The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)

Charlton Heston stars as an American soldier behind Italian lines in World War II. In order to communicate German movements to the Allies, he uses carrier pigeons fitted with messages. As ... See full summary »

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Donald Downes (novel), Melville Shavelson

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Elsa Martinelli, Harry Guardino

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited 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)

Storyline

Charlton Heston stars as an American soldier behind Italian lines in World War II. In order to communicate German movements to the Allies, he uses carrier pigeons fitted with messages. As he grows more and more in love with the daughter of the family he stays with, the father accidentally feeds the pigeons to his family for Easter Dinner.

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Plot Keywords:

pigeon | world war two | world war two in italy | italy | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

At Last! A Motion Picture That Delivers

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

20 June 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Americans Go Home

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Llenoc Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Salvatore Baccaloni's last film.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are superimposed over images of American soldiers moving out of Italy. This is followed by a shot of a pigeon who winks at the camera.

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Connections

Spoofs The Ten Commandments (1956)

User Reviews

What a great story.

I saw this film at a local theater in the '60s. I loved it. War movies are among my favorites but this one is special. The story of American spies doing recon in Rome is plausible. Capt. Heston, a no no-nonsense combat leader was chosen over the division intelligence officers. A very well made and entertaining movie resulted. The script, the actors and the Roman setting is perfect. As mentioned in other comments, the cast seems to enjoy making this movie. The Chinese will probably come up with a DVD. I have a very good recording I took off of TV. We love to watch it after seeing a list of serious shoot-em up war movies. It's very hard to find so I treasure my copy.