazza (film) Light in the Piazza (film) Light in the Piazza is a 1962 American romantic drama film directed by Guy Green and starring Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux, George Hamilton, and Barry Sullivan. Based on the 1960 novel "The Light in the Piazza" by Elizabeth Spencer, the film is about a beautiful but mentally disabled young American woman traveling in Italy with her mother and the Italian man they meet during one leg of their trip. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, "Light in the Piazza" is notable for its extensive location shooting in 1960s Florence and Rome by the award-winning cinematographer
Willie Piazza their abilities to sing and play musical instruments; jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton sometimes played her upright white piano. The average annual income for a Willie Piazza octoroon was thought to be $1,000-$2,000. Piazza herself became known as "Countess Willie Piazza" and cultivated an image of European sophistication. She used a “two foot ivory, gold and diamond” cigarette holder to smoke Russian cigarettes. After the closer of Storyville in 1917, Piazza continued to work as a prostitute and procuress. Piazza was one of the main characters (played by Virginia Mayo) in the 1978 Dennis Kane film "French Quarter". Willie Piazza