For the First Time (1959 film)

For the First Time
Directed by Rudolph Maté
Produced by Corona Filmproduktion
Orion Films
Titanus
Starring Mario Lanza
Johanna von Koczian
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
 26 August 1959
Running time
 92 min.
Country Italy and USA
Language English
Budget $500,000[1]
Box office $1,685,000[1]

For the First Time is tenor star Mario Lanza's final film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1959. 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 (played by 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."

Box Office

According to MGM records the film earned $710,000 in the US and Canada and $975,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,685,000.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

Cesari, Armando. Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Fort Worth: Baskerville, 2004).

External links