Yep, in lieu of anything else interesting to write about, it’s another fabulous female post! Ornella Muti (born Francesca Rivelli) is an Italian actress and model best known in the UK for her performance as Princess Aura in Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon. Indeed, I have met few people who have seen this film and not been utterly mesmerised by her stunning beauty and captivating screen presence. Since then, her fame and appearances have mainly been limited to Italy and the continent, but she acted fairly recently in Asia Argento’s controversial adpatation of the equally controversial book The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.

I recently watched an earlier and much more obscure film of hers called Oasis Of Fear, which was directed by Umberto Lenzi of Cannibal Ferox fame, and, in typical ’70s Euro-sleaze fashion, goes by a multitude of different titles. To be honest, this wasn’t the best film ever – though it’s still worth a look for genre fans, who can read more about it on this excellent site – but Ornella Muti was absolutely ravishing, and put in a pretty good performance in my opinion, especially considering she was still a teenager at the time of filming. Anyway, without further ado, here are some classic photos for you to enjoy.

N.B. as an aside for trivia fans, a couple of years ago Ornella Muti’s two daughters (also both actress/models) posed for an anti-violence calendar with the illegitimate son of Diego Maradona!