Seven Hills of Rome (1958)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Absolutely brilliant

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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.

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 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.