Ten Thousand Bedrooms

Ten Thousand Bedrooms  For those of us who admire Dean Martin, this is a rather famous film — the one that almost sank his career after splitting with Jerry Lewis. It was a flop, and I agree it’s just a “pretty good” movie. But as I watched it this time around I tried to figure out why it just didn’t come together.

I don’t think it’s the general plot — a rich hotel mogul falls in love with an Italian girl…well, actually two Italian girls…sisters. And, their papa insists they be married in order of their age. I can see that, although some of the ins and outs of the story are a little…well…a bit of a waste. The story could have been told better.

And, we’ve got a pretty good cast here, too — Dino, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok, and Walter Slezak. And pretty good scenery, with significant parts of the movie filmed on location in Rome. A producer and director who both had any number of successes in film history. Dean’s two primary songs — “You, I Love” and “Only Trust Your Heart” are decent songs for the late 1950s, although his Capitol recordings of the songs are better than the soundtrack versions.

I think in addition to some scenes that should have been deleted or completely rewritten, that the other sisters should have had their characters developed just a bit more, and without question, the pace of the film should have been picked up quite a bit.

I disagree with a number of our reviewers who see this as a failed romantic COMEDY. I don’t think it is a comedy…although perhaps that’s what the public wanted to see Dean doing right after his decade with Jerry Lewis. Instead, this is a romantic musical film.

It’s worth watching, though admittedly it’s a bit weak. But then again, so are lots of films. This one is “okay”, and quite interesting (historically) for fans of Dean Martin.

Rio Rita