Il principe studente

Mario Lanza's beautiful tenor soars on the soundtrack of this fairytale, loosely based on Sigmund Romberg's beautiful operetta.

In an interview on a Lanza bio program, Music Director George Stoll shared how Lanza came into the recording studio and rendered perfect one-takes on the entire score, within a remarkable single session.

The glorious timbre of his voice is a highlight of this film. A special treat is hearing the pleasant lyric soprano of Ann Blythe, who was a trained, experienced singer even before making her film debut. The two are heard to advantage in the lovely "Deep in My Heart" park scene duet.

Composer Nicholas Brodszky contributed two ravishingly beautiful added songs, "Beloved" and "I'll Walk With God," intoned to perfection by Lanza.

Alas, Director Richard Thorpe lets the production down with very routine and uninspired direction, allowing for often tedious pacing and formatting. Despite having a great cast to work with, his contribution produces a lethargic bent to the proceedings.

In the end, "The Student Prince's" attributes rest primarily on a beautiful soundtrack, rich score, attractive players, and Lanza's thrilling singing.

One of the most beloved of operettas is The Student Prince and for a combination of reasons no sound film was made of it until this one in 1954. I venture to say that somewhere in North America or Europe there is some stock company giving a performance of it right now.

One of those reasons was a little thing called World War II. As Nazi Germany rose in power, stories with a German background weren't a real big sell in Hollywood. MGM which had produced a silent version of The Student Prince in 1927 with Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer, held on to the property all that time. No doubt Louis B. Mayer thought the story perfect for either Nelson Eddy or Allan Jones. I have a recording of Jones singing Deep in My Heart and he would have been a fabulous Prince.

Edmond Purdom is the heir to the throne at mythical Karlsberg, one of the many minor kingdoms that made up the new Second Reich. It's been pointed out to the King, Louis Calhern,that Purdom lacks certain social graces and charm. The remedy suggested by Purdom's tutor Edmund Gwenn is to go to the University at Heidelberg which by coincidence is the alma mater of Gwenn.

He gets quite an education at Heidelberg including one from the innkeeper's niece played by Ann Blyth.

Of course what makes the Student Prince the classic it is are the words and music by Dorothy Donnelly and Sigmund Romberg. All the main songs of the score are retained with a few new ones added by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn.

Purdom's singing is of course the glorious voice of Mario Lanza who was originally supposed to do this. Lanza at the same time the film came out released an RCA Victor Red Seal album of The Student Prince which was a big hit, movie and album, reinforcing the success of the other.

Lanza was having a lot of trouble controlling his appetites for all the fleshly pleasures and was proving impossible to control. He got out of the film, but he had already taped his soundtrack singing. MGM settled with Mario with them retaining the rights to those recordings for the film. Good thing they did, because it's Lanza's singing voice as the Prince that makes this film.

If you like operetta and Mario Lanza, do not ever miss this one when it is on.

Edmund Purdom does a fine job of lip-synching to Mario Lanza in this beautiful fairytale of a movie. The combination of Lanza's glorious romanticism and Purdom's very British demeanour is an odd combination, but it works - after a fashion. It helps that Purdom was actually singing along with Lanza's pre-recorded vocals - a daunting task for any singer, let alone a non-professional like Purdom. (The actor spent three months practising with the recordings, and commented 20 years later: "It was enough to make you sweat - just listening to the voice.")

It's to Purdom's credit that he persevered, for Lanza's singing is at the very core of this movie. The Serenade, Drinking Song, Beloved, Golden Days and I'll Walk With God are without peer, and represent the pinnacle of Lanza's achievement in English language song. Lanza's timbre was at its most ravishing by this time (1952) and he imbues these songs with such magic that every word sparkles - a feat not lost on Purdom, who later compared Mario's poetic artistry to that of the great soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf.

The Student Prince is loosely based on Sigmund Romberg's operetta, with three new songs (Beloved, I'll Walk With God and Summertime in Heidelberg) by Nicholas Brodszky replacing some of the more dated Romberg numbers. The film is a decided improvement on the creaky original and boasts a witty script, replete with memorable one-liners from the screen-writing duo of Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, scenarists for Lanza's The Great Caruso. As a previous reviewer has noted, the original lyrics have been changed in some instances, but the alterations are tastefully done.

Ann Blyth provides worthy support as Kathy, the barmaid with whom The Student Prince falls in love, and the hilarious supporting cast includes such seasoned pros as Edmund Gwenn, SZ (Cuddles) Sakall and John Williams.

Aside from Lanza's absence, what ultimately makes this merely a good movie rather than a classic is Richard Thorpe's uninspired direction. His stolid by-the-numbers approach (ie long shot, then medium shot, then close-up) is at its most obvious during the musical numbers, where he lacks the magical touch that the story - and the music - demands. Still, he was undoubtedly a better choice than Curtis Bernhardt, the "Prussian pickle" (to paraphrase one of the characters in this movie) originally slated to direct, and the real reason for Lanza walking out on The Student Prince.

But watch this movie for its irresistible fairytale appeal, and the magic of Mario Lanza at his extraordinary best.

This is the only talking film version of Romberg's famous 1924 operetta--unfortunately, and it took MGM thirty years to get around to making it after they did a silent version. Although from all reports the silent version, directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch is excellent (I haven't seen it), in spite of the fact that it IS a "silent operetta", this 1954 sound version is a considerable letdown. Mario Lanza was supposed to have played the Prince, but his temper and weight problems got him fired, so the film was released with Edmund Purdom acting the role and lip-synching to Lanza's singing. Purdom is a considerably better actor than Lanza, but that's really not saying much. Ann Blyth, who does her own singing, is very good. However, the MGM adapters and screenwriters have done their dirty work. New, hopelessly bad dialogue has been added, as in the 50's remakes of "The Desert Song", "Show Boat", and "Rose Marie", but in this case the adapters have gone a few steps further. Only about half the original music (the score alone is ninety minutes long) is used; only Purdom/Lanza, Blyth, and the chorus sing, and they even filch the songs given to other characters in the stage version. Worse yet, new songs (not by Romberg and Dorothy Donnelly) have been added,and in EVERY SINGLE ONE of the original songs, only the first few lines of the lyrics have been retained----the rest have all been changed.

Audiences who are undemanding or completely unfamiliar with even a recording of the songs won't mind, but although the original lyrics weren't on the level of Hammerstein, Porter, Berlin, Ira Gershwin, Larry Hart, or Alan Jay Lerner's efforts, "Student Prince" fans will--and should---be outraged at this musical mangling.

I personally enjoyed this film very much. It is a sweet trip to bygone times when musicals were just good entertainment. The character actors in it, (Cuddles Sakall in particular, and Louis Calhern as the king.) Edumund Purdom does an excellent job in the uneviable position of literally standing in for Mario Lanza.(And he's probably a better all around actor).There is an urban legend that says that Lanza is actually in one sequence in the film, and I think I have found it.

It is the beautiful scene in the cathedral after the old king has dies and Karl is standing in front of the catalfalque. There is a very wide angle shot of him singing 'I'll walk with God' and then a close up of Purdom. I really do think that this is the scene my friend was talking about. Anybody else think so??