The Great Caruso
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| The Great Caruso | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak Jesse L. Lasky |
| Written by | Sonya Levien William Ludwig |
| Starring | Mario Lanza Ann Blyth Dorothy Kirsten Carl Benton Reid |
| Music by | Johnny Green |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Editing by | Gene Ruggiero |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) |  16 April 1951 |
| Running time | 109 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Great Caruso is a 1951 biographical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg. Costume design was by Helen Rose and Gile Steele.
The film is a highly fictionalized biography of the life of tenor Enrico Caruso and stars Mario Lanza as Caruso and Ann Blyth as his wife Dorothy, with Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz and Ludwig Donath. It also features a large number of Metropolitan Opera stars, notably the soprano Dorothy Kirsten and Jarmila Novotna, Blanche Thebom, Teresa Celli, Nicola Moscona, Giuseppe Valdengo, Lucine Amara and Marina Koshetz.
[edit] Reaction
The Great Caruso was an enormous commercial success — largely on the strength of its star Mario Lanza's performance. Newsweek wrote that, "Lanza brings to the role not only a fine, natural and remarkably powerful voice, but a physique and personal mannerisms reminiscent of the immortal Caruso."
The film has also been cited by tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras as having been an inspiration for them when they were growing up.
Nearly 40 years later, Caruso's own son, Enrico Jr. reminisced that, "Vocally and musically The Great Caruso is a thrilling motion picture, and it has helped many young people discover opera and even become singers themselves." He added that, "I can think of no other tenor, before or since Mario Lanza, who could have risen with comparable success to the challenge of playing Caruso in a screen biography."
[edit] References
- Caruso, Enrico Jr. and Farkas, Andrew. Enrico Caruso: My Father and My Family. (New York: Amadeus 1990)
- Cesari, Armando. Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Forth Worth: Baskerville 2004)
[edit] External links
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