Which is worse: the book version of “Gidget Goes to Rome” or the feature film?

Well, it’s tough to say. Let me provide some background and break it down.

Similar to “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” author and screenwriter Frederick Kohner wrote the novelization of the feature film “Gidget Goes to Rome” (1963). Kohner based his novel on the film’s screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen, Katherine Eunson and Dale Eunson. This was the last “Gidget” feature film, but not the last “Gidget” novel. In between “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” (1961) and “Gidget Goes to Rome” (1963), Kohner wrote another original Gidget story, “The Affairs of Gidget” in 1963.

The general “Gidget Goes to Rome” plot of both the book and film is that Gidget and her two female friends are eager to go to Italy with Moondoggie and his two male friends. The families of the three girls won’t let them go without a chaperone, so the guys dig up an eccentric aunt who joins them. The aunt also finds a pretty female tour guide, Daniella, whom Moondoggie is attracted to. Gidget meets an older Italian man (this differs in the stories) who escorts her around the city. Angry at Moondoggie for liking Daniella, Gidget throws herself into spending time with the Italian man.

That is where the similarities end. Below are the differences between the two:

The differences:
The “friend of her father”:
• In the film: To keep an eye on his daughter, Gidget’s dad (played by Don Porter) writes to an old friend in Italy, Paolo Cellini (played by Cesare Danova), to look after his daughter but in secret. Paolo is a magazine reporter who seeks Gidget out and makes up a story about interviewing her for an article on an American tourist. Gidget swoons for Paolo, who gives her a great deal of attention but doesn’t encourage her. When Gidget learns he’s married and has children, she is devastated.

• The book: In case she needs anything, Gidget’s father gives her the name of an old classmate who lives in Italy, Dr. Marcello Paladino. When Gidget falls ill, she calls Dr. Marcello Paladino … but there are two in the phone book. Dr. Paladino shows Gidget around the city and courts her, eventually admitting that he is married, but she is on holiday for Ferragosto, and men have a romantic rendezvous when their wives are out of town on holiday. The two are romantically involved (while Moondoggie sulks), and at the very end, we learn that he is the wrong Dr. Paladino.

Gidget and Paolo.

Daniela, the tour guide:
• In the film: Daniela is a pretty tour guide whom Moondoggie/Jeff immediately flips for. Moondoggie kicks Gidget to the curb while romancing Daniela and eventually trying to propose and take her back to the States.
In the book: Jeff flirts with Daniela, who reciprocates, which angers Gidget. The two fight and agree to have a separate time. Gidget gets in deep with Dr. Paladino. Meanwhile, Daniela flirts with Jeff’s two friends, eventually tossing them all aside. Midway through the novel, Jeff is exploring the city alone.

• In the book, it’s that Gidget is the one having a romantic good time, unlike in the movie. I am sure this was reversed so as not to encourage young women from having European romantic escapades. It seems only boys can do that.

I lovingly call the film “Gidget Goes to Rome,” “The Gidget where Moondoggie is an asshole.” But while reading the book, I thought, “Is he more of a jerk in the book or the movie?” Well, it’s a toss-up. In the movie, Moondoggie cheats on her — they break up, but he’s shocked when she returns his pin while he’s romancing Daniela! At least in the book, he’s suffering while she’s with Dr. Paladino and isn’t with Daniela for long. In the book, Moondoggie is cold and distant, and the two have little time together and don’t even kiss (they note this). In the movie, they have some happy times together right when they arrive in Rome, but it is short-lived. I guess he’s equally a jerk in both.

James Darren is smitten with Daniela the travel guide.

Now, to discuss why both the movie and the book stink:

The movie:
While the original “Gidget” (1959) film is 95 minutes, “Gidget Goes to Rome” runs at 106 minutes, and that extra 10 minutes feels very long, those minutes are filled with:
Dream sequences: Two dream sequences of Gidget imagining she is Cleopatra and another where she is a Christian martyr in the gladiator ring. These are not in the book.
• Several zany, shouty moments with Gidget:
– Gidget walks past a “do not enter” sign at a museum and is chased by museum staff and taken by police to the embassy. (Not in the book).
– Gidget throws her mother’s lucky coin into the Fontana di Trevi and jumps into the fountain to retrieve it. Police drag her out with lots of shouting. This does happen in the book, but instead, she’s trying to find Moondoggie’s fraternity pin that she threw into the fountain.
– Gidget is going to watch a fashion show with designs by Fontana, enters the back door, gets forcibly changed by fashion show helpers, and is pushed out onto the runway. This begins a chase from police, fashion members, etc. This does not happen in the book.
• Gidget pathetically and immaturely tries to get Jeff’s attention the whole time. Book Gidget is sort of dumb, but she at least goes out on her own and has a good time.

Gidget and Jeff/Moondoggie while they are still in love in Rome.

The book:
While the book eliminates the extra asinine parts (dream sequences, getting lost in the museum, the fashion show, etc.), it still has this stupid story. But I think that the book’s biggest crime is that it’s boring. The descriptions of the tourist sights are necessary but long-winded. The dialogue from Dr. Paladino is written in mixed English and Italian, making it a bit difficult to read. I looked up a few translations but eventually gave up and just used context clues.

I just imagined Frederick Kohner, who created this character, reading the screenplay and shaking his head thinking, “Well, I’ll do the best I can with this material.” Mercifully, the book ends at the wild party and is wrapped up neatly there, unlike the film, which continues after the party (which is a minor point) and goes on and on.

What I find frustrating about the 1961 and 1963 feature films with Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol films is that while Gidget is allowed to mature in the books, she still seems very young in the movie. Not only is she young, but she’s whiney and immature.

The film has some good points: the bright Technicolor, the fun clothes and Jessie Royce Landis is humorous. And in the book, I prefer that Gidget has been going out with a random older man who doesn’t know her father. Makes for a better plot point.

I see blame tossed at Cindy Carol for this film being a stinker, but honestly, I think it’s just a lousy storyline and script. Gidget got her own La Dolce Vita, but we suffered.

This article is part of the 2023 Classic Film Summer Reading Challenge hosted by Out of the Past.

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