Great Caruso
by Richard Thorpe
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Mario Lanza, Richard HagemanDirector: Richard Thorpe
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Running Time: 109 minutes
Release Date: 1992-12-04
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)
VHS Movie Reviews of Great Caruso
Movie Review: Handsomely mounted opeartic biopic
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a highly fictionaliased and heavily sentimental portrait of the great operatic tenor .It is lavishly mounted and has many popular ingredients which all helped in making it a major commercial hit in its day.
There is the rags to riches nature of the story as Enrico Caruso rises from poverty on the back streets of Naples to becoming the darling of New York society ,overcoming the death of his mother while still a child and building a carrer in the opera houses of Europe before his US debut.There is the theme of his falling in love with a scion of New York society ,in the face of unbending parental disapproval .There are lots of popular operatic arias and a strong dose of religiosity ,with the Bach -Gounoud "Ave Marie" a particular standout ..for those with more populist taste there is a strong pop tune in "The Loveliest Night of the Year" added to the mix. Add to this the performance of Lanza at the peak of his powers and you have all the ingredients for a well received "highbrow"musical.
The movie treats of his life in a superficial way and biographical accuracy has been substituted for historical accuracy ,his real life being a great deal more dramatic than we see here on the screen .The movie for example makes no reference to his first marraige preferring instead to concentrate on his relationship with his second wife ,Dorothy Benjamin (fetchingly played by Ann Blythe)and the clash with her snobbish father (Carl Benton Reid ,giving another of his solid turns as a patrician paterfamilias -his archetypal role in movies).The rise to fame with attendant pressures are but lightly touched on.
What we do get is a sterling performance by an ideally cast Lanza at the peak of handsomeness and voacl prowess ,a fine performance from Dorothy Kirsten as a soprano who befriends Caruso ,and above all that magnificent music ,magnificently sung .It is not a great movie but it is well made ,sumptuously staged and entertaining .Read a biography if you want a detailed life of an interesting and comlex artiste -that dimension is missing from the movie
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