Gidget Goes to Rome

"Gidget Goes to Rome" in 1963 was the third installment in the Gidget series of films. The first had Sandra Dee and the second Deborah Whalley as the Gidget leads. Including a couple of TV series and some TV movies, there were nine in all, and many of them pretty lame.

This Gidget film, in 1963, is one of the better ones. Cindy Carol as Gidget Lawrence plays her as a bright, perky, mature teenager, and the slight over-acting style she uses fits the character just right. Remember, the Gidget films are not to be taken very seriously. They depict 1960s teenager life and in particular, the mythical beach life. Here Gidget and some of her friends are in Rome, she meets a mysterious and handsome older Italian man who seems to be intent on helping her have a good stay. In the end he has been retained by Gidget's father to make sure she has both a good time, and remains safe.

I was a teenager in 1963, specifically it was the year I graduated from high school. A "Gidget" represents more than anything else that cute girl we admired from afar but never could get close to. Watching any of these Gidget films, especially the first three (1959, 1961, and 1963) brings back fond memories that doesn't quite seem to be 40+ years ago.

Gidget, played by Cindy Carol was at our local drive in theater in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pa, during the fall/summer of 1963. I was 13-years old. And during intermission, there, sitting at a round, rod-iron outdoor table, sat Gidget, in the same pink dress you see her in, on the "Gidget Goes To Rome", IMDb page! She wrote on the autographed picture, "To Rick with love, Cindy Carol" How cool was that! Frankly, I don't remember much about the movie except that it was curious for a "movie star" to find herself, 'here and now' at the Ardmore Drive in theater, which was in itself, a very special drive in. It was a modern, state of the art facility. Big wide screen, great concession stand and on both sides of which, there were mini, "theater rooms" where drive in movie goers, could venture out from their car and sit inside, with theater seats and sound, and watch the movie. During those early/mid teenaged years in the 60's, us kids would "sleep out" and at night go sneak over the hill through the thick trees in the back, to get into the drive in. Since they had the indoor seats, we would naturally go to "lover's cars" in the back of the drive in, knock on their windows, and ask for their stubs, so that when Chucky Pollack would make his rounds in the theater, he would ask to see our tickets. There may be 4 or 5 of us in there and we'd all pull our tickets out of our pockets. Chucky would say, "Why are all the ticket numbers out of sequence?" We would respond, "Because we all came in different cars!" Those were truly, the good old days! The drive in's been gone for many, many years as most have gone that way, which now is a strip mall with one of the most used, "Giant Eagle" super markets in Pittsburgh. I hope Cindy reads this one day she might look for her acting accomplishments on IMDb, and just maybe, she will remember that one particular night in Pittsburgh (Braddock Hills) when she sat outside at the drive in and signed autographs at the Ardmore Drive In -- making lasting memories in the heart and mind of a young, movie going enthusiast and still "Cindy Carol-fan"! Cindy turns 65-years old this year (2009). At last check, she was teaching in California. Dare you leave me a message Cindy. I'd love to catch up! Perhaps leave me a message at ladymoon here on IMDb!

The movie itself was ok, good scenery and all, but the acting wasn't exactly the best. Cindy Carol wasa terrible choice for gidget because of a lack of acting skills. If you look past the fact that her acting was lousy the movie is pretty good, the plot is slighlty more mature than the other gidget's. The scenery was great and so was the fashion show sequence. All in all, it wasn't that bad...

This is the third film in the Gidget movie series and again Gidget and her parents have been recast. This might be my second favorite actress who played Gidget, Cindy Carol (second to Sandra Dee of course). This film is the first Gidget that spent little to no time on the beach. Gidget has a plan to go to Rome with Moondoggie and four other friends. First she has to talk their parents into it, second they have to find a chaperone and finally she has to convince her parents to let her go!

"Except from a purely aesthetic viewpoint of course."-Gidget

This was a little sadder than the other Gidget films. Moondoggie spends their entire trip fawning over the Italian beauty who is their guide. I'm afraid Gidget has a bigger heart than me to so easily take him back after that. Gidget spends the film getting into trouble with the Italian police and developing a crush and subsequent broken heart.

Roman sites were fun to see and it was fun to hear the beautiful Italian language, but the overall sad storyline and easy acceptance at the end make this one a miss for me even though I loved the music in this third film...and Gidget's new Italian nickname "gidgetta"!

Jesse Royce Landis and Cesare Danova were real standouts in this film.

Although this movie is the weakest of the three Gidget films, it's still a fun view. James Darren is back again as 'Moondoggy' - always a good thing. It's also nice to see the Rome of the early 60s, Cesar Danova is gorgeous, and Jessie Royce Landis is charming. Cindy Carol? Not too much of an actress and definitely second rate compared to Sandra Dee and Deborah Walley. The girl was two-dimensional all of the way through the movie. However, she didn't have as much to work with, script-wise, as the other two actresses, so I'm not sure that it's totally fair to compare them. Being the third sequel, what should we expect, after all? Still, it is a fun movie and actually has some funny bits that are intentional (and some that are unintentional, but not surprising given how old the movie is). If you liked the first two 'Gidget' movies, you'll probably enjoy this one, as well. Just don't expect too much in the way of great acting, slick plot lines, and scintillating conversation.