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Sunday, March 15, 2020

WHEN IN ROME (1952)

Piffle. While unlikely middle-aged leading man Paul Douglas (a real Life-Begins-at-Forty movie star) is always worth watching, this modest fable about a con-man on the run & a young priest in Rome for Holy Year is just too cute for words. Budding up on a ship from the States to Genoa, Douglas ‘borrows’ Van Johnson’s priestly vestments to slip past the local police, then stays ‘in character’ till they meet up in a Rome monastery/hostel.* Reluctant to turn him in, Johnson takes his wayward pal on a sightseeing adventure that leads to mutual understanding and possible redemption. Director Clarence Brown, on his penultimate directing gig, enjoys his tour of the city (on-location shooting with stars in tow still new & exciting at the time), and it’s fun to see all the top sites, beautifully shot by William Daniels, nearly empty. But the script only makes the faintest of stabs tying the boys' pilgrimage to the drama. Yawn.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *That monastery interior dissolving in Douglas’s mind into a prison ward the only decent visual gag in the pic.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Hard to believe scripter Charles Schnee had the backstage Hollywood dramatics of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL out the same year. No wonder he (or some co-writer) stole this film's ending from Edward G. Robinson’s lighthearted reformed gangster pic BROTHER ORCHID/’40. OR: if you’re looking for early ‘50s Hollywood-goes-to-Rome, try the non-touristy locations of William Wyler’s enchanting ROMAN HOLIDAY/’53 (with Greg Peck & Audrey Hepburn in defining perfs) or stick with postcard-worthy stops (in CinemaScope & Deluxe color) along with odder than expected storyline & characters in THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN/’54.

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