Main Cast: Cindy Carol, James Darren, Jesse Royce Landis, Cesare Danova, Danielle de Metz
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
Gidget Goes to Rome was the third film to be inspired by the beach-happy characters created by Frederick Kohner back in the mid-1950s. This time, surfer gal Francie "Gidget" Lawrence is played by newcomer Cindy Carol. Per the title, the film finds Gidget vacationing in the Eternal City with faithful boyfriend Jeff, aka Moondoggie (James Darren). Chaperoning the pair is Aunt Albertina (Jessie Royce Landis), but that doesn't stop Gidge and Jeff from experiencing brief extracurricular flirtations in Rome. The question: how do the producers get Cindy Carol into a bikini without diverting from the plotline? The answer: a slapstick setpiece during a fashion show. The last of the theatrical Gidget features, Gidget Goes to Rome was followed by a handful of TV-movie sequels and two separate weekly sitcoms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joby Baker - Judge; Trudi Ames - Libby; Noreen Corcoran - Lucy; Peter Brooks - Clay; Lisa Gastoni - Anna Cellini; Claudio Gora - Alberto; Jeff Donnell - Dorothy Lawrence; Joe Kamel - Pinchman; Antonio Segurini - 1st Italian Boy; Leonardo Botta - Italian Boys; Umberto Raho - Mario; Audrey Fairfax - Contessa; Vadim Wolkonsky - Prince Bianchi; Eddra Gale - Fat Woman; Charles Borromel - Whitefaced Poet; Matilda Calnan - Old Woman; Carmen Scarpitta - 1st Caviar Woman; John Stacy - Drunk Butler; Evi Marandi - Receptionist; Mimo Billi - Fontana Doorman; Veronica Wells - Major Domo Dresser; Jim Dolen - Nelson; Don Porter - Russ Lawrence
Credit
Robert A. Peterson - Art Director, Toni Sarzi-Braga - Art Director, Antonio Sarzi-Braga - Art Director, Pat Barto - Costume Designer, Sorelle Fontana - Costume Designer, Paul Wendkos - Director, William Lyon - Editor, John Williams - Composer (Music Score), Al Kasha - Songwriter, David George Weiss - Songwriter, Mel Burns - Makeup, Enzo Barboni - Cinematographer, Robert J. Bronner - Cinematographer, Jerry Bresler - Producer, Ferdinando Ruffo - Set Designer, Dale Eunson - Screenwriter, Katherine Eunson - Screenwriter, Ruth Brooks Flippen - Screenwriter
Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) is a Columbia Picturesfeature film starring Cindy Carol as the archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally created by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film Gidget. The film is the third of three Gidget films directed by Paul Wendkos and expands upon Gidget's romance with boyfriend Moondoggie. The screenplay was written by Ruth Brooks Flippen based on characters created by Frederick Kohner. Veterans of previous Gidget films making appearances include James Darren as "Moondoggie", Michael Callan, Joby Baker, and Jean "Jeff" Donnell as Gidget's mom, Mrs. Lawrence. The film has been released to VHS and DVD.
The film was shot on location in Rome, Italy, with some scenes filmed on Italian beaches.
Reception
Bosley Crowther noted in the New York Times of 12 September 1963, "When Gidget, played with the proper pout and correct ingenuousness by Cindy Caroll, arrives in Rome with her group of happy friends, she is bound to fall in love with a married and handsome Italian magazine writer, enjoy such exotic delicacies as fettucini and chicken cacciatore, and experience the thrill of attending a "Dolce Vita" cocktail party. As one of Gidget's friends explains, it's part of her "growing up." Gidget falls out of love in time...and all ends happily. Jeff sums up the entire experience in two immortal sentences: "I guess everybody falls in love in Rome in the summer time. It's that old devil Italian moon.""[1]
