Arrivederci Roma (1957) Online

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.

Here,s a film after my own heart, not so much for its plot, which is limited, but rather for the beautiful 1950's atmosphere, romantic Italy, beeeeautiful women ( Rafaella in Particular ) and that lovely music. A feast for the eyes and ears. I m not much into Opera, but Mario Lanza's voice is just something else. I so much prefer the 1950's atmosphere of romance and beautiful music, to the violence and aggressiveness of today's films. That alone is more than a saving grace for a film of which the plot would be judged no doubt by today's critics as being too weak. You just have to hand it to the Italians, they have an innate sense of beauty, whether it be art, music or women ! For these reasons alone, the film is worth having.

Mario Lanza is an American singer looking for his fiancé (Peggie Castle) in Rome in "Arrivederci Roma" aka "The Seven Hills of Rome." The threadbare plot consists of Lanza, as Marc Revere, meeting a destitute young woman, Raffaela (Marisa Allasio) on a train. He takes her to stay with his cousin Pepe. Pepe falls in love with her; she falls in love with Marc.

The plot exists only to take the audience on a dazzling tour of Rome and to have an opportunity to listen to some beautiful music. This was the film that introduced the hit song "Arriverderci Roma." Lanza also sings "The Seven Hills of Rome," and part of "M'appari." Marc blunders into a talent show where his cousin is playing accompaniment and announces he will sing an aria from the opera "Rigoletto" and somehow Pepe knows it's "Quest o' quella" instead of the more famous "La Donna e Mobile." Probably the most entertaining scene is Lanza entertaining some young rock and rollers in Pepe's courtyard with imitations of Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Dean Martin, and Louis Armstrong.

Having just heard Lanza do some of his best singing in "Because You're Mine," the change in the tenor's voice after six years of drinking was apparent, not to mention that he looked bloated. The voice had darkened; the top was sometimes strained, as well as the approach pushed, and some of the high notes had a covered sound. It's not unusual for a voice to change in this way - but not at the age of 37. However, he could still pull it out when he needed to, and often does throughout the film.

"Arrivederci Roma" is a pleasant film but heartbreaking to realize that Lanza is almost at the end of his downward spiral and that it would be stopped by his death. He was one of music's brightest lights.

(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.

It's ironic that Seven Hills of Rome (Italian title: Arrivederci, Roma) made a reasonable splash at the box office - particularly in Italy, where it was a huge success. After all, it's undoubtedly Mario Lanza's weakest movie effort, and a film that the tenor went to great pains to distance himself from. Lanza was particularly hard on his own performance, but watching the movie 45 years later it's immediately apparent that the fault isn't his, but rather the meandering script and lack-lustre direction. To make matters worse, there is very little in the way of substance for Lanza to sing. Still, there are a few compensations along the way...

Lanza's previous film, the much underrated Serenade, was a poor performer at the box office in 1956. Nervous producers decided that Lanza's next movie should shift the emphasis away from the drama and solid operatic selections to a much lighter presentation of the popular tenor. Unfortunately they went too far, reducing Lanza to just one aria (Questa O Quella from Rigoletto) and a fragment of another. Instead of his usual role as an opera singer, Lanza is merely a TV/nightclub performer this time, and his selections include the pretty Arrivederci, Roma and a handful of largely forgettable popular ballads. Ironically, the biggest vocal highlight of this movie is Lanza's imitations of OTHER singers. His impersonations of Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Dean Martin and - believe it or not - Louis Armstrong are hilarious, and amazing in their accuracy.

The original script was reportedly a good one, but the producers soon realised that it contained enough material for a five-hour movie. This resulted in drastic re-writes (even on the film set), and therein lies the problem. This is a movie without a solid story, and instead we are left with some enchanting shots of Rome, some sporadically good acting from Lanza, and two engaging co-stars in the Loren-lookalike Marissa Allassio and the popular comedian Renato Rascel.

This movie will probably not win Lanza any new admirers, but diehard fans will enjoy it. Happily, Lanza's next (and final) movie, For the First Time, was a considerable improvement, with enough opera AND popular ballads to satisfy every type of music lover.

Mario Lanza was and remains an enigma. Endowed with an incredible voice and a rugged sex appeal, he rose to the top and slid to the bottom in a few short years. This film, his penultimate, is a stinker in many ways. The story sucks, the acting ghastly and the scenes contrived and unconvincing. So, why am I not slamming it with a spoiler (as indeed, this comment is not)? Easy. Mario. Mario, the voice. This guy who lived in excess of the excesses, had an absolutely great voice. He was a lousy musician (most singers are, BTW), utilized horrible vocal technique and emoted all over the place. But, the voice. Ah, the voice. It was golden. And, Mario, the ham, sang from the heart and from the soul. Trite? Perhaps. But, the truth is, his was a unique talent that even some of the great tenors of our time acknowledge as inspirational. When you consider that tenors of the quality of Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras and McCord declare he was their inspiration, what more can you say? This film, a story not unlike Mario's own odyssey, of a tenor returning to Italy to get in touch with roots and start over again, is a bit corny. But, the singing is worth the price of watching. That voice. We will never hear another like it. In my youth, I aspired to be an operatic tenor and sang on the stage at UC Berkeley and in Italy. I found out quickly that my talent was likely not going to support a great career, but I had pursued it to that point because I loved imitating Mario. He had it. I didn't, but then, who else but Mario did? Check it out.

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!

As a fan of opera and as somebody who loves Mario Lanza's voice, Seven Hills of Rome(or Arrivederci Roma) is not a bad film and has some good things about it, but it could have been better and Lanza's other films showcase his talents much more.

The stars here are the cinematography and the Rome scenery itself. The cinematography is bursting with gorgeous colour and is the very meaning of lavish, capturing Rome beautifully. The scenery itself is just splendid, so much so it makes one wish they were back in Rome, and the film does a good job making the costumes and settings as authentic as possible. Seven Hills of Rome has a music score that's energetic and romantically whimsical, and while only Questo a Quella from Verdi's masterpiece Rigoletto and the unforgettable Arrivederci Roma(which is the highlight of the film other than the visuals) are truly memorable the songs themselves are very pleasant and hummable.

Lanza is not at his absolute best, and Seven Hills of Rome is the film that showcases his talents the least effectively(he definitely deserved more music to sing), he still sounds great with his very distinctive tone ringing and beautiful and his phrasing and musicality very good too. Marisa Allasio and Peggie Castle are charming and Renato Reschel brings some amusing comedy.

Sadly, the story is poor, even for a Lanza film where it was never was a strong point, the reason being that it is so flat and wafer-thin that it is almost non-existent and seems more of an excuse to string alone scenes together. It also has a tendency to move along a little sluggishly and aimlessly and with any charming or amusing moments being in spades rather than consistent. The script fares even worse, getting increasingly tedious and meandering, with comedy that doesn't really sparkle(ranging from mildly amusing to falling flat) and parts that could have been trimmed easily. And while Lanza does sound great here, his acting is another story. It has its moments, like in Arrivederci Roma but he does try too hard and comes over as stiff. His impersonation scene is also hit-and-miss, his impression of Dean Martin is not bad but his one for Louis Armstrong is so off the mark it's embarrassing. He is not the only person whose acting is not great, because the acting generally is either too broad or going-through-the-motions, while the direction generally is limp.

In conclusion, Lanza was a great talent that we lost too soon, but Seven Hills of Rome does not show it as well as his other films. Has its moments but of Lanza's films it's by far his weakest. 5/10 Bethany Cox

TV, radio and recording star Mario Lanza (as Marc Revere) quarrels with beautiful blonde fiancée Peggie Castle (as Carol Ralston). She leaves Mr. Lanza's New York studio and heads for Europe. Lanza follows. On a train to Rome, the operatic tenor meets beautifully-proportioned Marisa Allasio (as Rafaella Marini). The young woman got wet in the rain. Lanza advises her, "You better take that dress off." Just in case you didn't notice Ms. Allasio has arousing curves, director Roy Rowland makes it obvious as she jiggles out of her clothing, on screen...

Allasio's clothes stay on for the rest of the film, alas, but she remains eye-catching. The location photography, by Tonino Delli Colli, is also lovely. A low-point is Lanza's increasingly excruciating impersonations of Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Dean Martin and Louis Armstrong. Lanza is not a great impressionist. Still, he's a great when he does Mario Lanza. His beautiful co-stars, Italian "cousin" Renato Rascel (as Pepe Bonelli) and the incidental music are pleasant enough to offset a substandard story. In less than two years, Lanza would be gone, sadly.

**** Arrivederci Roma (11/21/57) Roy Rowland ~ Mario Lanza, Marisa Allasio, Renato Rascel, Peggie Castle

Well, I hope, I will never regret my negative comments on this `musical movie'. I have to say, that I really appreciate Mario Lanza's broad repertoire of musical styles, but anyone who has ever seen this movie may notice, that this can get too far.

This is a movie about Rome and as much as I love the music of Cole Porter, there is no place for `I've Got You Under My Skin' and `Easy To Love' in such a movie. Lanza parodying Como, Laine, Martin and Armstrong is a catastrophe itself. I'm quite sure, the tenor could have done great versions of this songs himself (as he already did with `Temptation' in 1952). The saddest thing about this all is, that the musical direction credit goes to M-G-M veteran Georgie Stoll, who has been responsible for `Meet Me In St. Louis' and several others of Judy Garland's M-G-M flicks.

Now about the storyline: I guess, the screenwriters could have made far more out of the mysterious scenes of Rome and the basic score (`Arrivederci Rome', `The Seven Hills Of Rome'). All we get, are a few aerial shots of Rome (which are indeed great) and surroundings and a great end sequence, which somehow reminds me to a similar M-G-M scene in Paris.

Sorry, but after years of wait to capture this movie on TV, this was a real disappointment. My hint: Forget about 90 minutes of that movie and remember Lanza's outstanding performances of the title tune, `Arrivederci Roma', `Come Dance With Me', and `The Loveliest Night Of The Year' (is it actually based on an Italian waltz?).

Songs: "The Seven Hills of Rome" (Music by Victor Young, lyrics by Harold Adamson), "Calypso Italiano" (George Stoll), "M'Appari", "All the Things You Are", "Come Dance With Me", "Lolita", "Ay, Ay, Ay", "Loveliest Night of the Year", "Ti Voglio Benne Tanto Tanto", "Na Canzone Pe Fa Ammore", "Venticello di Roma", "E' Arrivato La Bufera", "Ostricaro Innamorato", "Vogliamaci Tanto Bene", "There's Gonna Be A Party Tonight", "Imitation Routine", and "Arrivederci Roma" (Renato Rascel, Carl Sigman), "Never Till Now" (John Green, Paul Francis Webster), "Earthbound" (Jack Taylor, Clive Richardson, Bob Muset), "Questa o Quella" (from Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi), "Temptation" (Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown), "Jezebel" (Wayne Shanklin), "When the Saints Go Marching In" (traditional), "Memories Are Made of This" (Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr, Frank Miller).

A Le Cloud Production. Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Producer: Lester Welch. Filmed by Titanus S.P.A. at Titanus Studios in Rome. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 30 January 1958 (ran 3 weeks). U.S. release: January 1958. U.K. release: 18 May 1958. Australian release: 16 June 1958. Sydney opening at the St James. 107 minutes. Cut to 104 minutes in Australia. 103 minutes in the U.K.

SYNOPSIS: After losing his American TV show because of temperament, singer Marc Revere goes to Rome and his cousin Pepe's bohemian apartment. He is accompanied by Rafaella, a young Italian girl he met on the train after she had lost all her money. While Marc is singing in a fashionable night club, his erstwhile American fiancée Carol re-appears.

COMMENT: "Seven Hills of Rome" looks a more attractive proposition on paper than it does in actual fact. Rome in Technirama and Technicolor is a rather drab affair. The actual locations look more like backdrops than real backgrounds.

Lanza's singing? Well the songs by and large are not worthy of his talents and his series of imitations (Laine, Martin, Como, Armstrong) looks better than it actually sounds (oddly enough, the Armstrong "When the Saints Go Marching In" comes off best).

Miss Allasio is only a moderately fetching heroine and as for Renato Rascel, minus his mustache and in a serious rather than a comic role, he just fails to make any impression. Is it his own voice? The direction, while it affords some scenic helicopter glimpses of Rome, is strictly functional. And as for the hokey plot, which comes on about ¾s of the way through with Miss Allasio lifting a bracelet, you can keep it. The Peggie Castle sub-plot is just as dull and clichéd but at least it enables a bit of glamour to sift across the screen — though Miss Castle is herself surprisingly bland and uninteresting in this effort. The direction is economy style, with Miss Allasio's fall in the rain obviously contrived.

But for rabid Lanza fans for whom their idol can sing no wrong, he is looking good.

After a great night out I felt like watching an easy-going flick. Buying the Warner Archive DVD a few weeks ago,I decided it was time to climb the hills.

The plot:

Searching for his fiancée, singer Marc Revere decides to travel around Rome via train in search of her. During a train journey, Revere crosses paths with Rafaella Marini,who quickly gets a real crush on him. Continuing to look for his fiancée,Revere soon discovers that Marini has put down some new tracks of love.

View on the film:

Whilst Mario Lanza's voice booms,Warner Archives delivery a poor transfer,with the top of the frame appearing to have a broken bit of nail,large specs of dirt dimming the Musical sparkle and the Italian songs having no English subtitles. Filmed in the glorious outdoors of Rome, director Roy Rowland & cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli turn the city into a Broadway landscape,with elegant crane shots sweeping along the brightly lit hills of Rome. Crossing tracks on a train,the screenplay by Giuseppe Amato/Art Cohn and Giorgio Prosperi keep the romance between Revere and Marini relaxed,but fail to give it a much needed shot of Italian passion. Joined by a cute Marisa Allasio as Marini,Mario Lanza lays the smooth lounge lizard charm on Revere,with a voice heard atop the seven hills of Rome.