Seven Hills of Rome (1958)

The "6" rating is only because Mario Lanza gets to sing a good number of worthwhile songs as only he can. But I could have done without his impersonation scene where he makes fun of popular Italian crooners like Perry Como and Dean Martin.The story is so flat and unconvincing that it's hardly worth a mention. It's sufficient to say that you can forget it while enjoying abundant glimpses of Rome's landmarks and terrain, all nicely photographed in Technicolor.Lanza was beginning to look heavier than usual but his voice is still able to belt out a mixture of operatic arias and pop tunes. The film itself is not an "essential," even for Lanza fans because the script is an uninspired bit of tedium. Just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

This recently screened on TCM under its "Seven Hills of Rome" title. Under any title this is a pretty typical Mario Lanzo offering. I would say every five minutes he gets to belt one out. Actually the only thing that made me want to watch it was when I saw that Tonino Delli Colli, Pier Paolo Pasolini's favorite cinematographer, was behind the camera. Still, I don't think there is much here - even for a Romanophile like myself. Speaking on the travelogue level, though, there was one hilarious scene where Lanzo, his girl, and his Italian host-accompanist Pepe are inexplicably taking a Whirly-bird ride over Rome and environs (even though it was established in the previous scene that they have no money between them). During this ride Pepe gently strums and sings a tune. And everyone talks normally -- with the total lack of any engine noise! Actually, this might have made a better movie, with Lanzo hitting his high notes as the powerless copter spins its way earthward!

After a whole lot of incidents and the accompanying bad publicity, Mario Lanza took his family to live in Rome and became one of a growing group of expatriate American stars living in Europe. His last two films for MGM were shot in Italy.The real star of Seven Hills of Rome is the eternal city itself. Rome was really popular in the Fifties. Paramount did Roman Holiday and then 20th Century Fox followed with Three Coins in the Fountain both beautifully photographed. And now the best photographed of all is this one.It's almost a shame that a movie plot had to interfere with the promotional travel film. But Mario is an American singer, a whole lot like the real Mario Lanza, hovering between the classical and pop worlds. A spat with girl friend Peggie Castle sends him to Europe and Rome chasing her. He has a cousin there played by Italian performer Renato Rascel who puts him up. And he meets a girl, Marisa Allascio on the train to Rome who's stranded in Rome so he and cousin Renato take her in. The inevitable happens of course.Renato Rascel had a nice comic style and was a good performer. He reminds me a lot of Joe Pesci. Too bad he never broke into the American market. Kind of like the French comedian Fernandel that way.Back in the day, the song Arrivederci Roma was played EVERYWHERE, you couldn't get away from it. It's the biggest song that came out of Seven Hills of Rome. A whole lot of American singers back then recorded this one. I have versions of Dean Martin, Vic Damone, and Jerry Vale doing it. But Mario's all Italian version is the best and he's joined on screen by a young female street singer in an affecting duet.Nothing pretentious about Seven Hills of Rome. Good for a nice enjoyable afternoon. Fans of the eternal city will love it.

(No spoilers in the first three paragraphs.) This film was released in 1958, and the next year Mario Lanza was dead. That is hard to fathom, seeing him so youthful and alive here. The story is simple - Marc Revere (Lanza, 36 during filming) is a well-known singer in the USA and engaged to pretty but difficult Carol. When she goes off to Europe, he sets out to find her, and things become interesting during his train ride to Rome. In the rain a pretty, young Italian, Rafaella (Marisa Allascio, 21 during filming), stumbles, falls, and gets on the train without a ticket. Marc, overhearing her argument with the conductor, offers to pay the 5,900 Lira for her ticket, allowed her to share his compartment, and even goes out the compartment for a minute so she could change into his dry coat.Marc has no apparent romantic attraction, although Rafaela is strikingly pretty. They ride together to Rome, she says she will pay him back after she meets with her uncle who is to help her find a job. The rest of the movie involve a couple of different love triangles, but mostly is a series of opportunities for Mario Lanza as Marc to sing, and beautifully he does. My favorite scene is where he sings for youngsters in the streets, doing his impersonations of Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Dean Martin, and Satchmo Armstrong. A nice little movie for anyone who enjoys Mario Lanza and his singing.As was often the case in the 1950s and 1960s, movies set in a foreign country contained liberal footage of the sights and sounds of the locale. Not so much to advance the plot, but I think more to serve as a 'travelogue' of sorts, back when fewer people traveled overseas and TV was not so world-wide. This movie includes much footage of Rome, its major attractions, and the surrounding countryside, filmed nicely in widescreen and color.SPOILERS follow, do not read further if you have not seen the movie, but please DO see it when you get the chance. When they arrive in Rome, Rafaela finds that her uncle has moved to Argentina, she has no job and no place to stay, so she and Marc end up staying with Marc's cousin Pepe (Renato Rascel). When Rafaela sees that Marc is not a cad, and is in fact a nice, talented singer, she begins to fall for him, even though Marc just treats her as a young lady working as cook and cleaning lady at Pepe's. Meanwhile, Pepe who becomes Marc's pianist, begins to fall for Rafaela, but she has no interest in him. Marc finally finds Carol in Rome, they renew their intent to get married, but she has another suitor chasing her. In the end it doesn't work out and, as Marc and Carol split, Rafaela is leaving for the train station, to leave Rome. Marc tracks her down and they end up hand in hand, walking in the evening light.The story uses the 'chance encounter' theme, if Rafaela had not been chasing that particular train, or if Marc had not been in that particular car, chances are they never would have met. Much of the middle of the movie is set up by Marc, Rafaela, and Pepe all being essentially 'broke', so they have to hustle odd jobs to buy food and avoid eviction. Marc's break in Rome comes when he stumbles into a local bad talent contest, wins easily, and gets hired for a regular singing job paying just over $5 American a day.