- The Great Caruso
Infobox Film
name = The Great Caruso
caption = Original film poster
director =Richard Thorpe
producer =Joe Pasternak
Jesse L. Lasky
writer = Sonya Levien
William Ludwig
starring =Mario Lanza Ann Blyth Dorothy Kirsten
Carl Benton Reid
original music =Johnny Green
music =Giuseppe Verdi ,Giacomo Puccini ,Ruggiero Leoncavallo , etc.
cinematography =Joseph Ruttenberg
editing = Gene Ruggiero
distributor =MGM
released = flagicon|USA16 April 1951
runtime = 109 min
country = U.S.
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0043599"The Great Caruso" is a 1951
biographical film made byMGM . It was directed byRichard Thorpe and produced byJoe Pasternak withJesse L. Lasky as associate producer from ascreenplay bySonya Levien andWilliam Ludwig . The original music was byJohnny Green and the cinematography byJoseph Ruttenberg . Costume design was byHelen Rose andGile Steele .The film is a highly fictionalized biography of the life of
tenor Enrico Caruso and starsMario Lanza as Caruso andAnn Blyth as his wife Dorothy, withRichard Hageman ,Carl Benton Reid ,Eduard Franz andLudwig Donath . It also features a large number ofMetropolitan Opera stars, notably the sopranoDorothy Kirsten andJarmila Novotna ,Blanche Thebom ,Teresa Celli ,Nicola Moscona ,Giuseppe Valdengo ,Lucine Amara andMarina Koshetz .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 andJosé 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."
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" (Fort Worth: Baskerville 2004)External links
*imdb title|id=0043599|title=The Great Caruso
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