Rome Adventure (1962) is a wonderful film that is unknown to most people. While people find fault in that the pace is rather slow and sheer excitement with surprises at every turn are not part of the story I would say this is part of the charm of the film. Anyone who is over at least 20 years of age will understand the meaning of the film and identify with it greatly.

PLOT

The story starts out in a small private women’s university where a young librarian’s assistant, Prudence Bell (Suzanne Pleshette), is reprimanded by a group of senior faculty and staff members for allowing one of the students access to a book titled “Lovers Must Learn”. The school finds the book suggestive and inappropriate but Prudence feels it is about a beautiful subject that is characterized as being dirty and perverse by the mainstream views of the times. Prudence resigns from her job and decides to move to Rome to find herself. She crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a ship and meets two men onboard. The first is an intellectual by the name of Albert Stillwell who is the son of a friend of her mother while the second man is an older Italian who is very wealthy. Albert is very aloof when it comes to women so he tries to be as nice as he can be in a very platonic sense. Roberto Orlandi, the Italian, is very much the lady’s man and puts the moves on a young woman who is young enough to be his daughter. Once in Rome, Roberto takes Prudence and Albert into the city and helps Prudence get setup. Soon thereafter, she meets a man by the name of Don Porter (Troy Donahue) who is going through problems with his love life as he is working on his graduate studies. Prudence eventually lands a job in a bookshop owned by an American woman and falls in love with the town. She makes a go at romance with Roberto but they amicably decide against it. She does eventually fall in love with Don as they better get to know each other and weak attraction on both sides turns into something much more stronger. Prudence and Don enjoy a site seeing tour in the Italian countryside over the course of a few days and things look to be perfect until a wrench is thrown in the gears by the return of Don’s former lover. The rest of the film has to do with the question of if Prudence will ever find herself or the joy she found in this affair.

CHARACTERS

Prudence Bell, simply stated, is every young person at that age just a few years after high school when they are transitioning from adolescence to adulthood yet do not seem to fit into either category completely. She does not like structure and is a rebel of sorts but her intentions are good when it comes to the issue of the book at her school. Political pundit Patrick Buchanan best describes this situation with his quote “If you are not a liberal at age 20 you don’t have a heart and if you are not a conservative at age 40 you don’t have a brain”. Yes, the story is very much a fantasy but I found great realism in this character more than any other in the film. Another thing to keep in mind is that this was filmed at a time when the era of free love was just on the brink. While Prudence was a very progressive individual she was very old fashioned when it came to a love life because she felt a monogamous commitment on the part of both sexes was the ultimate expression of love. She constantly felt that most all females shared this view while all males did not. For someone who was so inexperienced in this area she spoke as an expert at the beginning of the film at the university. Again, we see inconsistency and these very real human flaws that are in the film as they are in reality with most people. Susane Pleshette was outstanding in the film not only from an acting standpoint but because she was able to transition so well from the innocent idealist into the experienced adult without losing her charm. In some scenes she was as lovely and ultra feminine looking as Audrey Hepburn was in Roman Holiday (1953) but in other scenes she was very self destructive and so foolish you wanted to throw the remote at the TV.

Don Porter (Troy Donahue) is someone who is unsure of himself and who he is just as Prudence is. However, in the case of Don, he is not as self aware about his condition so he is more passive in life and allows things to happened to him instead of doing things to make life occur as he would like it to. His former lover is a woman by the name of Lyda Kent with whom he seems to lack much in common with. The fact that they have carried on a relationship since they were both very young adults is the reason that Don seems to be attracted to Lyda. Don is much more of a realist than Prudence is in every sense. While Prudence is exercises caution in taking things to the next level Don sees things in more of a black and white where you either love or do not love someone. Troy Donahue was not the best choice for this role simply because he looked like a blue blood aristocrat that was socializing with a commoner. Although they had a few moments in the film where there is good chemistry between Prudence and Don, as a whole they seemed to be a poor fit. Despite this fact, the film is still very much worth watching.

The third corner of the love triangle in the film is Lyda Kent. Lyda is wise beyond her years when it comes to relationships. Unlike the other two main players in the film who think love and connection is the goal they are seeking to attain, Lyda uses relationships as a means to an end to get the result she desires. This individual is a very cold and calculating person who is a master at manipulation. The way she controls Don is very obvious to the viewer but you can understand how it would not be so if you were Don. Angie Dickinson is spectacular as Lyda because she plays the character so well you hate her with a passion. Lyda also appears to be at least five years the senior of Prudence so you feel she has an unfair advantage in life experience that she exploits to the max. Look for the scenes at the dinner party Lyda invites Prudence to towards the end of the film. Lyda is very cruel and destructive with just her choice of words when she pretty much destroys her younger rival. Prudence never had a chance in that scene; it was like bringing a pocket knife to a gun fight.

FILMING AND EDITING

Another star of this film is the location. Starting with the scene in which Prudence is leaving on the Christopher Columbo (the passenger ship she takes to Italy), everything is vibrant and full of life. The people on the ship as well as the dock are cheerful and celebratory. Then, as soon as the story shifts to Italy we are shown the famous landmarks of Rome. There are many scenes in the film where at least one of the main characters are out exploring the surroundings. The only part that did not seem authentic to be was the lack of pedestrian and motorized vehicle traffic in the city in many scenes. Perhaps in 1962 this was reality or perhaps the limited activity in the background was all done with extras. In any case, the setting for this story was vital to the success of the film as a whole.

The quality of the video was the major flaw the DVD I screened. I was very disappointed with the poor resolution and bleached/dim colors in the print. Also, in a few night scenes the black background blends in with the dark colors of objects and creates tons of negative space that ruins the quality of the experience. In a way I wish the film was done in a high resolution black and white because of this flaw. With all of the high tech restoration technology available these days it is a shame no one has used any of it on this film. A second release of a remastered print is a must for DVD format. The audio quality is more than adequate for the film but the musical score that plays during the opening credits is very muddled and of low fidelity.

The editing and scene selection might be very monotonous and slow paced for many but I enjoyed every one of the 119 minutes. If the visual aspects were restored the film would be outstanding. The only thing I wish the director did more of was use more of Suzanne Pleshette's face in profile or in closeups to enhance the romance and fantasy feel of things.

SOCIAL STATEMENTS

The concept of discovering who you are and what role you are meant to play in life is a concept that has been explored in many films. The 1960s were a time of great self discovery of our entire culture. This film confronts this topic head on at a time when doing so was not the norm but the rarity. Very few films such as The Best of Everything (1959) dealt with this topic and when they did they made the world appear to be a cruel and unsafe place. While extreme reality is entertaining so is a fairweather take on things.

The most inspiring thing that this film exhibits is how taking a chance on things and seeking something you seek when there is no guarantee of success is a risk worth taking. Few people who are just out of school and working their first job have the guts to resign when they are unhappy with things. While not everyone can expect to cross the Atlantic and find the answers to their life they can expect something different if they make changes. People who are in their few final years of school or have recently graduated should definitely see this film.

OVERALL

During many points in the film I found many parallels between Suzanne Pleshette and Audrey Hepburn. Not only did this film take place in the same city as the aforementioned Roman Holiday but there was also the spiral staircase in the bookshop in this film as there was in Funny Face (1957). Physically speaking both actresses had a very slim figure and bushy eye brows that further enhanced the similarity of the films. In no way does this film come off as a cheap knock off of the Hepburn films that preceded it. While they share many elements this is a story that holds its own. During the course of the running time you will feel joy, anger, and just sorry for how aloof Prudence can be at times but there is a happy ending that closes things out. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is an avid fan of the genre of foreign lands coupled with a love story. It is a shame Hollywood made Pleshette famous for playing Bob Newhart's wife on television instead of making more films of this genre with her when she was in her 20s.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older