Seven Hills of Rome (film)

Seven Hills of Rome
Theatrical poster for the USA release
Directed by	Roy Rowland
Produced by	Lester Welch
Written by	Art Cohn and Giorgio Prosperi
Starring	Mario Lanza Marisa Allasio Renato Rascel
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	30 January 1958
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Italy United States
Language	English
Budget	$908,000
Box office	$2,155,000

Seven Hills of Rome (Italian title: Arrivederci Roma) is an Italian-American film released in January 1958 and shot on location in Rome and at the Titanus studios. The movie was filmed in Technicolor and Technirama, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was tenor Mario Lanza's penultimate film.

The film tells the story of Marc Revere, an American TV singer of Italian heritage who travels to Italy in search of his jet-setting fiancée, Carol Ralston, played by Peggie Castle. Revere moves in with his comical and good hearted cousin Pepe Bonelli (Renato Rascel), a struggling artist who also befriends a beautiful young girl, Raffaella Marini (Marisa Allasio), whom Revere had met on a train, and who develops a crush on him.

Lanza, after some difficulty, lands a contract to sing in a fine nightclub, but misses his opening night due to unforeseen circumstances during a date with Carol. A helicopter sequence showcases landmarks of Rome from the air. Like Lanza, this was Allasio's next-to-last film (the 17th of her career), as she would marry Count Pierfrancesco Calvi di Bergolo, grandson of King Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, in November 1958 and retire from the cinema.

The music was supervised and conducted by George Stoll, and included the following songs:

Among the selections that Lanza sings in this "vocal tour de force" (Variety) is "Arrivederci Roma", performed in the Piazza Navona (and recorded) with a young street urchin, Luisa Di Meo. In typical Lanza fashion, the star had encountered the youngster while in Rome and insisted on her appearing in the film. Lanza also performs a sequence of imitations of famous singers of the era — Perry Como; Frankie Laine; Dean Martin; and Louis Armstrong- "When The Saints Go Marching In" — committing to film what was one of his favorite party performances. Opera selections include "Questa o quella" from Rigoletto.