Pop Ups :: What Was Sophia Loren Staring At?

One of the funniest photos from Hollywood's Golden Age shows Sophia Loren eyeing the ample cleavage of sex-symbol Jayne Mansfield at an industry event in 1957.

Now some 57 years later, Loren comes clean as to what she was thinking when the photo was taken.

In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Loren explained that Paramount Pictures had organized an event to introduce the Italian star to Hollywood.

"All of cinema was there, it was incredible," she recalled.

Mansfield was the last to arrive and, for Loren, that's when "it got amazing... She came right for my table. She knew everyone was watching. She sat down. And now, she was barely... Listen. Look at the picture. Where are my eyes?"

In the photo Loren is staring directly at the smiling Mansfield low-cut dress with a worried expression.

"I'm staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate," Loren told the mag. "In my face you can see the fear. I'm so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow-BOOM!-and spill all over the table ...
This is the one that shows how it was. This is the only picture."

It is also one that has followed the Oscar-winning actress over the years.

"Many, many times I am given this photo to autograph it. And I never do," she said. "I don't want to have anything to do with that. And also out of respect for Jayne Mansfield because she's not with us anymore."

Loren, now 80, released her new memoir "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: My Life" on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The book is named after her 1963 romantic comedy of the same title in which she starred.