Starring Mario Lanza, Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, and Rita Corday
Directed by Alexander Hall
Music and Lyrics by various
For our last three-review week until next month, we're going to look at three of the vehicles featuring Philadelphia opera sensation Mario Lanza. He had just come off the smash success of his biggest vehicle The Great Caruso when MGM rushed him into this one. He had reservations, to say the least, about the quality of the script and the leading lady, which led to myriad tensions and problems on the set. Was all the fuss and fury worth it? To find out, let's begin as a narrator explains about the then-prevalent draft system, and one man, opera star Renaldo Rossano (Lanza), who is caught in it...
The Story: Renaldo and his girlfriend and singing partner Francesca Landers (Corday) are furious that the US Army has drafted him right before a major radio performance. Renaldo gets lucky when it turns out his sergeant, "Bat" Batterson (Whitmore), is a big fan of his. In fact, he wants him to help out his younger sister Bridget's (Morrow) career. Renaldo is reluctant to at first, until he discovers that Bridget is not only lovely, she can really sing. He claims he's going to get her to New York to be heard by his manager Albert Foster (Eduard Franz), but his real interest is in that performance.
Neither Bat nor Bridget are terribly happy when they find out about the deception. Bat starts treating Renaldo far more harshly, culminating in a fistfight that lands them both in the brig. Good thing there's a delegation of United Nations officials arriving who absolutely must hear Renaldo sing, and Renaldo's mother is willing to explain her son's behavior to Bridget.
The Song and Dance: With a story that slight, the song and some good performances are the main interest here. Whitmore and Jeff Bennet are by far the most interesting as the opera-loving military man and his frustrated girlfriend. Spring Byington and Curtis Cooksey have a few funny moments as one of the top generals on campus and his fluttery wife. Doretta Morrow was better-known for her work in stage and TV musicals at this time. It's too bad she'd never do another film. She really does sing beautifully, and manages to be both attractive and frosty when she realizes Renaldo's deception.
The Numbers: We open with a sequence from the opera Cavallera Rusticana as we see Renaldo's original job and how popular he is. He performs "Granada" for the troops after his arrival. Bridget sings a commercial jingle "Gummy for Your Tummy" when we're first introduced to her. She also gets the Cole Porter standard "You Do Something To Me." Renaldo gets "The Songs That the Angels Sing" and "Lee-Ah-Loo" at camp. Bridget and Renaldo duet on the hit title song twice, first at home, then in the finale in front of the United Nations delegate. Renaldo's fellow private Artie Pilcher (Bobby Van) does an instrumental dance routine around the barracks near the end of the movie. Lanza performs a powerful version of "The Lord's Prayer" for the congregation at the camp church, including Bat and Bridget.
Trivia: Lanza apparently behaved abominably during filming, turning the making of this movie into a nightmare. His weight ballooned constantly, and he treated Morrorw so badly, she'd never make another movie.
What I Don't Like: I can kind of see Lanza's point. This is low-grade genre fluff, especially disappointing coming after the genuine drama of The Great Caruso. The story is silly, boring, and ultimately besides the point, and the script is dull to the point of inertia. The only reason to see this is to watch Lanza sing a couple of great songs and interact with some of MGM's better character actors.
The Big Finale: Yeah, this is for the most ardent Lanza fans only. All others would be better off looking for his commercial recording of the title song and skipping this.
Home Media: On streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment