Abenteuer in Rom

Yes, I agree that Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue are not exactly Katherine Hepburn and Lawrence Olivier in this film, but their "chemistry," a beautiful Italian setting, glorious fashion and the overall romantic "intrigue" more than make up for that. In the early 1960's, Troy Donahue was the ultimate in "eye candy" for us teenage girls (and older women, too, I'm sure). I have thought for years that I was surely the only 13-year old girl who sat in a darkened theater so TOTALLY "transported" for several hours by the romance in this film, but apparently I was not. I listen to an "oldies" radio station in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and I cannot believe how MANY times other listeners request that the incredibly romantic "Al Di La" from the dimly-lit-romantic-restaurant-scene be played. Hooray for a day when sex was something seriously contemplated and not something graphically displayed like today!

Prudence Bell (Suzanne Pleshette) travels to Italy to discover adventure and finds Don Porter (Troy Donahue) and love. As they explore the areas around Rome, viewers are treated to some idyllic scenery. Their relationship has its ups and downs, especially when Don's former flame, played by Angie Dickinson, reenters his life.

Through it all, the song "Al di la" is featured, and the film's grade deserves two bumps just for that. It may be the perfect accompaniment to a love story set in Italy. Even Al Hirt, who appears as a surprisingly engaging trumpeter in the film, plays a jazz rendition.

This itinerant love story with a peripatetic plot loses focus on occasion, but it always come back to Prudence, where it belongs. Pleshette's beautiful quirkiness feels grounded in true love. No surprise, then, that Pleshette and Donahue would marry later.

An uncreative ending deserves the loss of one grade point. But it is difficult to be very disappointed in a film that features so much beauty.

Rome Adventure is not only intrinsically enjoyable but is an excellent illustration of the power of restraint, innuendo, and "naughtiness" in romance films. It was made just before the dam broke and everything was allowed to go in movies. The lovebirds' struggle over whether to end Suzanne Pleshette's virginity has a charm, heat even, that cannot exist amidst the too-much-information sex scenes we see today. Boxed-in attitudes manifested in Rome Adventure make the slightest double entendre unexpected and powerful, even giggly. The kissing is tender and tongueless but very intimate for all that. I have no interest in promoting abstinence in life or in film, but see this picture and then try telling yourself that nothing was lost when big screen freedom came in.

ROME ADVENTURE has two things going for it: Gorgeous photography of famous Italian landmarks and landscapes, and a lush and very appropriate Max Steiner score that makes the most of "Al Di La." The scenery alone is worth giving the film at least 6 points, so it's a shame that the boy meets girl/boy loses girl/boy wins girl plot is so tiresome and moves at a snail's pace. By concentrating on the music and the scenery though, you can get a lot of pleasure from just watching this travelogue unfold.

And, of course, no film about Italy in the '60s would be complete without the suave presence of ROSSANO BRAZZI as the older man that SUSANNE PLESHETTE finds hard to resist. But it's her affair with TROY DONAHUE--the blond Tab Hunter type of the '60s that teen-age girls swooned over--that occupies most of the story. The real life attraction between Pleshette and Donahue is evident in many of their flirtatious scenes. Alas, their good chemistry should have been given a more substantial script.

The "other woman" role is ably played by ANGIE DICKINSON, who wears her stunning outfits to great effect. With all the eye candy going on, it's easy to see why ROME ADVENTURE was an easy pill to swallow.

Max Steiner certainly comes to the rescue with a handsome score, its main source of pleasure being repeated hearings of the song "Al Di La." Summing up: Pleasurable fluff will have you dreaming of a luxurious vacation in the Italian alps.

The first thing you have to ask yourself about this film is is it a travelogue about Rome or is it a a romance movie??? Eighty percent of the film is Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette riding around Rome on a motor scooter while the camera pans all the historical sights in Rome. I have never learned so much about Rome all rolled up into one film!!! Troy Donahue, who was at the peak of his career in soap operas when this film was made gives another super soaper-doaper heart throb performance. Donahue was riding high with soapers like "Imitation of Life", "Parrish", "Susan Slade" and "A Summer Place"......the following year he was another hearthrob in the light headed "Palm Springs Weekend" with Stephanie Powers. In Rome Adventure Donahue is a student mired in Rome in a love mixup with the lovely Angie Dickinson and a young, very young Suzanne Pleshette. Who does he like better...sort of hard to figure at points in the film....Donahue runs around the entire film chasing both women. Rosanno Brazzi plays a very suave Italian gentlemen who is of wealth in Rome and tries to fall in love with Pleshette but he appears to be many years older than her.....it just wont work with a 20 year age difference!!! Substance wise this film did not give Brazzi the actor appeal he showed in "South Pacific"......in that film he was the hearthrob.....the famous "Al Di La" song rang out throughout the whole film and was a record hit in the US in 1962 from the movie soundtrack. All in all this film is a soaper special......teenage and young girls no doubt flocked to the theaters to see Donahue in 62 at the height of his career. Angie Dickinson had second fiddle in this film and you wonder how she liked playing second fiddle to Pleshette. The venerable Constance Ford, who usually plays a mother from hell is top notch as the owner of a book store in Rome where Pleshette gets a job....she was always a Delmer Daves favorite for his soap operas. Check out her voracious, aggressive dog..... This is a film that Warren Beatty probably could have played at the time too.....he and Donahue were top Hollywood hearthrobs at this time in the early 60s.....however, Beatty usually chose much more complex characters with mixed emotions like in "Splendor in the Grass" and "All Fall Down".......as for Rome Adventure cook up some popcorn and relax to a nice little love story from the early 60s when romance was more on the sweet side.