Starring Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, and Jarmila Novotna
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Music and Lyrics by various
We jump from the world of romantic composers to grand opera for our next biography. Enrico Caruso was one of the major tenors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He sang on opera stages across Europe and North and South America, but is primarily known today as one of the leading stars of New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1903 to right before his death in 1921. He also became one of the first singers to embrace the new recording medium, which not only bolstered his Met career, it made him one of the major superstars of the first two decades of the 20th century.
MGM had been trying to get this movie off the ground for years. It wasn't until Philadelphia tenor Lanza joined the company in 1948 that the studio finally found its Caruso. How well does Lanza do as his idol? Let's begin with the birth of a great singer in Naples, Italy in 1873 and find out...
The Story: Young Enrico (Peter Price) is devastated when his mother dies. She encourages him to keep singing and training. Unfortunately, it doesn't earn the grown Enrico (Lanza) much money. He's singing for pennies in cafes when he tries to marry his hometown sweetheart Musetta (Yvette Duguay). Her father (Argentina Brunetti) disapproves of singing as a career and brings him into his flour business instead. He ends up being discovered by an agent at a cafe he's delivering flour to. Musetta's father fires him and turns him away when a storm ruins the flour. Enrico swears he'll come back after he's made money singing.
He does make money singing, working his way up to leading roles at Milan's famous La Scala opera house...but Musetta marries someone else. Heartbroken, he leaves for a world tour that ends with him at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He accidentally insults one of the leading patrons of the Met, Park Benjamin (Carl Benton Reid), then goes to his house to apologize and charms Benjamin's sweet socialite daughter Dorothy (Blyth).
Neither Benjamin nor the New York critics find Caruso as adorable as Dorothy does. He finally weds her against her father's wishes after another long tour, attempting to prove himself as a singer of refinement. Opera diva and Caruso's fellow Met performer Louise Heggar (Dorothy Kirsten) tries to explain to Dorothy that Caruso's life revolves around his voice, but she's too much in love to care. They prove to be a happy couple with the world at their feet. Caruso, however, doesn't have long to live, thanks to illness...but his recordings and tremendous popularity assure that he will never be forgotten.
The Song and Dance: Lanza may have been born to play Caruso. Both men were said to be large in spirit, possessing of two of the finest operatic voices heard in the 20th century, and great lovers of women and luxurious living. Lanza pretty much blows everyone else off the screen. He's just as big and hearty as this movie, with its gorgeous settings and lavish recreations of many famous operas. In fact, this movie may be even more of a crash course in famous operas than it is of Caruso's life. You really get a sense of what made Caruso a star, and why many of these shows remain popular to this day.
Favorite Number: We open with the young Caruso singing in a local choir that goes on a procession through the Italian town where he was born. He knows his mother is gone when she doesn't come to the window to watch him sing. "A'Vuchella" is the number Caruso sings with his friends at the cafe, while "La Danza" is the one that so impresses Casazza despite the spoiled flour.
We see Caruso performing sequences from many major operas. Tosca is his first major hit at La Scala, and he does several different scenes from that throughout the movie. Kirsten joins him for the finale of Aida, the sextet from Lucia de Lammermoor, and the title song of the Victor Herbert operetta Sweethearts. He's seen in segments from Pagliacci, Il Trovotore, Rigoletto, La Boheme, La Giocanda, and Cavaliera Rusticana in montages. Blyth joins him for the movie's big hit ballad, "The Loveliest Night of the Year," which Dorothy performs with Enrico during his birthday party. Caruso's last appearance is in Martha, but it's the show that literally kills him.
What I Don't Like: This is another musical biography that plays fast and loose with facts. First of all, Caruso never sang in an opera chorus. He always played leading roles. He was a hit at the Met from the first time he sang there in 1903 and never had to win their favor. He had many relationships with women not shown in the film, including one that resulted in the birth of two sons out of wedlock. He didn't meet and marry Dorothy until 1917. His voluminous recording career is barely touched on. He made over 200 recordings between 1903 and 1920, many of which survive and remain popular to this day. And while he did suffer a throat hemorrhage during an opera performance in 1920, it didn't cause him to die onstage. He finally passed away in Naples a year later while waiting for an operation.
And yeah, this follows all the standard beats of a movie biography. This isn't for you if you're looking for something with less music, or that treads new ground. The dialogue is as stiff as some of Enrico's costumes at the Met.
The Big Finale: This is a must-see if you have even a passing interest in Lanza, Caruso, or opera, or want to learn more about opera on the big screen and in general.
Home Media: DVD and Blu-Ray only from the Warner Archives.
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