The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Donald Downes (novel)
Melville Shavelson (writer)

Release Date:

20 June 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

Charlton Heston stars as an American soldier behind Italian lines in World War II. In order to communicate German movements to the Allies...

Plot Keywords:

Italy | WWII In Italy | Nazi Occupied Italy | Pigeon | WWII

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator
Elsa Martinelli	...	Antonella Massimo
Harry Guardino	...	Sgt. Joseph Contini
Salvatore Baccaloni	...	Ciccio Massimo
Marietto	...	Livio Massimo
Gabriella Pallotta	...	Rosalba Massimo
Brian Donlevy	...	Col. Sherman Harrington
Arthur Shields	...	Monsignor O'Toole
Rudolph Anders	...	Col. Wilhelm Krafft
Vadim Wolkowsky	...	Conte Danesi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nick Borgani	...	Relative at Easter Dinner
Gary Collins	...	Maj. Wolff
Bob Gandett	...	The General
David Macklin	...	Favio
Dick Nelson	...	The Chief (FDR) (scenes deleted)
Debbie Price	...	Luigina
Forrest Wood	...	Lt. Browning

Also Known As:

Americans Go Home (USA) (working title)
Easter Dinner (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #20168)

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Llenoc Productions

Trivia:

Salvatore Baccaloni's last film.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Ten Commandments (1956)

A Sleeper!

Imagine Heston in role with elaborate costuming and playing second fiddle to one of the greatest upstagers of all time! The amazing thing is old Charlton even looks like he's having a good time. So, who's the guy continually pushing Moses Ben Hur out every scene they share? None other than the great basso from the Met, Salvatore Baccaloni. Now, you should know that Sal had a bad rep at the Met for being a bit of a joker and hard to work with, but the crew loved him. In this film, where Heston and Harry Guardino in his pre-TV days play two GIs in WW2 spying on the Germans, they have to inform the allies as to the morale and preparedness of the Germans. So, how are these two intrepids getting the word back to the Allies? Homing pigeons. No sweat...but, a problemo. The pigeons get eaten by Baccaloni's family for a festa and Sal, not wanting to get into trouble steals some pigeons from...the Germans to replace the ones his family ate. So, when the Germans start reading the messages, they suspect that ... well, it goes on from there. This film is an enjoyable comedy and gave Heston a relief from all those costume roles. Sadly, it was Baccaloni's last film, although he died 7 years later. No video, no DVD. Watch for it on the late show.