The film won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Sophia Loren , due largely to heavy promotion by its North American distributor , Joseph E. Levine . This was the first time an acting Oscar had been given for a non-English-speaking performance , although she made the English dubbing for her role herself . Loren was too nervous to attend the ceremony and elected to stay in Rome instead . Greer Garson accepted the award on Loren 's behalf . Loren also won the award for Best Actress at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival . Loren won 22 international awards for '' Two Women ''
1961 Cannes Film Festival
1961 Cannes Film Festival
Two Women