Rome Adventure
Encyclopedia
Rome Adventure, also known as Lovers Must Learn, is a 1962 romantic drama film, based on Irving Fineman's novel. It was directed by Delmer Daves
and stars Troy Donahue
, Angie Dickenson, and Suzanne Pleshette
.
) has recommended a book to one of her students that has drawn the ire of the school board and she resigns one step ahead of being fired. She defends the book "Lovers Must Learn" and tells the prudish board that she's going to Rome where she will be surrounded by people who really know the meaning of love. She sails from New York to Italy and at the rail she accidentally picks the wrong man she was standing near as a protective consort. This all gets resolved via telegrams and gives us two potential romantic interests before even leaving. Albert Stillwell, a student of Etruscan history is a perfect gentlemen and scout, while Roberto Orlandi (Rossano Brazzi
) is the perfect Roman lover, mature, romantic, poetic, and always interested.
Once in Rome
, Prudence checks into her boarding home and meets a self-centered American architect, Don Porter (Troy Donahue
) who is running away from/to the love of his life, Lyda Kent (Angie Dickinson
), a controlling, manipulative bombshell of a woman tied up in her own love storms. Prudence needs a job and gets a tip during dinner that first night in Rome, an English speaking job at The American Book Shop near one of Rome's famous fountains. Bright and early the next morning she lands a perfect job with the bookstore owner, Constance Ford and her large, loud, fuzzy sheep dog. Their first meeting and friendly banter is a terrific lead into their characters and their budding friendship.
The plot thickens as Prudence takes an Italian language course on her record player which sets off a yelling match between her and Don, who isn't a bit interested in her, yet. Don is a close confidant of Roberto and has several discussions about his relationship with Lyda and its impending implosion. As it falters, Prudence becomes a rebound candidate and handles his interest with aplomb. The two take a trip around Rome in horse drawn carriages, his red Vespa scooter, in a great travelogue and romantic journey. While at dinner looking over the entire City of Rome, Don buys a candelabra from a peddler that serves as a symbol of their new friendship. At dinner, Emilio Pericoli sings the wonderful song "Al Di Là", his Italian version that rose to number 6 following the movie's release in '62.
Lyda and Prudence meet in Don's room back at the boarding house and Lyda invites Prudence to dinner at her studio. The visual daggers are shared as each shows the other whose territory Don Porter belongs in. Albert floats through several scenes and is always the clueless, nerdy student with just the right timing to defuse any situation, unbeknownst to him.
Summer holidays, August escapes arrive, the book store closes, and Don and Prudence sneak out of town on a train to Lago Maggiore in northern Italy for a wonderful, innocent and beautiful tour of the garden spots of northern Italy, the Italian alps with "Al Di Là" playing over the lift speakers, Verona and its famous Romeo and Juliet balcony, its market place where the plot thickens. Prudence runs into friends, and makes a mad dash with her Romeo Don out of the market and eventually back to Rome. A time well spent, relationships cemented rock solid and a good time had by all.
Back in Rome, Lyda has got into more trouble and has an urgent need to see Don, who by now knows he has to break off his relationship with her. Don is summoned to a villa where Lyda plays cat and mouse with the fact that she has married a possessive rich older man and needs Don to free her from her palatial prison. Don finally comes to his senses and heads back to Rome, but Prudence is convinced that Don wants to be with Lyda and makes her plans to leave Rome and return to the States. The process turns into a chaotic good-bye scene in the train station between Prudence and all the friends she has made while in Rome.
She sails back to New York City, and while waiting at the ship's rail, sees her parents, waves and begins to disembark. While stepping down, she sees a candelabra and roses weaving their way through the crowd and behind her family. Her heart leaps as she passes the family and slides into the arms of Don Porter her prize from her Rome Adventure.
" featured in the film and performed by Emilio Pericoli
was originally recorded by Betty Curtis
and winner of the 1961 edition of the Sanremo Festival, subsequently becoming Italy's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1961
. The song became an international hit with a cover version
by Connie Francis
.
Delmer Daves
Delmer Daves was an American screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Born in San Francisco, Delmer Daves first pursued a career as a lawyer...
and stars Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
, Angie Dickenson, and Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
.
Plot
A New England schoolteacher, Prudence Bell (Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
) has recommended a book to one of her students that has drawn the ire of the school board and she resigns one step ahead of being fired. She defends the book "Lovers Must Learn" and tells the prudish board that she's going to Rome where she will be surrounded by people who really know the meaning of love. She sails from New York to Italy and at the rail she accidentally picks the wrong man she was standing near as a protective consort. This all gets resolved via telegrams and gives us two potential romantic interests before even leaving. Albert Stillwell, a student of Etruscan history is a perfect gentlemen and scout, while Roberto Orlandi (Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi
-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
) is the perfect Roman lover, mature, romantic, poetic, and always interested.
Once in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Prudence checks into her boarding home and meets a self-centered American architect, Don Porter (Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
) who is running away from/to the love of his life, Lyda Kent (Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
), a controlling, manipulative bombshell of a woman tied up in her own love storms. Prudence needs a job and gets a tip during dinner that first night in Rome, an English speaking job at The American Book Shop near one of Rome's famous fountains. Bright and early the next morning she lands a perfect job with the bookstore owner, Constance Ford and her large, loud, fuzzy sheep dog. Their first meeting and friendly banter is a terrific lead into their characters and their budding friendship.
The plot thickens as Prudence takes an Italian language course on her record player which sets off a yelling match between her and Don, who isn't a bit interested in her, yet. Don is a close confidant of Roberto and has several discussions about his relationship with Lyda and its impending implosion. As it falters, Prudence becomes a rebound candidate and handles his interest with aplomb. The two take a trip around Rome in horse drawn carriages, his red Vespa scooter, in a great travelogue and romantic journey. While at dinner looking over the entire City of Rome, Don buys a candelabra from a peddler that serves as a symbol of their new friendship. At dinner, Emilio Pericoli sings the wonderful song "Al Di Là", his Italian version that rose to number 6 following the movie's release in '62.
Lyda and Prudence meet in Don's room back at the boarding house and Lyda invites Prudence to dinner at her studio. The visual daggers are shared as each shows the other whose territory Don Porter belongs in. Albert floats through several scenes and is always the clueless, nerdy student with just the right timing to defuse any situation, unbeknownst to him.
Summer holidays, August escapes arrive, the book store closes, and Don and Prudence sneak out of town on a train to Lago Maggiore in northern Italy for a wonderful, innocent and beautiful tour of the garden spots of northern Italy, the Italian alps with "Al Di Là" playing over the lift speakers, Verona and its famous Romeo and Juliet balcony, its market place where the plot thickens. Prudence runs into friends, and makes a mad dash with her Romeo Don out of the market and eventually back to Rome. A time well spent, relationships cemented rock solid and a good time had by all.
Back in Rome, Lyda has got into more trouble and has an urgent need to see Don, who by now knows he has to break off his relationship with her. Don is summoned to a villa where Lyda plays cat and mouse with the fact that she has married a possessive rich older man and needs Don to free her from her palatial prison. Don finally comes to his senses and heads back to Rome, but Prudence is convinced that Don wants to be with Lyda and makes her plans to leave Rome and return to the States. The process turns into a chaotic good-bye scene in the train station between Prudence and all the friends she has made while in Rome.
She sails back to New York City, and while waiting at the ship's rail, sees her parents, waves and begins to disembark. While stepping down, she sees a candelabra and roses weaving their way through the crowd and behind her family. Her heart leaps as she passes the family and slides into the arms of Don Porter her prize from her Rome Adventure.
Cast
- Troy DonahueTroy DonahueTroy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
as Don Porter - Angie DickinsonAngie DickinsonAngie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
as Lyda Kent - Rossano BrazziRossano Brazzi-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
as Roberto Orlandi - Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
as Prudence Bell - Constance FordConstance FordConstance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World.-Career:...
as Daisy Bronson - Al HirtAl HirtAl Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
as Himself - Hampton FancherHampton FancherHampton Fancher is a former actor who became a producer and screenwriter in the late 1970s. Fancher was born to a Mexican mother and an American father in East Los Angeles, California, US. At 15, he ran away to Spain to become a flamenco dancer and renamed himself Mario Montejo. He was married...
as Albert Stillwell - Iphigenie Castiglioni as La Contessa
- Chad EverettChad EverettChad Everett is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and television series but is probably best known for his role as Dr. Joe Gannon in the 1970s television drama Medical Center.-Early life:...
as Young man - Gertrude Flynn as Mrs. Riggs
- Pamela Austin as Agnes Hutton
- Lili Valenty as Angelina
Background
The song "Al di làAl Di Là
"Al di là" is a popular Italian song. "Al di là" was one of Betty Curtis' biggest hits in Italy. The song was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961, performed in Italian by Curtis at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on March 18, 1961, after Curtis had won the 1961...
" featured in the film and performed by Emilio Pericoli
Emilio Pericoli
Emilio Pericoli is an Italian singer. He was born in Cesenatico, Romagna.Pericoli's success was closely tied to the Sanremo Festival. He recorded a cover version of the song, "Al di là", by festival winner Betty Curtis. The song was an international success, hitting the charts in the U.S. and #30...
was originally recorded by Betty Curtis
Betty Curtis
Betty Curtis was an Italian singer active from 1957 to 2004.The song "Al di là" performed by her with Luciano Tajoli won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1961...
and winner of the 1961 edition of the Sanremo Festival, subsequently becoming Italy's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Eurovision Song Contest 1961
The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the sixth Eurovision Song Contest. A total of sixteen countries took part in the Contest, including the three debuting countries: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia. It was held on 18 March 1961 and was the first to take place on a Saturday night, a tradition that...
. The song became an international hit with a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
.
Soundtrack
- "Rome Adventure"
- "Lovers Must Learn"
- "Tarantella"
- "Al Di La"
- "Serenade"
- "Prudence"
- "Rome Adeventure"
- "Oh Marie"
- "Mattinata"
- "Arrivederci Roma"
- "Come Back to Sorrento"
- "Santa Lucia"
- "Volare"
External links
- Rome Adventure film trailer at You Tube
- Rome Adventure theme song at You Tube ("Al di là")