2h 1min | Drama, Music, Romance | 23 March 1956 | Color, WS
Director: Anthony Mann
Stars: Mario Lanza, Joan Fontaine, Sara Montiel, Vincent Price.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049737/
Watched online, ok print.
11 arias and a duet from ML, according to Soundtracks.
I must confess, I dozed off a lot during this. Although I like opera, I'm not crazy for ML. He has a good voice, but I feel he overacts. Because I was inattentive, I'm not sure I got the point of the film, but reading a synopsis makes me see I may have got the gist. It seems the script is an opera wannabe, with jealousy and tragedy in spades. I don't think this is supposed to be a biopic, so packing so much into one life seems a bit much.
If you want to bring us an opera, film a legitimate opera. But putting 11 random, unrelated arias into a 2 hour span, and telling an operatic tale unsupported by the music, seems either cowardly or condescending; either you fear the audience won't show up for an opera, or you think opera is too difficult for us, so you'll simulate opera instead.
I'll be generous in my rating today.
Warner, dir. Mann; 6
