On a weekend dominated by Olympic coverage and political chatter, PBS debuts the third season of its period melodrama “Hotel Portofino!” (8 p.m. Sunday, TV-14, check local listings). The series follows Bella Ainsworth (Natascha McElhone), an attractive woman of a certain age who runs a hotel for wealthy tourists on the Italian Riviera. As you can expect from this British ITV production, the accent is on gorgeous Italian scenery, lovely costumes and sumptuous 1920s interior design.
As season three begins, Bella’s long-absent husband returns with divorce on his mind, hoping to formalize an arrangement that had been working rather well without the presence of judges and lawyers. Their personal melodrama unfolds against the backdrop of Italy’s increasingly militarized fascist state. Blackshirts, accompanied by a local brass band, are seen marching in the streets. The presence of the town’s pimply youth trying to keep time with the music is both comical and menacing, and neither the viewer nor the characters seem certain of the prevailing wind’s direction.
McElhone can be seen in the recently canceled Paramount+ adaptation of the video game “Halo.” She starred as the most unlikely of first ladies in the ABC series “Designated Survivor,” starring Kiefer Sutherland as a low-ranking cabinet member who became commander in chief after a terror attack. She may also be familiar as Lord Mountbatten’s wife in season 5 of Netflix’s “The Crown.”
Pretty almost to a fault, “Portofino” depicts a postcard vision of Italy so gorgeous one can’t quite understand why its people might turn to a pompous, thuggish dictator.
“Portofino” is hardly the only series or movie to exploit the beauties of Italy in the Mussolini era. The handsome films “Enchanted April” (1991) and “Tea With Mussolini” (1999) come to mind.
While those movies are well known, at least to fans of the period costume drama, Prime Video is now streaming a curiosity that this (re)viewer HAS never before encountered.
The 2000 period costume drama “The Luzhin Defence” stars John Turturro as a mentally tormented Russian chess grandmaster who arrives at an Italian lake villa to compete in a tournament in 1929. Decades before such shows as “Young Sheldon” or “The Good Doctor,” this film trades in the promise and heartache of functioning on the autism spectrum.
After entering the hotel’s gorgeous grounds, he lays eyes on a young woman (Emily Watson, “Angela’s Ashes,” “Dune: Prophecy”) and falls for her in an impetuous and awkward fashion, much to the horror of her imperious mother/chaperone (Geraldine James, “Anne With an E”).
A vicarious armchair vacation for those of us who won’t be going to an Italian lake this summer, the film is beautifully composed and costumed as it bounces back and forth between Mussolini-era Italy and our hero’s troubled boyhood in the dying days of imperial Russia.
Directed by Dutch feminist filmmaker Marleen Gorris and based on the 1964 novel “The Defense” by Vladimir Nabokov, it’s not entirely clear if this film ever had an American theatrical release.
A not-so-minor downside is the state of this Prime Video print. It’s a bit muddy and the aspect ratio seems a tad off.
While Netflix’s vast selection can seem almost algorithmically sorted to appeal strategically to viewers too young to remember any movies older than “Footloose,” Prime Video’s selection can sometimes seem like an unorganized thrift store, where you can sort through piles of chaff to find a few gems.
It’s fun to think of Turturro making this rather tragic film at the same time he was cast in the Coen Brothers’ surreal musical comedy “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
While pleasant to look at, “Hotel Portofino” adds little to the escapist British costume drama genre that dates back at least to Merchant Ivory films, or to the audacious arrival of “Brideshead Revisited” on TV screens in 1981. Just how “Luzhin” managed to get lost in this crowded field is anybody’s guess. And that makes its discovery all the more enjoyable.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— “Primetime in Paris: The Olympics” (8 p.m., NBC) presents coverage of swimming, gymnastics and diving.
— Faced with galloping dementia, a hit man seeks amends by saving his estranged son in the 2023 drama “Knox Goes Away” (9 p.m., HBO).
— An estranged husband stalks his ex by renting an adjacent property in the 2023 shocker “A Neighbor’s Vendetta” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— A famous journalist faces her fears in her hometown ice rink in the 2023 drama “An Ice Palace Romance” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): Quantum computing; an interview with Salman Rushdie; a college for magic.
— “Primetime in Paris: The Olympics” (8 p.m., NBC) presents coverage of swimming and gymnastics.
— Emilio Estevez (“Repo Man”) stars in the 1992 sports comedy “The Mighty Ducks” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Alphy’s friend goes missing on “Grantchester” on “Masterpiece” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings).
— The train comes under attack on “SnowPiercer” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— Targaryan family dynamics and dragons on “House of the Dragon” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— The complications of the import/export trade on “Hotel Cocaine” (9 p.m., MGM+, TV-MA).
— Jules attempts a daring escape on “Orphan Black: Echoes” (10 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— A visit from authorities rattles Tal on “Emperor of Ocean Park” (10 p.m., MGM+, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
Certain of a comfortable life after marrying a much older and richer man, a headstrong woman (Wendy Hiller) gets blown sideways when she travels to the ceremony’s location on an island in the Scottish Hebrides in the 1945 romance “I Know Where I’m Going!” (8 p.m., Saturday, TCM, TV-G). The template for “fish out of water” comedies from “Local Hero” to “Northern Exposure” and nearly every Hallmark movie. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who are the subjects of the new documentary “Made in England,” now in theaters and narrated by Martin Scorsese.
SATURDAY SERIES
Missing in Mexico City on “S.W.A.T.” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … On three episodes of “9-1-1” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG): a bundle of joy (8 p.m.); a walk down the aisle (9 p.m.); a mother-and-child abduction (10 p.m.) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., CBS, r).
SUNDAY SERIES
Dwight’s bright prospects on “Tulsa King” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … On four episodes of “Krapopolis” (Fox, r, TV-PG): offering an olive branch (8 p.m.); a new lady friend (8:30 p.m.); let the games begin (9 p.m.); a jury system emerges (9:30 p.m.) … “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Stuck inside on “Big Brother” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A dad is suspected in a missing teen case on “Tracker” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
