Le baiser de minuit

I tend to agree with the critics of the time: If Mario Lanza was in the movie it was worth seeing. Even though this musical contained a wonderfully talented cast Mario Lanza still shines out and that is saying something. Any musical that was fortunate enough to have Jose Iturbi and his sister Amparo Iturbi who were concert pianists of great magnitude plus Kathryn Grayson who was no slouch in the singing department herself. Throw in Ethel Barrymore of the First Family of Actors and it is a lucky movie musical indeed. But in my opinion even with all of that Mario Lanza is the reason to see this movie. What a voice! Who cares if he could act or not. His acting was more than adequate. No one expected him to be an Oscar winner. Of course the plot to the musical was thin, most of those MGM musical plots were. But any musical that has Mario Lanza in it is worth seeing again and again.

Mario Lanza made his film debut in "That Midnight Kiss" costarring Kathryn Grayson, Ethel Barrymore, Jose Iturbi, Keenan Wynn, Thomas Gomez, Marjorie Reynolds, and Jules Munshin. The script was tailor-made for Lanza, set in his home town of Philadelphia. It was this film that nearly ruined my own singing aspirations. My mother always thought that if I were really good, someone would discover me - I guess hauling a piano - the way that Lanza was in this film. Nevertheless, I put all that aside when I watched it.

Johnny is a truck driver discovered testing out the piano he delivers to Abigail Budell (Barrymore), patron of the arts. She's just founded an opera company for the benefit of her daughter Prudence (Grayson). When the current tenor (Gomez) quits in a huff, Johnny steps in. He and Prudence are in love, but before either one of them can really act on it, Prudence is told by another woman (Marjorie Reynolds) that she wants to marry Johnny. How to get these two songbirds back together?

"That Midnight Kiss" is a big budget, glossy MGM musical extravaganza and as such, it's delicious to watch and makes for joyful listening. Lanza, attractive and a natural before the cameras, really commercialized opera in the U.S. with his clarion tenor. His IMDb bios were obviously written by fans. Though he certainly had a fantastic voice, he was evidently hard to work with, especially for his female costars. Alcohol and crash dieting eventually made his heart give out while he was still in his thirties. Also, he had his own sound; in recordings, Caruso sounds much more baritone-y, though Lanza's IMDb bio claims the voices match. It's hard to know what Lanza's voice sounded like on the opera stage. People who heard him in person claim the voice was not very large. Nevertheless, it was perfect for film.

Pretty and petite, Kathryn Grayson does a lovely job both in her acting and singing. Both singers shine in the more lyrical pieces sung outside Prudence's window and show their versatility. A side note - it's a little questionable what opera the company is doing - Grayson and Gomez sing a duet from "Lucia" in rehearsals, but the final product was in English and definitely NOT Donizetti!

The rest of the cast is superb - Keenan Wynn has impeccable comic timing, and Jules Munshin is given some great bits throughout. Thomas Gomez is hilarious as the bombastic tenor Betelli. Ethel Barrymore is stately and classy as Prudence's grandmother. Iturbi, playing himself, is delightful and plays some beautiful piano. Celeste Aida and the Lucia duet were conducted at pretty swift tempi, as was the "Caro Nome" that Grayson starts to sing at the piano.

Highly entertaining and recommended if you're a lover of classical music.

Mario Lanza makes a very confident screen debut with this movie. The scene in which he first appears - some 15 minutes into the film - is teasingly executed: we hear his voice (singing the Neapolitan classic, Mamma mia, Che Vo' Sape) as co-star Kathryn Grayson enters her home, and - with her (and our) interest aroused - the camera slowly pans to reveal his handsome presence. It's a great moment, helped by the fact that Lanza really does look terrific, especially in comparison with the portly stock tenor we have been watching only minutes earlier.

Lanza has some formidable acting talent to compete with in this movie. That he succeeds magnificently speaks volumes about the man's much-underrated acting ability. Also appearing in the film are seasoned veterans such as Ethel Barrymore, J. Carroll Naish, Jules Munshin and Thomas Gomez (hilarious as the aforementioned portly tenor). Keenan Wynn is also on hand as Lanza's amusing buddy, and the film also boasts another big musical name: conductor/pianist Jose' Iturbi, who plays himself.

The film is fun, and very competently produced in the grand tradition of MGM musicals. Lanza doesn't have a great deal to sing, but among the highlights are a very lyrical Celeste Aida (minus the recitative), the second half of Una Furtiva Lagrima, and Jerome Kern's They Didn't Believe, which is sung as a duet with Kathryn Grayson. MGM was clearly nervous about allowing Lanza too many "heavy" vocal offerings, but they were soon to rectify this with The Great Caruso, just two years later.

All in all, That Midnight Kiss is a most enjoyable romp with Lanza as its raison d'etre. The critics were not especially kind to the film - or Mario's co-star, the established Miss Grayson - but all were in agreement that Lanza made the picture worth seeing. This is what Newsweek Magazine had to say:

Aside from Jose' Iturbi's music, virtually the only excuse for this one is Mario Lanza, a singer whose talents would be conspicuous even outside a film devoted to opera. He can act as well as sing. But his efforts in both directions are hampered by an inconsequential story which enmeshes him with Kathryn Grayson - a girl who neither sings nor acts in his league.

And from The New York Times:

As for the budding Mr. Lanza, the opinion rendered of him by the sanguine Mr.Iturbi is good enough for us. "His voice," says Mr. Iturbi, "has quality and warmth and he has a very nice personality." Check.

The following year Lanza would go on to greater things in The Toast of New Orleans, before reaching his pinnacle in The Great Caruso.

In That Midnight Kiss, Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanzo are paired together again, this time in a really cute comedy. Kathryn plays a young soprano making her stage debut, but rather than sing alongside a famous tenor, she wants the theater company to take a chance on a truck driver who happens to have a nice voice.

What I love about this movie is each character has his own little gimmicks, adding some much needed comedy to an otherwise simple story. Mario's trademark is singing a short, loud, solid note in an unsuspecting bystander's face whenever he leaves the room. Keenan Wynn, his manager, gives quips like warning Mario not to run down the stairs because, "you might fall and bruise your tonsils." Conductor Jose Iturbi looks down on everyone with a level of snobbery, but his face instantly dissolves into a smile whenever he looks at Kathryn. Jules Munchin conducts with overexaggerated expressions, weeping when a violin plays and using all four of his limbs to show his enthusiasm. You'll get to see Marjorie Reynolds, Arthur Treacher, and Ethel Barrymore in the supporting cast, as well as Thomas Gomez, giving a hilarious portrayal of an opera diva. He spritzes his throat, warms up when his costar is singing, interrupts rehearsal, and gets his feelings hurt when Kathryn refuses to look at him during their love song. J. Carrol Naish steals a scene as well, as he dances with his wife and serenades her sweetly with "Three O'Clock in the Morning."

If you're not normally a Mario Lanzo fan, give this one a chance. I don't usually like him either and this one is my favorite of his movies I've seen. Plus it's his first movie; what a great introduction!

In Philadelphia, the soprano Prudence Budell (Kathryn Grayson) returns from Europe after a period of five years training in the best Europeans music schools. Her millionaire grandmother Abigail Trent Budell (Ethel Barrymore) sponsors an opera company under the command of the famous maestro Jose Iturbi to give a chance to Prudence to lead an opera. They hire the also famous tenor Guido Russino Betelli (Thomas Gomez), but Prudence does not feel comfortable with him on the stage. When Prudence accidentally sees the American-Italian truck driver Johnny Donnetti (Mario Lanza) singing opera, she convinces Jose Iturbi to give a chance to Johnny. They fall in love for each other, but when Prudence visits his work to tell that he will be hired, she meets Mary (Marjorie Reynolds) and she believes Johnny is in love of his colleague.

"That Midnight Kiss" is a delightful and naive musical and romantic comedy, and also the debut of Mario Lanza in the cinema industry. The classy story is predictable and is a great family entertainment with wonderful classic music and opera; has many funny moments and Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza show a magnificent chemistry. The DVD released in Brazil is re-mastered in Technicolor and 5.1 Dolby System. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Aquele Beijo à Meia-Noite" ("That Midnight Kiss")