“Tea with Mussolini” is the fifth film in a month-long tribute to Dame Maggie Smith with a special “Maggie Mondays” series in March featuring a different Maggie Smith film every Monday.
“Tea with Mussolini” features an award-winning, all-star ensemble cast, including Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Cher, Joan Plowright and Lily Tomlin.
An orphaned Italian boy is raised amongst a circle of British and American women living in Mussolini's Italy before and during World War II.
In 1930s fascist Italy, adolescent Luca (Charlie Lucas) just lost his mother. His father, a callous businessman, sends him to be taken care of by British expatriate Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright). Mary and her cultured friends — including Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), artist Arabella (Judi Dench), young widow Elsa (Cher) and archaeologist Georgie (Lily Tomlin) — keep a watchful eye over the boy. But the women's cultivated lives take a dramatic turn when Allied forces declare war on Mussolini.