Come September

Rating:
Summary: the birds and the bees
Review: This nice old-fashioned plot about boy meets girl, girl gets boy is a fabulous showcase for Gina Lollobrigida's enormous talent and beauty, and with the help of the comedic skills of Walter Slezak, make this film (at least the last hour of it), laugh-out-loud hilarious. This was Lollobrigida's biggest hit in America, and deservedly so; Rock Hudson makes a great partner for her, much as he was doing in this early 60's era with Doris Day in many films.
Hudson plays American tycoon Robert Talbot, who finds that while he is away, his villa has been turned into a hotel, and his girl is about to marry someone else.
The secondary plot brings together young tourists Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin, who sings (and wrote) "Multiplication" in a nightclub sequence. Cupid played his part with these two actors, as they were married soon after the film was completed.

Walter Slezak is marvelous as Maurice, Talbot's major domo, who manipulates every situation around him, and there is some clever dialogue in the film, much of it said by him. Robert Mulligan's direction is fast paced, and cinematographer William Daniels makes the most of the location shots of Rome, Milan and Portofino.
There is such innocence in this film, and it's so deliciously un-politically correct. This is not one for die-hard feminists, but will be enjoyed by anyone who likes the fluffy and genuinely funny comedies of that era...and to see the sheer beauty of Lollobrigida, and the perfect timing of her delivery...I love the way she says "I don't have to make sense, I'm Italian !"
Total playing time is 114 minutes.