Tu És Minha Paixão

Because You're Mine was Mario Lanza's fourth movie, and was much criticised on its release as artistically a step backwards for the celebrated tenor. Certainly, coming straight after The Great Caruso it suffers badly in comparison with that considerable achievement, but is Because You're Mine really THAT bad?

Actually, this is a fun movie. It lacks the polish of That Midnight Kiss and the sheer high spirits of Toast of New Orleans, but vocally at least this film has more going for it than either of those two movies. Highlights include a definitive Granada (in a key one and a half tones higher than the Three Tenors have ever dared to attempt!), a moving Lord's Prayer and several pleasing operatic and popular selections. My only regret is that All the Things You Are was inexplicably cut from the movie. One of Lanza's loveliest recordings, it was recently restored on the Mario Lanza at MGM soundtrack CD released by Rhino.

The film also boasts a fine co-star in James Whitmore, who provides much of the movie's comic relief, and a pleasant leading lady in Doretta Morrow of the Broadway Kismet fame. She's no great shakes as a singer, but then - unlike Kathryn Grayson in the earlier movies - she isn't meant to be.

Lanza hated making this movie, and did his best to sabotage it, gaining a huge amount of weight in the vain hope that this would discourage the producers from going ahead with it. As a result, Lanza's weight varies from 240 pounds to 159 pounds (often in successive scenes), a distracting but intriguing sight.

But none of this need detract from your enjoyment of a pleasant movie that includes some agreeable singing from the finest tenor of his generation. And you can always watch Serenade (Lanza's next movie) straight after it for a reminder of what this man could do with a much meatier tale.

By the time Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer started Mario Lanza in his fourth film, the formula was wearing thin. In That Midnight Kiss, he was an opera singing truckdriver. In The Toast of New Orleans, he was an opera singing fisherman. And in The Great Caruso he was, the greatest opera singer of all. Now he was going to be cast as an opera singer drafted into the army.

So you can understand that Mario was feeling in a bit of a career rut. Why he wasn't cast in some of the classic musicals and operettas of old is beyond me. So despite the fact that the title song became a big hit for him, Mr. Lanza was unhappy.

He set records for binging on food, on liquor, on women that outstripped even what Mario previously did. Looking at some of the scenes filmed out of sequence you can see how his weight went up and down. Reportedly he behaved so outrageously to co-star Doretta Morrow that she up and quit Hollywood and never returned.

That was a pity because Ms. Morrow was certainly a great talent in her own right. She had just come off playing Tuptim on Broadway in The King and I and would soon go back to Broadway in Kismet.

Despite that Doretta and Mario made some beautiful music together. Especially with the title song and Doretta sings a beautiful version of Cole Porter's You Do Something to Me.

I actually rather liked the premise of this film. Mario Lanza, opera star gets drafted into the army where by the merest of chance he gets an opera loving sergeant James Whitmore who has an aspiring singer for a sister. That would be Ms. Morrow.

Put them together with a whole lot of situations that come up in military service comedies and you have Because You're Mine.

It's not a bad film, not particularly great. But a rut is a rut is a rut.

If anyone will notice, That Midnight Kiss and The Toast of New Orleans was the same movie with the same plot with maybe a change of characters. For instance, instead of Ethel Barrymore, we've got a male actor playing about the same thing that she did in Kiss, and there's still that Kathryn Grayson doesn't like Mario Lanza and Mario Lanza playing the brash singer. Same movie, same plot, same characters. So, along later comes Because You're Mine which is very entertaining without all that operatic music. Personally, I didn't care for The Great Caruso, although it's a odd thing that on the day that Caruso died, Mario Lanza was born. Now, I'm not saying that Mario Lanza was Caruso reincarnated, but it is a bit unusual that knowing this, Lanza played Caruso on the screen. It is probable that his family knew this and told this to him many times!

So, in Because You're Mine, you've got a great cast, great music with Mario Lanza singing Granada at the end of the movie looking like he was poured into his Army uniform which made him look a little larger than the uniform with the button about to pop, but we forgave him. Come on gang - this is Mario Lanza!

Now, we've got one problem with this movie. It's not a big problem but it's Doretta Morrow. Sure she can sing, beautifully, and she cat too. Well, no wonder. She was in the original Broadway cast of Kismet playing Marsinah in which Ann Blyth played the role in the movie version, but you couldn't see it on the stage, but Ms. Morrow always looked cross eyed on the screen, and after Lanza making a hit in Caruso singing Be My Love - did she really have too? At least they had the good sense not to make it a duet between here and Lanza.

So, when you come right down to it, the movie is very entertaining. Probably Mario Lana's best. He never sang better. And why isn't Kathryn Grayson in this movie instead of Doretta Morrow? Well, quite frankly, she and Mario Lanza did not like each other. In their two movies together, especially That Midnight Kiss, you could see something going on with her feelings for him, but they never made a match. Maybe she was personally afraid of him. Who knows? But there were a great singing team. It's a shame that they never made more movies together, but that was never to be! Once again, it's just a shame that movies like this cannot be seen on the big movie theater screen. That big screen makes the difference. Ask anyone who's recently seen The Wizard of Oz for the first time in a movie theater, or even one of you out there - then you'll know what I mean!

The studio's effort to cram in a piece exploiting Lanza's success in THE GREAT CARUSO before his promised fine (if unfaithful reduction of) STUDENT PRINCE, this film today is chiefly of interest for one of the too few opportunities to see the great Doretta Morrow and the last of Lanza appearing rather than merely dubbing on screen. It is well WORTH seeing, but could have been so much more.

Lanza was starting the uncontrolled fluctuation of weight which ultimately resulted in Edmond Purdom playing the student prince (with Lanza's singing voice) and his resulting (continuing?) insecurity affected his treatment of all around him. Morrow had the chance to do the film because Lanza's last leading lady refused to work with him again. On the weight front - when not an actual medical problem, frequently the outlet for emotional problems - we wouldn't see the like (a film lead's weight appearing to fluctuate drastically within a scene) until 25 years later when Elizabeth Taylor filmed A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in 1977.

Just as bad, the studio hair, make-up and design departments did everything in their considerable power to hide Morrow's remarkable light under a bushel. Seek out her televised appearance opposite Alfred Drake in THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO (Drake and Morrow had wanted to televise their original Broadway KISMET roles, but the studio had the rights tied up for lesser talents): Morrow's was a beauty and voice considerably superior to any of Lanza's other screen leading ladies!

Despite these severe handicaps the film, silly post-war plot (singing soldier falls for his sergeant's sister) and all, remains entertaining even if less than great art. It's a pity that we can only now get it in a *burned* DVD from Warner Archives (after an initial VHS release), but we'll be thankful for what we can get - even while noting the commercial doublethink. Warner Brothers doesn't think the film well sell well enough to justify a full (more permanent) *pressed* release, but heavily "copyblocks" the DVDs they do put out to try to make it harder for purchasers to share the disc if Warners' takes it out of print again.

After the triumph of "The Great Caruso" in 1951, Lanza was all set to start work on "The Student Prince." MGM had other ideas and wanted to exploit his more popular image. When they approached him, his response was "You cannot put Caruso in the army!" He was persuaded eventually to start on "Because You're Mine" with the dangling carrot of Student Prince promised next in line. He did not like the script, or his co-star, who constantly smoked and was considered by him to be unsuitable, because of her limited experience and he also put on weight at an alarming rate, so that costumes had to be remade or altered almost daily, to accomodate his fluctuating size. This is all too apparent in some scenes, when he walks in slim and walks out again at least 40 pounds heavier. It was his way of rebelling against the system. Once completed, it was chosen as the 1952 Royal Command film in U.K. but the critics panned it. O.K. the plot is thin, the acting dated, but the voice - wow - that voice. He was truly on top form and the soundtrack and studio recordings of the songs from the film are still great favourites today. Just listen to "The Lord's Prayer" to see what I mean. Not a favourite film of mine, but I watch just for the voice and memories of a bygone era.