For the First Time

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!

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.

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.

Lanza's last film is an enjoyable lightweight concoction with some lovely scenery and the star in glorious voice. The story is a bit hard to swallow but since his films were never the bedrock of reality this one is about par for the course. He performs many songs and as usual those are the strongest parts of the film since Mario was more of a personality than an actor but his part doesn't demand too much of him and he does fine with it. While Lanza sounds wonderful he's not looking his best, probably a result of his hard living ways which of course resulted in his passing shortly after the completion of this film. Someone who is a knockout is Zsa Zsa Gabor, her part is small but she perks up the picture every time she sweeps onto the screen beautifully dressed and oozing a sophistication that would be hard to find today.

Musically speaking, Lanza's best movies are undoubtedly The Great Caruso, Serenade and For The First Time. The Great Caruso is the most accessible of the three, and also has the best production values. Serenade is a much darker movie, and contains Lanza's most impressive dramatic singing. It does, however, suffer from an uneven script (see my review if you're interested).

Although a much lighter tale, For The First Time is similarly flawed. It contains the most perfectly balanced musical programme of any of the tenor's seven movies, but at the same time suffers from a poorly written script and some sloppy dubbing. As with The Seven Hills of Rome the preceding year, the original script was apparently a good one, but somewhere along the way a sugar coating was added to the story. The result was a highly sentimental tear-jerker with a good deal of banal dialogue.

It's to Lanza's credit, then, that For The First Time transcends its limitations and remains a watchable - and often moving - swansong from a musical giant. It helps that Lanza, just a year before his death, was in superb voice throughout - with one exception that I'll get to in a minute. Here his voice retains the baritonal depth of the Serenade period, but if anything his tenor is even rounder that it had been three years earlier. This is a voice of extraordinary depth and power. The high notes are faultless and retain the brilliance of old, but equally importantly his singing is more controlled and sensitive than in some of his boisterous earlier appearances. It must have helped that the operatic selections were recorded (and filmed) at the Rome Opera House, thus providing the tenor with a more artistic atmosphere than Hollywood could ever have afforded.

The Vesti La Giubba scene is extremely moving, both visually and vocally. Free of distracting histrionics, this is a very different rendition from his slightly hammy earlier performances of the aria. If you never thought Lanza could top his magnificent rendition from The Great Caruso, then be prepared for a big surprise. This is the perfect Canio voice - dark, rich and powerful - and the pathos in Lanza's voice as he sustains the climactic High A on the word "infranto" is all but overwhelming.

The other operatic selections are equally impressive - with the exception of the strained La Donna E Mobile that begins the movie. The Otello Finale, Grand March from Aida, and trio (E Voi Ridete) from Cosi Fan Tutte present an amazingly varied programme, and I can think of no other tenor capable of pulling off both the drama of Verdi and the lightness of Mozart with such effortless panache.

Among the lighter selections, Lanza also sings appealing versions of Come Prima (For The First Time), O Sole Mio, Schubert's Ave Maria, a Bavarian Drinking Song (Hofbrauhaus Song), and the pretty-though-brief O Mon Amour. There is also a tantalising snatch from Grieg's I Love Thee, with Lanza's gleaming tenor ringing out in all its glory.

Physically, he often appears tired, and the unhealthy bags under his eyes betray his failing health. Nevertheless, he looks terrific in certain scenes, and unusually for the tenor his relatively slim appearance remains more or less consistent throughout the movie.

Aside from the movie's vocal strengths, what really saves the film is the tender rapport between Lanza and his delightful co-star, Johanna Von Koczian. Their love for each other, quickly though it develops, seems convincing, and there are moments in which it is hard to believe that Lanza is only acting.

Corny moments aside (and there are plenty of them), For The First Time is a poignant farewell to Lanza, and a vocal feast at that.