Il Paradiso delle Signore: Fascino e Intrighi nell’Italia degli Anni ’50
The Ladies’ Paradise: Glamour and Intrigue in 1950s Italy RAI TV Hit Series
Questa settimana ho fatto una scoperta deliziosa: ho trovato il Paradiso! Più precisamente, Il Paradiso delle Signore! Si tratta di una nuova serie televisiva diretta da Monica Vullo, in onda su Rai 1 dall’8 dicembre 2015.
This week, I stumbled upon a delightful discovery—I’ve found Paradise! More precisely, Paradise for Women! It’s a captivating new television series directed by Monica Vullo, which has been airing on Rai 1 since December 8, 2015.
Ho visto solo tre episodi e sono già conquistata! Ambientata nella Milano degli anni ’50, la serie racconta la storia de Il Paradiso delle Signore, un elegante negozio di abbigliamento femminile che diventa un centro di ambizione, romanticismo e intrighi. Con i suoi personaggi affascinanti e i dettagli d’epoca straordinari, la serie offre uno sguardo affascinante sull’Italia del dopoguerra e sui ruoli in evoluzione delle donne durante questo periodo di trasformazione.
I’ve watched just three episodes, and I’m already hooked! Set in 1950s Milan, the series tells the story of Il Paradiso delle Signore, a glamorous women’s clothing store that becomes a hub of ambition, romance, and drama. With its captivating characters and stunning period details, the show offers a fascinating glimpse into post-war Italy and the changing roles of women during this transformative era.
La Trama / The Plot
Una giovane ragazza di nome Teresa Iorio, interpretata da Giusy Buscemi, scappò dalla sua casa nel Sud Italia perché il figlio del sindaco, con il quale era fidanzata, la tradì. Scappa a Milano per vivere con suo zio e ricominciare da capo, sperando di realizzare i suoi sogni e trovare l’indipendenza.
A young girl named Teresa Iorio, played by Giusy Buscemi, has run away from her home in Southern Italy because the mayor’s son, to whom she was betrothed, has cheated on her. She escapes to Milano to live with her Uncle and start afresh, hoping to realize her dreams and find independence.
Gli attori / The actors
Grintosa e piena di spirito, Teresa ottiene un lavoro nel moderno grande magazzino grazie a una serie di peripezie (dovete assolutamente guardare il primo episodio!). La nuova impresa è guidata da Pietro Mori, interpretato da Giuseppe Zeno, un giovane imprenditore affascinante con idee innovative di marketing e un passato misterioso. Dopo un viaggio in America, risorge dalle ceneri della guerra per creare un elegante negozio dedicato alle ultime mode femminili. I problemi finanziari non mancano, e Pietro, un instancabile stacanovista, deve inventare strategie ingegnose per evitare il fallimento della sua attività.
Feisty and full of spirit, Teresa lands a job at the avant-garde department store through a series of antics (you really need to watch the first episode!). The new enterprise is led by Pietro Mori, played by Giuseppe Zeno—a charming young businessman with innovative marketing ideas and a mysterious past. After returning from a trip to America, he rises from the ashes of war to create an elegant store that showcases the latest fashions for women. Financial problems abound, and Pietro, a dedicated workaholic, must devise clever schemes to keep his business from failing.
Dal momento in cui i due protagonisti si incontrano (come avrete immaginato), volano scintille mentre le loro personalità si scontrano. Disperata per trovare un lavoro e mantenersi, Teresa si candida e viene assunta come commessa nel negozio di Pietro. Da lì iniziano avventure, sfide, complicazioni e tanto divertimento.
From the moment the two main characters meet (you guessed it), sparks fly as their personalities clash. Desperate to support herself, Teresa applies for a position and is hired as a shop assistant in Pietro’s store. From there, the adventures, challenges, complications, and plenty of fun begin.
Presto si arriva a conoscere tutti i personaggi e i loro retroscena, il tutto ambientato sullo sfondo di Milano negli anni ’50 quando le cose cominciavano a cambiare nel mondo della moda, la pubblicità e le donne volevano più indipendenza.
Soon we get to know all the characters and their backstories, all set against a backdrop of Milan in the 1950s when things were starting to change in the fashion world, advertising, and women were asserting more independence.
Il nuovo show è promosso sui social media (clicca qui per la pagina Facebook). Puoi saperne di più visitando il sito della RAI qui. Sul sito della RAI si trovano anche tutti gli episodi. Per chi non è in Italia, gli episodi sono bloccati. Ma è possibile acquistare il DVD ora sul sito Amazon italiano.
The new show is being promoted on social media (click here for the Facebook page). You can learn more about the show by visiting the RAI website here. On the RAI website, you can also find all the episodes. For those not in Italy, the episodes are blocked. But you can purchase the DVD now on the Italian Amazon Site.
Le varie storie sono un po’ leziose – ma io sono un romantica, quindi amo questo spettacolo! I costumi sono adorabili, così come la musica degli anni ’50. Se siete come me, anche voi potrete godere di una sbirciatina in quello che la vita avrebbe potuto essere come a Milano nel corso del 1950. È “quasi” come la versione italiana dello spettacolo americano – “Mad Men.”
The various storylines are a little campy – but I’m a romantic, so I love this show! The costumes are adorable, as is the music of the ’50s featured throughout. If you are like me, you too will enjoy a peek into what life might have been like in Milan during the 1950s. It’s “almost“ like the Italian version of the American show – “Mad Men.”
Ciao Melissa,
Thank you for recommending this series. I am at an Intermediate (B1) level with my Italian and, although I couldn’t understand every spoken word, I was able to follow along with the story (episode 1) and enjoyed this show very much. There’s one thing in the show that I can’t figure out and I’m hoping you can help me!
Why is Teresa’s Zio in jail? I think it has something to do with the store and finances but I just can’t figure out this part of the story.
Grazie mille,
Janet
Ciao Janet, è molto divertente no? allora…
Teresa arrives in Milano with the hopes of finding work with her zio who moved there years before (he is the brother of her father) Teresa is running away from home, escaping from the man in Sicilia who has betrayed her. It turns out however, that her father arranged the marriage with the son of the mayor of the town in Sicily to cancel out his debts in order to keep his property. That is why he eventually shows up in Milan to bring her back home (in the second episode).
The uncle however, with whom Teresa hopes to find work, is on the brink of ruin as many other local retailers are, do to the opening of the store Il Paradiso. Zio has been accused of setting fire to one of Il Paradiso’s delivery vans. (which he has actually did do) for which he has been tossed in jail. Teresa at first runs off in a huff and confronts Mori saying her uncle is innocent (she thinks he is) and demands he release her uncle – this of course is her first introduction to the store and resulting employment there etc. etc. Mori (the owner) of course immediately bewitched by her, tells her all her Uncle needs to do is write a written apology to him, for which he will drop all the charges and the uncle will be freed from jail. It takes a while, but eventually zio does write the letter which Teresa delivers in a later episode and he is set free. 🙂
Melissa,
Ti ringrazio molto! Ho capito adesso. Avanti ad episodio 2 …..
hello dear,
I was looking for the series with English subtitle , do u have any clue where to find? 🙂
best regards
salama
Not at the moment. The series is only in Italian. But you there are Italian subtitles for the hard of hearing. For language learners it is helpful to watch with the Italian subtitles turned on to catch all the Italian phrases.
There is a subscription sight called ACORN TV and they have it with English translation captions. I have just watched the first season and am trying to find out if there is a second
Ciao Linda! Yes! They just wrapped filming the second season of Il paradiso delle signore. I believe it is due out later this fall. You can find updates on the FB page for the show
https://www.facebook.com/IlParadisoDelleSignoreRai/
It is on the British Tv channel called Acorn TV, ENGLISH subtitles, love it!
The translations are poor. They have some terrible mistakes in it. The poor accountant, who’s name is Gallo (Seagull) gets translated as Turkey! (Tacchino!) I think they used some form of software to translate rather than real Italian/English translators. Not the only error, there are too many to list!
The series is still great!
Hi Melissa, my husband and I live in the US. We just finished season 4 and cannot access season 5, 6 and 7. How can we continue watching? I am so heartbroken and missing my Paridiso family. Any thoughts? We’ve tried streaming channels and no one carries the next seasons. I thought maybe we could purchase the DVD’s but they only carry season 1-5. Please help!! 🙏
Thank you
Deb 😁
The first 2 seasons with Teresa e Signor Mori are on DVD and you can purchase them on Amazon.com or Amazon.it. After the initial pilot seasons RAI changed the format and the TV series became a daily soap drama. You can log on to RAI play and watch streaming from the archives. Spero che questo sia utile! A presto!
if you watched it on pbs like i did, those 4 seasons made up of 10 episodes each are actually just seasons 1 & 2 of the show which are really 20 episodes each and split up into 10 episode seasons probably for the american audience.. after season 2 (season 4 in america), the cast is ENTIRELY changed except for vittorio conti who is the only character that is consistently in the show throughout 891 episodes of its more than 1000 episode run (like 1020 so far).. but the first 40 episodes are nothing like the remaining 980 episodes.. i hate when they do that, but it makes sense why we dont get anything past episode 40.. season 3 has 180 episodes, and seasons 4-8 have 160 each..
here are the wikipedia and imdb links so you can see what im talking about:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladies%27_Paradise_(TV_series)
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5263880/
It appears the episodes are not available on youtube now – only little snippets of a few minutes. 🙁
sì lo so. they took down the Youtube channel that was posting the episodes. But, you can still watch all the episodes 1-10 on the RAI website here:
http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/page/Page-fcd78f4f-7fa4-4fa5-b453-0d19daafd464-ipds.html
Click on puntante integrali and you will see all the episodes. They are blocked in the U.S. and other countries. But there is the option of downloading the Hola App for Chrome browsers that unblocks the programs. Once you install the app go to the webiste page with the video. Then select the Hola app icon in your browser menu bar and select the country “italy” from where you want to stream. When the icon turns from the Hola sun to the Italian flag you are good to go and the videos will play.
The actual videos on the site are way better quality than the youtube version. The sound is also much better.
Enjoy!
Hi Melissa, your review makes me wish I could watch this show, but I don’t speak italian, and I can’t find the episodes in english, or french, or even subtitles. Do you know if they’re available in english on dvd ? Thanx
Ciao Aude, “Il paradiso delle signore” is only in Italian, mi dispiace. It is a RAI program. It is out on DVD now and you can find it on the Amazon.it site. The DVD offers the option of viewing in Italian or in Italian with subtitles in Italian for the hard of hearing.
This is such a fun series. They are currently working on Season II which is due out soon. You will have to learn Italian quickly so you can enjoy it! 🙂 Happy to help!
Thank you !
Well, I tried to watch the first episode, but I catched only a few words… My italian is rusty ! I’ll try with subtitles, perhaps it would help.
Brava! the main thing to get out of the first episode is that the protagonist – Theresa – arrives in Milan via train from a small town in the south of Italy. She is escaping from an untrustworthy fidanzato (the mayor’s son) who has cheated on her. She goes to stay with her uncle who is a merchant of fabrics and a tailor. Right off the bat, just a few steps off the train, Theresa meets the Signor Mori the owner of the “Paradiso delle Signore” the fancy new department store that is revolutionizing the way people shop in Milan – putting at risk smaller shop keepers like Theresa’s uncle. (Mori intervenes when a thief tries to steal her suitcase.)
The story opens too with Theresa’s Uncle being arrested for burning one of Mori’s delivery vans – furgoni. He claims he is innocent, but of course he did it. Theresa, believing her uncle would never do such a thing, rushes to Mori to denounce him and make him release her uncle. Sparks fly between the two. But, Mori says he saw the whole thing, that her uncle is indeed guilty. He tells her if she really wants to help the family – she should get a real job.
So she does. She applies for work at his store – to spite him. There is a “concorso” a competition – trial period for young women to work at Mori’s store. At first Theresa is a total hick, doesn’t know much about fashion and Milan and how the wealthy half live…so it is a challenge for her to catch up and learn the ropes. And the story continues to episode 2…. 😉
ACORN in the U.S. is now airing this version of Zola’s The Paradise. I cannot wait to watch. Thank you for writing about it.
Hello! For all of you who want to watch the show is now available in the US on AcornTV. This is a paid streaming service, but you can watch all the episodes in HD and great sound. There’s also an app for your tablet or phone and the channel is also available through Roku. The service is less than $5. They offered mainly British and Australian programming (which I love!), But I found Paradiso among the new shows.
Is there a second season available on acorn? Loved it..
Hello,
Just finished watching The Ladies Paradise Series 1 on Acorn TV. Loved it much more than the newer version on BBC set in England. How do I view Series 2 of the Italian version with American subtitles. Can’t seem to find it anywhere?
Regards,
Wendy korando
Ciao Wendy, the 2nd season of Il Paradiso delle Signore just started 2 weeks ago on RAI 1. You can watch it in Italian on the RAI web page here: http://www.raiplay.it/programmi/ilparadisodellesignore/
I’m sure it will take a while for Acorn to put English subtitles on the 2nd season – and for the DVD versions to become available…so stay tuned!
Ciao Melissa and thank you for this site! I love so much this Il Pardisso delle signore! I have watched it in Finland in TV and they just showed the last one from the 2nd season! I have read that there will be also 3rd one! Do you know when it could be ready? I am so impatient to see it!!! I am in love with this tv serial and i love the performance of the actors, all the atmosphere from the 50’s, customеs, dresses, hats and of course music!!! <3
Found it difficult to fathom the conclusion of series 2, , episode 10. I was clueless about the appearance of Peitro’s wife, Rose at the end of series. Where did she come from? There was no foreshadowing indicators to alert the viewer to her relevance to the storyline. And I was disappointed with the conclusion of the convoluted plot!
Spoiler Alerts! Alexis, I believe there was a slight foreshadowing of Rose’s appearance. A couple episodes earlier, Pietro told Teresa that after he stopped drinking his wife, Rose, had warned him that if he ever started again–even a single drop–he would slide back into alcoholism. This conflicted with what he had told Teresa at the beginning of their relationship, when he claimed that he went sober after killing his wife in a car accident while drunk. Teresa asks him about the discrepancy, “I thought you quit drinking after your wife’s death?” Pietro doesn’t respond or explain, and the plot moved on. But I think this was a little hint that Pietro’s story about his wife’s death was not genuine. Maybe she wasn’t deceased after all…. Two other observations: I also was disappointed with the conclusion of the various plot lines, but I also recognize that it is due to my sappy American tastes. Europeans expect sad or at least ambiguous endings. I remember a disparaging quote from one of the cast members following the upbeat conclusion of the Downton Abbey TV series: “Yea, we gave it an American ending.” Scoff. Season 1 of Il Paradiso Delle Signore had a more typical ending for a European production. Also, I realized at the end of season 1 that the ambitious, brooding Pietro Mori was perhaps somewhat modeled after the self-serving, troubled American tycoon portrayed in Citizen Kane. The movie ended with Charles Foster Kane uttering the word “Rosebud.” Il Paradiso, season 1 closes with Pietro Mori exclaiming, “Rose.”
Hello; I live in the US and recently discovered “The Ladies Paradise” on my Amazon Prime PBS Masterpiece channel, however , they are only showing 20 episodes as seasons 1 and 2. I have seen small samples of “the real” season 2 on u-tube and know that Pietro Mori was killed at the end of episode 20. Why??? Why did the producers, after season 2, decide to kill him? Is he really dead? I’ve seen the tombstone on u-tube, but I keep hoping he isn’t really dead; after all, American soap operas bring characters back to life all the time. Did they never mention Mori or Theresa when they made the program a daily soap opera? Why write the story with break-ups and reuniting on New Year’s Eve just to kill him off and leave Theresa sad for the rest of her young life? It makes you not want to invest your time and energy into watching these series with these very unsatisfactory endings! I love this series and have watched it multiple times . The actors are really wonderful and everything is so beautiful. I really want to watch those episodes with English subtitles and have called/complained to Amazon asking when seasons 3 and 4 can be viewed to finish up the Theresa/Mori storyline, but no answer has been provided . Can you advise if they will ever show up the last 20 episodes as the series cannot be found on any platform at all , other than the two on Amazon. Help!!
Ciao Sharon, sorry for the delay in my response. I’ve just returned from Italy after spending 7 weeks there this fall.
I love “Il paradiso delle signore!” Unfortunately, Pietro Mori does die at the end of the original 2 season series. I believe the actors had reached the end of their contracts and the actors who potrayed Theresa and Pietro moved on to other roles. However, Rai di continue the program as a daily soap opera that continues to this day. The character of Vittorio Conti is very much alive and thriving! Since the finale of the original Il paradiso delle signore… the soap has had 6 seasons!
Here is the Facebook page where you can learn more:
https://www.facebook.com/IlParadisoDelleSignoreRai/
Thank you so much for the info Melissa.
How do I buy or watch seasons 5-7?
We are just getting to season 4 soon but I will be depressed if I can not watch the rest. We are watching seasons 1-4 on PBS Passport in the US. We can play PAL videos.
The first 2 seasons with Teresa e Signor Mori are on DVD and you can purchase them on Amazon.com or Amazon.it. After the initial pilot seasons RAI changed the format and the TV series became a daily soap drama. You can log on to RAIplay and watch streaming from the archives. Spero che questo sia utile! A presto!
Where can I watch season 5 and beyond on Paradise Italian with English subtitles