Pavarotti In Movies

[Sam]

After enjoying the Turner Classic Movies showing of Great Caruso
yesterday, I stayed on board to see Pavarotti in "Yes, Giorgio". This
is a 1982 film he made to capitalize on his popularity. The film is
easy breezy fun (much like a Lanza movie) with little plot and is
loaded with excellent singing. Where it falls short, however, is the
fact of having to listen to Pavarotti's poor English and his wooden
acting. I liked his love interest in the film--Kathryn Harrold. When
the film first premiered in Philadelphia, I was interviewed on the
street by the local TV station. At the time I remember saying "it was
enjoyable watching, but Pavarotti is no Mario Lanza"! And time proved
I was right because Pav never made another film.

PS. The Great Caruso print, as good as it was visually, made me
realize that they need to do major restoration on the sound which was
boxy and had no ring to Mario's great notes.

[Henry]

Yes, Giorgio was one of the biggest mistakes Pavarotti ever made. His
singing was very good (would have been significantly better had the
film been made just three years previously though), but as you said,
poor English and Pavarotti was really uncomfortable in his role. He
also put on a huge amount of weight (when he tried losing it
specifically for the film) and was uncomfortable with many things that
he was required to do, the result was embarassing. This disaster of a
film probably prompted the infamous booing during the Serra/Pavarotti
Lucia di lammermoor performances at La Scala in 1983.

In terms of acting, Pavarotti was no Mario Lanza. And I'm very glad
that Pavarotti never did make another film.

[Derek McGovern]

I completely agree with you, Henry. I thought Pavarotti sang very well
in the film (and I loved his rendition of the song If We Were in
Love), but that his acting and the script were embarrassing. One
critic wrote of the latter that it played as if it were a rejected
first draft for a Lanza film! Another critic, noting the small
audiences on its release, predicted (accurately) that it was doomed at
the box office, commenting waspishly that so far "only Pavarotti, his
agent, and his agent's mother" had seen it.

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