Il segreto del vestito rosso

From Silvio Amadio, director of the Gialli "Amuck" and "So Young, So Lovely, So Young", comes this passable international-intrigue thriller with an engaging cast. It attempts to be a sophisticated crime mystery in the Hitchcock vein, and is reasonably entertaining if never anything great.

Hunky American star Hugh O'Brian ('The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp') is cast here as Dick Sherman, an American reporter working in Rome. Re-entering his life is Shelley North (Cyd Charisse, "Brigadoon"), who was there on vacation with her husband Bill, an engineer. Bill has gone missing at roughly the same time as a stranger has been found murdered near a fountain. Dick works to solve the case along with the inspector (Alberto Closas) assigned to the case.

As a mystery, this is nothing special, with a resolution that falls short of real satisfaction. We're supposed to be caught off guard by the reveal of the antagonist, but it would have worked better if the whole mystery were better explained. As it is, it does feature the requisite number of red herrings, and it does have some fairly exciting scenes.

Mostly, it's an effective visual experience. Other than the fact that the ladies (also including Juliette Mayniel and Eleonora Rossi Drago) are lovely, it's well handled in an aesthetic sense, with colourful 2.35:1 photography. The film is additionally enjoyable as something of a travelogue - there are many attractive Italian location shots. We even get to see inside Italy's famed Cinecitta Studios, which is the real treat.

O'Brian may not make anybody forget Cary Grant, but he comes off pretty well as the likeable, earnest hero. In fact, he comes off better than leading lady Charisse. The supporting cast is fairly strong, with some striking character faces among the other players (including a comedy relief pair of bumbling thieves who happen upon an important plot element during their escapades).

"Assassination in Rome" is nothing one has to go out of their way to see, but lovers of crime mysteries in exotic settings are sure to get some value out of it.

Six out of 10.

A body is found near a famous landmark in Rome. At the same time an American goes missing and his wife, "Shelley North" (Cyd Charisse) wants to find him. So she turns to an old flame named "Dick Sherman" (Hugh O'Brien) who happens to be an editor for the local newspaper, "the Rome-American Daily". During the course of his unofficial investigation he comes upon drugs, espionage, gambling and murder. Anyway, while not the best mystery film ever made, this movie still has enough twists and turns to keep most people interested for the most part. I thought Hugh O'Brien turned in a decent performance as did Cyd Charisse to a somewhat lesser degree. Again, while it certainly wasn't a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination it was decent for the period in which it was made and I think most people who enjoy films of this genre will probably be satisfied. All in all I rate it as about average.

Only so-so, this rather pedestrian thriller is from the director of a couple of decent giallo, Amuck and So Young, So Lovely, So Young. They are not great examples of the genre and this is somewhat less appealing. Hugh O'Brian at least tries and is never as wooden as Cyd Charisse who seems to barely understand what she is to do and unprepared every time she has to speak. Just watchable, this film is in fact saved by its fascinating location shooting in Rome, where we even get to go inside the famous Cinecitta film studios and the excellent and surprisingly natural sequences in Venice. The only other thing going for this is that it is available at a very decent price in a rather attractive DVD package.

A film wich stays in the mean among the Eurospy sixties wave. For Hollywood doesn't seem to seek to offer much choice for actresses above 40, Cyd Charisse makes here a very remarquable prestation as Shelley North, a wealthy American in Rome, in a production which stands far below her standards. Driven in an espionage plot around the usual microfilms of military secrets, Shelley worries about the sudden disappearing of her husband Bill (Alberto Dalbes, Paranoia/A quiet place to kill), and is helped to find him by her former lover Dick, a journalist (Hugh O'Brian), and his colleague of the fashion column Erika (Eleonora Rossi Drago, Nelle pieghe della carne).

Developments are far to be nervous and the story goes on on a rather dull pace, but false leads, around an elegant mafia boss (Mario Feliciani, Maigret a Pigalle) or a couple of suspicious friends (Philippe Lemaire and Juliette Mayniel, Solamente Nero), allows the suspense to endure, and the duet of comics Memmo Carotenuto and Franco Giacobini brings a welcome funny counterpoint. The postcard mood is for its part respected with Dolce Vita's Trevi Fountain, ruined panoramas of Rome and water trip through Venice under doves flight.

Lacking of any efficiency, Dick must recognize that he is "the biggest idiot in the whole world", the police officer Baudi (Alberto Closas) has to reduce himself to wonder "how come I didn't think of it before", while the so-called "secret of the red dress" indeed seen from time to time is to remain nebulous. But the film also looks towards the giallo issue, with a good final chase of a masked murderer bearing ambiguous identity through spiral staircase and steep roof, foretelling the later to come by the same Amadio (Il sorriso della iena and Amuck/Alla ricerca del piacere), and allowing the plot to find a resolution.

Cyd's husband has disappeared while on holiday in Rome and she enlists the help of the American Embassy to locate him. A drunk stumbles upon a dead man at Trevi Fountain. The dead man's apartment is robbed by a couple of inept thieves. Hugh is a newspaper editor in search of a story and learns of former lover Cyd's dilemma and decides to get involved. Enjoyable Italian made thriller with lovely on location photography. Hugh with the help of the inspector eventually ties these pieces together. But not before having to sift through a number of red herrings to get to the motivation behind Cyd's missing husband and the murder. The story is a bit difficult to follow but it moves along at a good pace and will keep your attention.