Arrivederci Roma (1957)

Arrivederci Roma: Directed by Roy Rowland. With Mario Lanza, Renato Rascel, Marisa Allasio, Peggie Castle. On a train to Rome, the American singer Marc Revere meets the Italian Raffaela. He notices that she intends to work and live at her uncle’s. When he gives her a ride, it turns out that said uncle has moved to South America. So Revere offers her to live with him at his cousin’s, an impecunious pianist.

“Mario Lanza and the city of Rome get equal notice in this paean to all things Italian. The film industry turned itself inside out after World War II, romanticizing Italy and France. This movie could have been produced by a travel agency, introducing the world to the classic song u0026quot;Arrivederci Roma.u0026quot; Lanzau0026#39;s glorious tenor voice shines as he bursts into song against the Eternal City backdrop; unfortunately the songs are too few and the drooling over Italian women a little sickening. All over the map, the movie even takes a couple of comic swipes at Cole Porter and rock u0026#39;nu0026#39; roll, and Lanzau0026#39;s imitations of Perry Como, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, and Frankie Laine are hilarious.”