Described as 'a story of civilised disobedience', this charming, touching and engrossing film is perhaps Franco Zeffirelli's best. In the Florence of 1935, the English colony of widows and divorcees is ruled with a rod of iron by Lady Hester (Maggie Smith). Dismissing impending trouble with Mussolini's Fascists, she goes to take tea with the Italian dictator and obtains a promise of protection that's about as good as Chamberlain's 'piece of paper' from Hitler. Scorned American interlopers Georgie (Lily Tomlin), an archaeologist, and Elsa (Cher), a rich, much-married showgirl, prove their worth when war comes and the doyennes are incarcerated in smelly barracks. Luca, a boy cared for within the circle (and based on the director himself), also becomes a loyal friend come 1940. Elegantly scripted, the film gives a bumper crop of opportunities to its senior players. 'Amazing,' says Lady Hester of the Americans, 'they can even vulgarise ice cream.' And Cher, of her latest elderly spouse: 'He's an angel - or he soon will be.' The war itself, and the ladies' role in it, is drawn in swift, vivid, evocative strokes, making this a richly satisfying film.