Chapter Seven

Here, we begin by visiting Rossano and Lydia in their top floor apartment on the via Sistina, just a hundred yards from the top of the Spanish Steps. We get a sense of their home life and how Rossano picked up on his career after the war including much success on the stage. We also get our first taste of Rossano's trip to Hollywood to film Little Women. 

This photo shows Rossano's apartment block on via Sistina, at the top with the window box. The black and white photo was taken in the fifties when Rossano was living there.

The Brazzi's small apartment was on the top floor and the only one with a window box. I managed, at one point, to find the doors open so took a quick snap of the entrance. The Via Sistina is quite a long road with a number of apartments along both sides.

The description I give in the book about the inside of the Brazzi's apartment is quite detailed and based on research and a couple of things that Carlo mentioned to me. It was clear that they were both into antiques and collectables and their passion for animals shines through here, especially for their dogs.

It's here, also, that we learn of Rossano's regret about not having children. This cropped up now and again throughout his lifetime.

One thing that did surprise me, during my research, was the amount of classical plays he appeared in, not only Italian playwrights but international, too including Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekov. 

Rossano and Lydia were passionate about cooking and spent many hours in their kitchen concocting new recipes. They were also wine lovers and, for a while, owned a vineyard in Italy. Verdicchio was one of their favourite white wines and Chianti was a favoured red. Lydia became well-known for her spaghetti parties in Beverly Hills.

In this chapter, I have Lydia cooking a traditional Tuscan dish and we learn that Rossano likes his pasta cooked in a certain way. I hasten to add, it wasn't to my taste.

The De La Ville hotel is at the top of the Spanish Steps and about forty yards from Rossano's apartment. Because his flat was so small, he held meetings with producers and directors here. It is a beautiful hotel and, for the purposes of this part of the story, I placed us in the room shown third from the right in these photos. This discussion revolves around his decision to go to Hollywood in the late 1940s. He was scouted by the legendary David O Selznick and offered a 7-year contract. 

The story of arriving in New York, his views on Hollywood and his frustrations are all here, including a rather heated argument with Selznick.

Little Women was Rossano's first excursion to Hollywood after signing with David O Selznick. Wow, what a story this was. As outlined in the previous entry there was an awful lot of waiting, problems with the English language, a disastrous start to his Hollywood career, severe homesickness and an alleged punch-up with Selznick and a traffic cop!!

Rossano also opens up about his love of the stage and how acting in a theatre is so different to the movies. He remained loyal to the stage all his life and maintained this was his preferred forum for acting.

The film is widely available on DVD. It's a lovely version of the film with a wonderful cast, including Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, Janet Leigh and June Allyson. Rossano worked with both Janet Leigh and June Allyson later in his career and he and Lydia were long-term friends with Elizabeth Taylor.

With thanks to The Everett Collection Inc for allowing me to include this still from the movie in the book as well as on the website.