This is not a great movie, or even a good one, frankly. I haven't read the 1929 Preston Sturges play on which it was based, or seen the 1931 movie that was first based on it. The play was a big hit on Broadway, so I find it hard to believe it could have been as bad as this movie. Why MGM agreed to put so poor a script into production - and it is a really poor script - I cannot begin to guess. According to another reviewer on here, this was a big money-loser for MGM. I'm not surprised. You won't be either if you decide to sit through it.
Pinza had a great career as one of the Metropolitan Opera's leading basses from 1926-1948. He then retired from opera, at age 56, and began a second career on Broadway and in a few movies. He started on Broadway opposite Mary Martin in one of the American musical theater's greatest hits, South Pacific, which opened a long run in 1949. His great success as Emile de Becque in that musical led to other musicals, most notably Fanny, and a few movies, such as this one in 1951, when Pinza was 59.
Pinza has some decent scenes opposite a much younger Janet Leigh, 24 and near the beginning of her movie career. This may seem strange, but remember that the early 1950s was an era of much older men, like Cary Grant (Charade, 1963), Gary Cooper (Love in the Afternoon, 1957), and Fred Astaire (Daddy Long-Legs, 1955), all then in their 50s, appearing opposite much younger women like Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron, who were then in their 20s. One previous reviewer speaks of "the magical chemistry of Pinza and Janet Leigh," another wrote that "they have wonderful chemistry together." I don't see that, but they do seem to be comfortable with each other, if not really drawn together sexually. (Pinza has to spend much of the movie pretending to try to control his desire for Leigh. It's not very convincing.)
Other than that: Leigh is supposed to be from Mississippi. This was a mistake, since her exaggerated southern accent keeps appearing and disappearing.
Pinza sings a few forgettable pop songs and has two opera scenes. They are what should count here, since people would have gone to see and hear him.
His second operatic number, "Le veau d'or" from Faust, is fun to watch, though the costumes are bad and the staging not good. It's fascinating to watch Pinza, at 59, jump on and off tables like a young man and really create a character. Still, there are parts that he does not sing particularly well. The subsequent scene of him hunting for Leigh in Grand Central Station while still in his Mefistopheles costume could have been a lot funnier if it had been handled by a better director.
The first opera scene is evidently from some made-up opera, with music by Hollywood composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. It appears to be about a Roman general who is returning to his wife Calpurnia. The music is generic, but the Italian libretto sounds real, and Pinza does a great job singing the forgettable music. His Italian diction, as always, was impeccable.
The best musical number is actually a scene in a movie theater where, after the end of the silent movie, the organist asks the audience to sing along, following the bouncing ball. When Pinza starts to sing over the collection of strictly amateur voices one would encounter in such a situation, the real glory of his voice astounds the audience, as it will you.
So, in sum, not a great movie. I found it harder to sit through on a second viewing, to the extent that I can't recommend it. Pinza doesn't sing much, and what he does sing is not particularly memorable. All the rest is downhill from there.
Pinza had a great career as one of the Metropolitan Opera's leading basses from 1926-1948. He then retired from opera, at age 56, and began a second career on Broadway and in a few movies. He started on Broadway opposite Mary Martin in one of the American musical theater's greatest hits, South Pacific, which opened a long run in 1949. His great success as Emile de Becque in that musical led to other musicals, most notably Fanny, and a few movies, such as this one in 1951, when Pinza was 59.
Pinza has some decent scenes opposite a much younger Janet Leigh, 24 and near the beginning of her movie career. This may seem strange, but remember that the early 1950s was an era of much older men, like Cary Grant (Charade, 1963), Gary Cooper (Love in the Afternoon, 1957), and Fred Astaire (Daddy Long-Legs, 1955), all then in their 50s, appearing opposite much younger women like Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron, who were then in their 20s. One previous reviewer speaks of "the magical chemistry of Pinza and Janet Leigh," another wrote that "they have wonderful chemistry together." I don't see that, but they do seem to be comfortable with each other, if not really drawn together sexually. (Pinza has to spend much of the movie pretending to try to control his desire for Leigh. It's not very convincing.)
Other than that: Leigh is supposed to be from Mississippi. This was a mistake, since her exaggerated southern accent keeps appearing and disappearing.
Pinza sings a few forgettable pop songs and has two opera scenes. They are what should count here, since people would have gone to see and hear him.
His second operatic number, "Le veau d'or" from Faust, is fun to watch, though the costumes are bad and the staging not good. It's fascinating to watch Pinza, at 59, jump on and off tables like a young man and really create a character. Still, there are parts that he does not sing particularly well. The subsequent scene of him hunting for Leigh in Grand Central Station while still in his Mefistopheles costume could have been a lot funnier if it had been handled by a better director.
The first opera scene is evidently from some made-up opera, with music by Hollywood composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. It appears to be about a Roman general who is returning to his wife Calpurnia. The music is generic, but the Italian libretto sounds real, and Pinza does a great job singing the forgettable music. His Italian diction, as always, was impeccable.
The best musical number is actually a scene in a movie theater where, after the end of the silent movie, the organist asks the audience to sing along, following the bouncing ball. When Pinza starts to sing over the collection of strictly amateur voices one would encounter in such a situation, the real glory of his voice astounds the audience, as it will you.
So, in sum, not a great movie. I found it harder to sit through on a second viewing, to the extent that I can't recommend it. Pinza doesn't sing much, and what he does sing is not particularly memorable. All the rest is downhill from there.