Not recommended. I approached Luca Guadagnino’s (Call Me by Your Name) documentary whimsically, being one who never questioned a wife’s need for rooms of stylish shoes . . . this enthusiasm primarily aesthetic, rather than carnal. I just appreciate good taste in shoes. Sadly, there is little whimsy in Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams. The film seems an unremarkable visualization of a Wikipedia article. We get little insight into the man or his creative soul, although his tenacity is well represented. Although the film stolidly depicts his opening of his silent-era, Hollywood store, the “Shoemaker to the Stars” behind the counter is never revealed. Understand,this guy created Gloria Swanson’s Sadie Thompson pumps, Marilyn Monroe’s gold stilettos, and Audrey Hepburn’s little black ballet flats. He sold riding boots to Rudolph Valentino. Interviews with most of the Ferragamo progeny, manic Martin Scorsese and - - always delightful - - Deborah Nadoolman-Landis are helpful but they can’t polish this clodhopper.
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