The 1999 film Tea with Mussolini is based on whose autobiography?
Tea with Mussolini mentions her and a couple of other ladies of "the Scorpioni" in his autobiography. He said: "I don't remember if she was called Hester, but I remember this terrible, fantastic woman. She was the dowager of the community. I remember the many outrageous things she did because she could afford to be arrogant and bossy." The film opened tenth at the U.S. box office with $1,633,183 for the weekend, eventually grossing a total of $45,566,200, considerably more than its budget. Tea with Mussolini Tea with Mussolini is a 1999 Anglo-Italian semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, scripted by John Mortimer,
Tea with Mussolini ladies are in a restaurant for afternoon tea, it is vandalised by Fascists, reflecting the increasingly uncertain position of the expatriate community. Lady Hester, widow of Britain's former ambassador to Italy, retains an admiring faith in Benito Mussolini (Claudio Spadaro) and takes it upon herself to visit him, receiving his insincere assurances of their safety, and proudly recounts her "tea with Mussolini". But the political situation continues to deteriorate and the Scorpioni find their status and liberties diminishing. Luca's father decides that Italy's future is with Germany rather than Britain and sends Luca to an Austrian boarding school. Five years