Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni
February 5, 1960: La Dolce Vita -- meaning "The Good Life" or "The Sweet Life" -- premieres, directed by Federico Fellini. It won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm, for Best Film) at the year's Cannes Film Festival, and became a watershed moment for Italian cinema, and European cinema-at-large.
The film tells of the interactions between Marcello Rubini (Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni), a journalist; Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), Marcello's fiancée, whom he feels stifles him; Maddalena (Anouk Aimée), a wealthy heiress; Sylvia Rank (Anita Ekberg), a Swedish-American actress; Robert (Lex Barker), Sylvia's jealous boyfriend; and Steiner (Alain Cuny), Marcello's intellectual friend, who ends up killing his children and then himself over his frustration of an ordered life.
As would become common themes in Fellini's films, the characters muse on the nature of love, commitment, security, freedom and spirituality. The scene of Marcello and Sylvia in the Trevi Fountain became legend.
Barker died in 1973, Fellini in 1993, Cuny in 1994, Mastroianni in 1996, Ekberg in 2015. As of February 5, 2022, Furneaux, Aimée are still alive. (UPDATE: Furneaux and Aimée died within a few days of each other in 2024.)
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February 5, 1960 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. And no games were scheduled in the NHL. There were 2 games in the NBA. The Boston Celtics beat the Syracuse Nationals, 124-100 at the Boston Garden. Frank Ramsey led the Celtics with 25 points. Bill Russell had 23 points -- and 51 rebounds. This would be an NBA record until the following November 24, when Wilt Chamberlain got 55 against Russell and the Celtics -- who won the game, anyway.
And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 114-96 at the Minneapolis Armory. Elgin Baylor scored 36 for the Lakers, who moved to Los Angeles the next season. Bob Pettit scored 61 for the Hawks, who went on to lose the NBA Finals to the Celtics, and moved to Atlanta in 1968.
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