For the First Time
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| For the First Time | |
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| Directed by | Rudolph Maté |
| Starring | Mario Lanza Johanna von Koczian Zsa Zsa Gabor |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 26 August 1959 |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Country | Italy and USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
For the First Time (1959) is tenor star Mario Lanza's final film. Filmed on location in 1958 in Capri, Salzburg, Berlin and at the Rome Opera House, the film told the sentimental story of an operatic tenor (Tony Costa) who finds love for the first time with a young German woman (Johanna Von Koczian), who happens to be deaf. The film was directed by Rudolph Mate, and featured Kurt Kasznar and Zsa Zsa Gabor in supporting roles. Critics singled out Lanza's singing of "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci and the Death Scene from Otello for special praise, with Howard Thompson of The New York Times calling it the tenor's "most disarming vehicle in years."
[edit] References
Cesari, Armando. Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Fort Worth: Baskerville, 2004).
