The previous 30 reviews focus on Lanza's singing - glorious to my ears - and the historical inaccuracy of the script - yes, it's pure hokum, full of clichés that were old even in 1951.
Yes, Lanza is sometimes sloppy in the operatic arias. But even there - especially there, actually - his diction is crystal clear, and he clearly knew what he was singing about. In the popular songs - Because, Mattinata, etc. - he's a unadulterated joy to listen to. A big, full voice, with warmth and life.
My major problem with this movie - and I've seen it several times now, over the years - is the casting of Dorothy Kirsten in what is, despite the billing, the real female lead. She was an ok, by-the-books singer, but her voice sounds so pale next to Lanza's. And her acting is certainly nothing to write home about.
I wish, instead, that MGM had found another singer for that role. She really flattens every scene she appears in.
I understand MGM would have wanted someone with clear English. She should also have had something of Lanza's life and fire, totally lacking in Kirsten. Ideal but unavailable would have been someone like Rosa Ponselle, who had retired 15 years before, or Grace Moore, who had been killed in a plane crash just a few years before. Roberta Peters, lively and vivacious, might have worked, though some of the numbers would have to have been changed for her. No Aida, for example. Or perhaps Patrice Munsel, with the same caveat. Perhaps even an older American soprano who took a motherly interest in Caruso, since there is not supposed to be any romantic connection. Then perhaps Ponselle could have been coaxed out of retirement. She was only 54 in 1951.
But someone other than Kirsten.
Yes, Lanza is sometimes sloppy in the operatic arias. But even there - especially there, actually - his diction is crystal clear, and he clearly knew what he was singing about. In the popular songs - Because, Mattinata, etc. - he's a unadulterated joy to listen to. A big, full voice, with warmth and life.
My major problem with this movie - and I've seen it several times now, over the years - is the casting of Dorothy Kirsten in what is, despite the billing, the real female lead. She was an ok, by-the-books singer, but her voice sounds so pale next to Lanza's. And her acting is certainly nothing to write home about.
I wish, instead, that MGM had found another singer for that role. She really flattens every scene she appears in.
I understand MGM would have wanted someone with clear English. She should also have had something of Lanza's life and fire, totally lacking in Kirsten. Ideal but unavailable would have been someone like Rosa Ponselle, who had retired 15 years before, or Grace Moore, who had been killed in a plane crash just a few years before. Roberta Peters, lively and vivacious, might have worked, though some of the numbers would have to have been changed for her. No Aida, for example. Or perhaps Patrice Munsel, with the same caveat. Perhaps even an older American soprano who took a motherly interest in Caruso, since there is not supposed to be any romantic connection. Then perhaps Ponselle could have been coaxed out of retirement. She was only 54 in 1951.
But someone other than Kirsten.