Had this focused mainly on the fabulous character played by Suzanne Pleshette ("Prudence") and her growing romance with tender hearted Troy Donahue and forgotten about a few unnecessary minor characters, I would have rated this much higher. She's fantastic as a Briarcliff librarian who quits to go to Italy, going to work for the bohemian Constance Ford in her English language bookstore and discovering love for the first time.
But Donahue is just getting over a romance with the toxic Angie Dickinson and is warned by Ford not to hurt Pleshette. Dickinson returns to try to get him back after he's spent a summer break in the country with Suzanne (taking the viewer high up to some most majestic mountains), and of course she thinks she's lost him. It's all too melodramatic and messy so you don't need interjections from a few minor characters, especially since the one who needed more scenes (Ford) gets the shaft. Rossano Brazzi takes on a smaller role than normal as a mature but still handsome Italian man she tries to get over Donahue with.
Even though they were foes in "A Summer Place", Donahue and Ford make nice here, and there's something sad behind the eyes of the lonely Constance, having found "another world" long before she became the loveable tough matriarch Ada Davis on that NBC soap opera. Her "A Summer Place" mother, Gertrude Flynn, has a small part as the mother of one of those unnecessary interlopers. Al Hirt is given a pointless cameo as himself, starting a fight in a cafe.
You'll recognize the bookstore as the librsry from "The Music Man" and Brazzi's apartment as Auntie Mame's. Some location footage from Rome and its surroundings are successfully utilized. Pleshette is definitely a star on the rise here, and along with Ford and the location footage pretty much makes the film more watchable than it would have been otherwise. Both actresses are truly excellent and gives this a touch of class that helps the messy plot rise up.
But Donahue is just getting over a romance with the toxic Angie Dickinson and is warned by Ford not to hurt Pleshette. Dickinson returns to try to get him back after he's spent a summer break in the country with Suzanne (taking the viewer high up to some most majestic mountains), and of course she thinks she's lost him. It's all too melodramatic and messy so you don't need interjections from a few minor characters, especially since the one who needed more scenes (Ford) gets the shaft. Rossano Brazzi takes on a smaller role than normal as a mature but still handsome Italian man she tries to get over Donahue with.
Even though they were foes in "A Summer Place", Donahue and Ford make nice here, and there's something sad behind the eyes of the lonely Constance, having found "another world" long before she became the loveable tough matriarch Ada Davis on that NBC soap opera. Her "A Summer Place" mother, Gertrude Flynn, has a small part as the mother of one of those unnecessary interlopers. Al Hirt is given a pointless cameo as himself, starting a fight in a cafe.
You'll recognize the bookstore as the librsry from "The Music Man" and Brazzi's apartment as Auntie Mame's. Some location footage from Rome and its surroundings are successfully utilized. Pleshette is definitely a star on the rise here, and along with Ford and the location footage pretty much makes the film more watchable than it would have been otherwise. Both actresses are truly excellent and gives this a touch of class that helps the messy plot rise up.