O Pombo que Conquistou Roma

Imagine Heston in role with elaborate costuming and playing second fiddle to one of the greatest upstagers of all time! The amazing thing is old Charlton even looks like he's having a good time. So, who's the guy continually pushing Moses Ben Hur out every scene they share? None other than the great basso from the Met, Salvatore Baccaloni. Now, you should know that Sal had a bad rep at the Met for being a bit of a joker and hard to work with, but the crew loved him. In this film, where Heston and Harry Guardino in his pre-TV days play two GIs in WW2 spying on the Germans, they have to inform the allies as to the morale and preparedness of the Germans. So, how are these two intrepids getting the word back to the Allies? Homing pigeons. No sweat...but, a problemo. The pigeons get eaten by Baccaloni's family for a festa and Sal, not wanting to get into trouble steals some pigeons from...the Germans to replace the ones his family ate. So, when the Germans start reading the messages, they suspect that ... well, it goes on from there. This film is an enjoyable comedy and gave Heston a relief from all those costume roles. Sadly, it was Baccaloni's last film, although he died 7 years later. No video, no DVD. Watch for it on the late show.

I also consider this a sleeper. Found it humorous, well played and well written. Heston as serious soldier on off beat mission. Ilsa Martinelli (far from plains of Africa) as love interest, but not so lovely as big chested actress who plays her sister. Harry Guardino in yet another GI role. Barry Fitzgerald even more typecast as Irish priest. Good character actors for kid and bumptious dad. Great bit by Randolph Anders as Werhmacht Oberst. Worth looking for. Couldn't help comparing this "war" movie with Band of Brothers.

During WWII, two soldiers (Charlton Heston and Harry Guardino) are sent on a secret mission in Nazi-occupied Rome. However, the organized resistance they are told to make contact with doesn't really exist--it's just a couple pathetic souls. So, the two soldiers just hide out in the city--making note of the German forces and sending messages back to headquarters with homing pigeons. There's MUCH more to the film than this, but I don't want to give too much of the plot to you--in case you haven't seen it.

While the above sketchy outline doesn't sound the least bit funny, the film is very much a tongue in cheek comedy. LOTS of complications develop as well as romance. The bottom line is that the film is a decent light comedy--the sort of thing they began making in the 60s and 70s--once memories of this god-awful war began to fade. A cute but slight story worth your time.

By the way, the Irish priest (Arthur Shields) might well remind you of Barry Fitzgerald by his look and performance. Well, that's because despite the different stage names, Shields WAS Barry Fitzgerald's brother! Also, while a small role, I loved Rudolf Anders' performance later in the film. Seeing this German commander losing his mind was HIGHLY entertaining and his phone conversation was the best part of the film.

In 1944, two American spies (Charlton Heston , Harry Guardino) , disguising as priests , infiltrate German occupied Rome to relay information to HQ but can only communicate via pigeons due to the imposed radio silence . Set behind enemy lines , in order to communicate German movements to the Allies they use pigeons to send messages to an Allied general (Brian Donlevy) , while romancing local girls (Elsa Martinelli, Gabriella Pallotta) where they are based. Things go wrong when the family dad accidentally feeds the pigeons to his family for Easter Dinner. At Last! A Motion Picture That Delivers Fun!."Ben-Hur" Caught without His Chariot! .Fly - don't walk - to enjoy the brightest comedy idea since the invention of two sexes!.It's scandalous! It's spicy! And it has the year's sauciest cast. He is a military-type pigeon, now a sitting duck. He came to make war - and she threw in the towel!.This is a wolf who said "No more love in a pigeon coop."

WW2 light comedy of Charlton Heston as a spy captain , while he grows more and more in love with the daughter of the family he stays with , well played by beautiful Elsa Martinelli . The picture is pretty entertaining and amusing , the film contains funny scenes , a brief intrigue about Nazis , partisans and spies by using carrier pigeons fitted with messages and various chuckles with lots of fun . Humanity and humor are high in the priorities of the director Shavelson who shows a considerable talent recapturing enjoyable situations . Cast is frankly good , the always great Heston , ¨Chuck¨, Harry Guardino , two gorgeous latin girls : Gabriella Pallotta , Elsa Martinelli , the veteran Brian Donlevy , Rudolph Anders as the typical Nazi , Arthur Shields , among others . Special mention for the unknown actor Salvatore Baccaloni at his last film playing a very kind and sympathetic daddy.

This agreeable movie is really marred by a worn-out photography due to film copy is tarnished and lousy , being extremely necessary a perfect remastering . In fact , there are lots of Roman sightseeing , spectacularly photographed by cameraman Daniel L. Fapp . The motion picture was professionally written and directed by Melville Shavelson but it results to be a minor vehicle for the great Heston. Shavelson's movies have a special penchant for recapturing a particular atmosphere , many of this films are about real people but they remain muted in impact . A notorious screenwriter , Bob Hope -whom Shavelson had originally wanted for the lead- and Danny Kaye features Shavelson's pictures when he became filmmaker and his films with them are the most successful such as ¨The seven tittle Foys¨ , Beau James¨, ¨On the Double¨ and ¨Five pennies¨ . Shavelson's later pictures were made for TV and mostly biographies as ¨The great Houdini¨ , ¨Ike¨, ¨Ike : the war years¨, and ¨The legend of Valentino¨ which remains the best work on the subject to date . Two of the best films turned out to be ¨¨Cast a giant shadow¨ , an epic movie with all-star-cast dealing with the birth of Israel and ¨Yours , mine and ours¨ his biggest hit . Rating : 6/10. The flick will appeal to Charlton Heston fans.

I saw this film at a local theater in the '60s. I loved it. War movies are among my favorites but this one is special. The story of American spies doing recon in Rome is plausible. Capt. Heston, a no no-nonsense combat leader was chosen over the division intelligence officers. A very well made and entertaining movie resulted. The script, the actors and the Roman setting is perfect. As mentioned in other comments, the cast seems to enjoy making this movie. The Chinese will probably come up with a DVD. I have a very good recording I took off of TV. We love to watch it after seeing a list of serious shoot-em up war movies. It's very hard to find so I treasure my copy.