Come prima

For a performer of such stellar talent, Mario Lanza has received quite a lot of criticism. While watching "For the First Time", his final film I am very ready to dismiss such criticism, as his performance both acting and singing in this film is excellent. You wouldn't say that in other respects this little love story is any more than a vehicle, but it hits the mark. It's like an Elvis movie, you know you are there to admire the star and enjoy his virtuosity, the rest is just window dressing. Much is made in discussions of Lanza of his weight problem and his being driven out of Hollywood, but here his appearance is perfectly acceptable and his charm effective. Lanza didn't appeal to me in my girlish days as he didn't have the appearance of the typical square-jawed leading man, but now I have to say I find his smile appealing and the flash of his dark eyes very attractive, and when he sings, well ..! In respect of his figure, he is a barrel-chested tenor, but he has broad shoulders to carry it off. As for his being overweight, his face is a little pudgy but any avoirdupois is nothing to the obesity you see these days. If he hit any bad notes, I certainly didn't detect it, the singing seemed outstanding to me. When you've finished talking about Lanza there is not much else to say about "For the First Time". The other presences in the film are agreeable and the scenery and sets lovely. Except for imperfect dubbing and a few skips, the visual and audio quality of the digital version of this film on a certain video channel is very good. The printed material which appears on screen is in German, so I want to thank the Germans for keeping this print safe! (it has been reunited with an English soundtrack). I enjoyed the film a good deal and am rating it on that basis. I hope you enjoy it too.

From the beautiful backdrop of Capri, to the enormous, passionate ringing voice of Mario Lanza, this is a must see movie for one and all.

Mario is in wonderful voice, and looks every bit the part of an opera singer hiding incognito. The scene where he sings "Come Prima ("For the First Time") is a showstopper, and you can almost feel the warm sunlight in your face and the salt air in your lungs as you listen to the one true voice known as Mario Lanza, singing to the swooning girls and admiring men. Don't miss this one!

The voice of Mario Lanza carries this nicely done film. The plot is a good one as a unreliable opera star finds love with a deaf mute girl.

Lanza was also a pretty good actor.

Zsa Zsa Gabor is in this one as a countess. She looks young but when she speaks, you think it's sister Eva talking from the "Green Acres" television show.

Lanza sings a variety of songs. His singing of the opera Othello is superb. I have to confess that I laughed when I saw a "dead" Desdemona besides him. The latter looked like a younger version of former Secretary of State Madeleine Allbright.

Our deaf mute gains her hearing only to lose it again with fiancée Mario blaming himself. The plot becomes silly when Mario begins a bar-room brawl and then the patrons of the bar try to exonerate him in court.

Sit back and listen to that beautiful golden voice of the late Lanza. What a talent was lost when he left us so unexpectedly.

Mario Lanza sings and stars in his last film, "For the First Time," which has beautiful music sung against some of the most glorious scenery in the world on the Isle of Capri.

Lanza plays opera star Tonio Costa who is seemingly always in trouble -- on the night of a concert, he doesn't show up and is found standing on a taxi singing for the people who couldn't get into the theater.

He seems to have developed a bad reputation along the way. So his manager (Kurt Kasznar) sends him away for a vacation and to straighten himself out. He goes to Capri, and while there, he meets a young deaf woman (Johanna von Koczian). They fall in love, but she refuses to marry him until she can hear him.

The story is sappy, but it's just an excuse for the music. Lanza's voice is much darker here, with the middle voice really opened up. As a singer myself, I will say this normally happens about 15 years after it happened to Lanza. With age, the vocal cords thicken. Many singers find new warmth and power in the middle, while the top notes become more difficult. I attribute these changes in Lanza to his drinking and hard lifestyle, which I suspect included smoking.

At any rate, here he sings "Come Prima," "La Donna e mobile," "Vesti la giubba", the final scene of "Othello", the beginning of the Rigoletto quartet, a partial duet from Cosi fan Tutte, the Triumphant March from Aida, and Neopolitan and Bavarian songs. And with all that, I could have used more.

As usual, the repertoire is strange - you don't give Cosi to a spinto tenore, and you don't give that role to one of Costa's supposed stature, nor should he have been singing Othello.

Yes, singers can start out their careers with a lyric Mozart role, and as the voice develops, sing spinto roles - not a month later, but years later -- and possibly end their careers with an Othello, which is a dramatic tenor role, but again, not a month later.

Lanza is bloated in many closeups and wears a suit jacket or a robe the entire movie, apparently to cover weight gain which isn't really that evident.

How many young men did Mario Lanza inspire to take up operatic singing? How many people did he introduce to opera? One can only look at him here and say, what a waste.

Since he was living in Rome, he was offered operatic stage roles. Imagine if he had lived to do them. One can only wonder why some gifted people are like fireworks, flaring up and then fading.

The young woman in the movie, Johanna von Koczian, is "introduced" here and a superficial knowledge of movies is enough to tell you she didn't make it in Hollywood. However, she had, and is still having, a wonderful, full career in Germany. Her daughter is an actress as well.

Highly recommended if you love opera and especially for Lanza fans.

This MGM film showcases the great Mario Lanza, whose untimely death came right after this film was completed. It's a vehicle for the star, who had one of the most powerful tenor voices in the cinema. As such, "For the First Time" is an excuse to present its star in different European settings in a picture that is more of a travelogue than a musical.

Rudolph Mate directed with an eye for the backgrounds being shown. We are taken to that magical island of Capri, then to Salzburg, among other places that go by too quickly. The DVD we watched had a faded look, and one can only guess the original copy had glorious colors.

Mario Lanza plays an opera singer who goes to Capri to stay away from the scandal he caused at the Vienna Opera house for not showing for a performance, when in reality, he was outside entertaining the people that couldn't get inside. In Capri he meets sweet Christa, who happens to be deaf. They fall in love and she will not marry him unless she can hear him. Naturally, like in all fairy tales, everything comes true and everyone is happy at the end.

Mario Lanza has some good moments in the film. He sings arias from Pagliacci, Aida and Othelo, as well as the theme song, "Come prima", in his usual style. Johanna Von Koczian is seen as Christa, the sweet girl who conquers Tonio Costa's heart. Kurt Kasznar plays Tonio's agent.

This is a happy film without any pretensions. It's not Mr. Lanza's best film, but for all his fans it will be something to savor.