Who was actually the generally accepted Greatest Tenor In The World when Groucho & Chico Marx were supposedly negotiating his services in their 1936 film A Night At The Opera? After Enrico Caruso had died in 1921 Beniamino Gigli had been elevated to that position by the American public and (eventually) critics alike, a position he held to the mid '50's. A personal opinion: just for one example, Pavorotti was a sublime singer but even he never attained Gigli's subtlety, the "honeyed-tones", the depths of emotion; Gigli was as unique as Lanza - and Pavorotti - were in other ways. He started touring the world relentlessly from 1932 on after 12 years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York but still had the time to make a few films, none of which were artistic achievements however all of which were vehicles to show off and hear his wonderful voice. He was constantly surprised that he had a "film career". He filmed this throughout May 1936 in Berlin in both German and Italian versions.
The IMDb plot summary tells all – famous singer still grieving for dead wife after years is lined up as sucker for scheming cabaret singer and her
mentor; on the way she comes to respect the singer and change her plans. Gigli was well aware he was no Valentino and not really an actor, but his honesty shone through and he carried the picture - the songs were the main thing after all! Now, the excellent Bel Canto DVD has both versions with English subtitles and in both original and restored audio – you have to choose for yourself which you prefer, at present my personal choice being the Italian with original sound, slightly less choppy but with Gigli's speaking voice dubbed by an actor. The quality of the sound Mark Obert-Thorn got from Gigli's records for his various CD remaster projects over the last 20 years was generally astounding, but I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to get very much of the same high standard out these soundtracks! The 11 musical selections include Che Gelida Manina from La Boheme, the Italian version has many stock scenes not in the German showing a rapt audience listening (how you can empathise!); Soltanto Tu, Maria composed by de Curtis especially for the film; and a beautifully gossamer and heart-wringing Ave Maria (in any of the 4 choices).
Maybe his Forget Me Not was a better film, but Ave Maria was good too, very watchable and I'm glad it had such loving treatment by Bel Canto. And also maybe it's not the best introduction to Gigli for a newcomer as all of his sound recordings are available in many different packages and are much more preferable, but his films are useful additions for fans to flesh out the man.
