Lanza Trivia Question Time: Yet Another Round!

[Derek McGovern]

OK: let's see if this question prompts a bit more participation than the last (admittedly rather tricky) one! 

Which of Mario Lanza's colleagues had this to say about him?

"But you know: his actual voice was a greater voice than Caruso's." 

[Lou]

Licia Albanese?

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lou: No, not dear old Licia Albanese, though she did rank Lanza "next to Caruso" (vocally)!

Cheers

Derek 

[Steff]

 

Hi Derek,

 

I would imagine that it was someone who actually heard Caruso sing live? 

What about Richard Hageman?

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: No, this person never heard Caruso in person :)

And, no, it's not Richard Hageman---but I would love to know how he compared the two singers!

Cheers

Derek

[norma]

Dear Derek,was it Callinicos?

                                                            Norma

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Norma: No, it wasn't Callinicos. Keep trying!

Cheers
Derek

[Savage]

My wild guess of the day is Robert Weede.

                                        David

[Derek McGovern]

Hi David: No, it wasn't Weede. Wild guesses are most welcome, though!

[norma]

On Thursday, December 27, 2012 8:22:02 AM UTC, Derek McGovern wrote:
> Hi David: No, it wasn't Weede. Wild guesses are most welcome, though!

Hi Derek,Was it George London?
Norma

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Norma: No, it wasn't George London---though he certainly didn't hold back on the praise. 

I'll make it a little easier: it's none of the singers featured here:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/quotes-from-opera-singers.html

Cheers

Derek

[leeann]

That was an awfully generous clue! Let's see. There are 17 people quoted; three out of the running from previous guesses. I'm going to go with Blanche Thebom because that comment sounds as if it COULD be the middle of a conversation about The Great Caruso. Of course, Lucine Amara sang with Lanza in that movie, too, but I eliminated her for the moment because as I recall, she was a bit erratic in her later comments about Lanza. Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: No, it wasn't the gorgeous-toned Blanche Thebom, and it definitely wasn't "Blows-hot-and-cold-on-Lanza" Lucine Amara :)

But keep guessing!

Cheers

Derek 

[Lou]

You said none of the quoted opera singers, so my wild, wild guess is Terry Robinson. (I seem to recall seeing a video of him mentioning Lanza's and Caruso's voices in one breath.)

[leeann]

NONE.  Oops. :-)  Best, Lee Ann

[norma]

On Saturday, December 29, 2012 5:00:27 PM UTC, leeann wrote:
> NONE.  Oops. :-)  Best, Lee Ann

Is it a conductor..?

Norma

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lou and Norma: No, it wasn't Terry Robinson, and it wasn't a conductor either.

Cheers
Derek

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

You remarked "actual voice," so is it someone who thought that Mario's voice was even better when heard live than when heard on recordings? Someone who believed that recordings just did not do his voice perfect justice?

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: Well, I can't speak for the person who said that, but he/she certainly heard Mario's live voice on many occasions and was therefore in a position to know that recordings didn't do him justice. (Though I'm sure the same could be said about Caruso.)

Does that help? :)

Cheers

Derek 

[Derek McGovern]

All right, since we have no takers, here's a clue: the mystery person was female.

[leeann]

Well, let's see. Thinking out loud.  So, among the women it might be, it is NOT an opera singer. Since Derek used the word colleague, I'll rule out family (Betty, Maria, or Colleen). So that might leave fellow actors in his films; it might leave coaches and mentors like Maria Margelli; it might leave people like Hedda Hopper (who, despite a seeming fondness for Lanza, seems to have waxed, waned, spoken truth, made up stories, and more as it suited her needs).  Actually, how about Maria Margelli. Yes, that's my wild guess. Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: No, it wasn't Maria Margelli, though she certainly had the highest possible regard for Lanza's voice. And it wasn't Hedda Hopper either---but your comments about her are somewhat applicable to the mystery person as well :)

Actually, that's a big hint!

Cheers

Derek 

[norma]

Hi Derek,is it Kathryn Grayson?
Best Wishes Norma

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Norma: Go to the top of the class! The mystery person was indeed Kathryn Grayson!

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

It's a new year---and time for a new trivia question (and a two-part one at that):

What was (or were) the only Lanza film(s) not to have undergone a (known) change of English title before being released,

and which Lanza films hold the record for most changes of title?

(You have to get both parts right to win this round :))


Cheers
Derek

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Thinking out loud now as I am not 100 % sure ....

 

I think three films did not undergo a change of title:

 

- "That Midnight Kiss"

- "Serenade" (as it was based on the novel of the same name) and

- "Seven Hills of Rome" (I think the title "Arrivederci Roma" was only used for the Italian and German

   release)

 

 

Now, there are four remaining films, and I tend to believe that "The Toast of New Orleans" had the most

changes:

 

- TONO: "Kiss of Fire", "Serenade to Suzette" and "This Summer is Yours" (3 changes)

 

- TGC:    "Caruso Sings Tonight," "The Life of Caruso" (2 changes)

 

- BYM:    "The Big Cast" (1 change)

 

- FTFT:   "Silent Melody"  I have another two titles, but I am really not sure if these indeed were

                another working titles: "Capri" and "Serenade to a Great Love" (which would correspond

                with the German title "Serenade einer großen Liebe." I think that "Come Prima" was only

                used in Italy.

 

Steff

[Steff]

Derek,

 

Before you even get the chance to comment my previous post regarding this current trivia question - sometimes the time difference is a very good thing! :) - please allow me to "take a joker" and correct my answer:

 

 

Only two films did not undergo a change of title:

 

- "Serenade" (as it was based on the novel of the same name) and

- "Seven Hills of Rome" (I think the title "Arrivederci Roma" was only used

   for the Italian and German release)

 

 

Consequently, five films remain, and I tend to believe now that it was "TGC"  that had the most changes:

 

- That Midnight Kiss "This Summer is Yours" (1 change) I mistakenly listed it for

                              TONO

- TONO: "Kiss of Fire", "Serenade to Suzette" (2 changes)

- TGC: "Caruso Sings Tonight," "The Life of Caruso," "Caruso Story" (3 changes)

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: I'll confess: I wasn't aware that The Great Caruso was at one stage titled The Caruso Story---though checking a newspaper archive just now, I saw one 1949 article calling it that. So I have to assume it was a working title at one stage. But, certainly, once filming started in July 1950, its title was The Life of Caruso, and then that in turn changed to Caruso Sings Tonight. 

So that makes The Great Caruso the film with the most title changes---please correct me if I'm wrong, Armando!---and, yes, to the best of my knowledge, neither Serenade nor Seven Hills of Rome ever had a different English title. As for For the First Time, I'm only aware of Silent Melody (which I would have much preferred!), though I'm aware, of course, that it had two different titles in Germany (The Singer from Capri and Serenade for a Great Love). 

Well done, Steff!

But, actually, we're not quite done :) What was the other title (apart from The Big Cast) that Because You're Mine had at one stage? And here's a hint: it was a song title.

Cheers

Derek 

[Steff]

    Hi Derek,

 

 Is it "Be My Love"???

 For some reason I seem to remember having read this somewhere, but I cannot locate it

 anymore ...

 

     Steff 

[Steff]

 

   Hi Derek,

 

   Just in addition ....

 

   I understand that  "Serenade einer großen Liebe" was the title for West Germany (BRD = Federal Republic

   of Germany), whereas "Der Sänger von Capri" was used for the "DDR" (German Democratic

   Republic, where the film was only released in 1964). See the different film programmes below.

 

   As for the two titles "Capri" and "Serenade of a Great Love" I am not sure where I originally got this

   information from. It was something I had noted down a while back.

 

   Steff

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 As for For the First Time, I'm only aware of Silent Melody (which I would have much preferred!), though I'm aware, of course, that it had two different titles in Germany (The Singer from Capri and Serenade for a Great Love). 

 

Cheers

Derek 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: Yes, Be My Love was a working title for Because You're Mine---and, of course, Doretta Morrow sings that song in the movie. I've always thought it odd that Lanza himself didn't get to reprise it; I mean, why have another character singing the star's most famous song? (There must have been a few disappointed fans sitting in the movie theatres in 1952.)

Thanks for clarifying the business regarding the two German titles of For the First Time.

Actually, it might make for a pleasant diversion here to discuss the titles of Lanza's seven films. Do you think they could have been better? I've never liked The Great Caruso as a title, for example---it sounds like the promotion for a carnival entertainer :) The Seven Hills of Rome is also a poor title, in my opinion.

It's interesting that The Toast of New Orleans as a title was obviously an afterthought. It's unusual in that Lanza only sings the title song during the opening credits, and never in the movie itself. Be My Love probably would have made more sense, since the song itself is sung twice in the film. In fact, if MGM had anticipated how popular Lanza's RCA recording of the song would soon become, I'm sure they would have renamed the film in a heartbeat :)

Cheers

Derek      

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Unike you, I always liked the title "The Great Caruso" and I cannot think of any other, better, title.

I think it is a very eye-catching title, and it says straigth away what the plot is about.

 

I always wondered about "The Toast of New Orleans," still now this title, to me, does not make any sense.

What does it mean? I just cannot imagine any logical German translation. No wonder that the

German title was  "Der Fischer von Lousianna" (The Fisherman from Lousianna).

 

"Because You're Mine" was not "Weil Du mir gehörst" in Germany but became "Mein Herz singt nur für Dich." (My Heart only Sings for You). I leave it up to you if that title would have been more fitting. I think there's no big difference.

 

One title that I think was not the best choice is "Serenade." I know of course, that Cain's novel, on which the film based, had this title, so it was only logical to adopt it for the film version too. However, I just think it does not do justice to the storyline. "Serenade" sounds like harmony, but the story of two women fighting for the same man is anything but harmony." 

Derek, I remember you wrote an essay about Cain's novel, so what think you, was the title "Serenade" a goode choice fo both the novel and the film?

In Germany the title "Serenade" also clashes with "Serenade einer großen Liebe" for "FTFT," which I think was somewhat unfortunate (Two similar sounding film titles for two different films).

 

 

 "Seven Hills of Rome" indeed was no great idea either. I go with the title that was used in Italy and Germany,  "Arrivederci Roma," as it was the theme song.

 

Steff

 

Steff

 

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

As for the title „Caruso Sings Tonight,“ I was not quite sure if it indeed was a working title for “The Great Caruso.”

In a newspaper column from June 1950 it was remarked: “The Life of Caruso” has been changed to “Caruso Sings Tonight.” Sounds like a quiz show to me.”

And in “My Heart Sings” (Motion Picture Nov. 1950) Betty Lanza was reported to have said: “Mario can’t wait for the audience’s reaction to Caruso Sings Tonight for it represents his most fantastic dream come true.”

But then again I see that the book “Pig’n Whistle” by Veronica Gelakoska mentions that “Caruso Sings Tonight” was kind of promotional slogan for the premiere of the film:

“By 1951, the renovated Egyptian Theatre looked completely unrecognizable to what it had been a few years back. The marquee announces, “Caruso Sings Tonight,” which was a promotion for “The Great Caruso,” starring Mario Lanza (the following pic is taken from the book).

In understand that “Caruso Sings Tonight” was the title for the Caruso film that Jesse Lasky originally had planned to produce (before it became a collaboration with MGM) – not considering Mario playing the title role at that time:

 

 

So my question is now: was “Caruso Sings Tonight” indeed a working title for “The Great Caruso” starring Mario Lanza? Or was it only a slogan on the occasion of the film premiere? Or maybe both of it? Anybody?

 

Steff

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: If newspapers were reporting that The Life of Caruso had become Caruso Sings Tonight, then I'd say both were always more than just working titles. MGM must have been seriously considering them at various stages. After all, a working title is only meant to be temporary until the final title has been decided on, and the studio had already had The Caruso Story for that purpose. 

It'd be interesting to pinpoint when the film became The Great Caruso. Certainly, it was being referred to as that by newspapers in March 1951 (a month before its premiere).

Harking back to your earlier post: I simply feel that The Great....anything has been overdone as a title, and was already overused by 1951. (It's also used sarcastically quite often.)  As for Serenade, I feel it suits the film far better than it does the novel! 

Cheers

Derek      

[Derek McGovern]

Speaking of film titles, I rather like the name of the Italian play Seven Hills of Rome was initially (?) based on: Rainy Evening (Sera di Pioggia). Rain may not have had much to do with the finished film (apart from the scene involving Marisa Allasio's chance meeting with Lanza's Marc Revere), but as a title, it's a lot more evocative than the uninspiring Seven Hills of Rome!

I guess for every memorable title---think Gone with the Wind, A Tale of Two Cities, etc---there are dozens that fall short of capturing the imagination. Salman Rushdie and the late Christopher Hitchens used to have fun together slightly altering the titles of classics, and the results certainly show what a fine line there is between the prosaic and the memorable: A Farewell to Weapons, For Whom the Bell Rings, Good Expectations, for example :)  

Nearly time for another trivia question, I would say!   

[Steff]

 

I was interested to see which title the press/newspapers used for “The Great Caruso” before its official release in spring 1951, so I put together an assortment of newspaper snippets which you can read below.

Derek, as you will see, the title “The Great Caruso” was mentioned long before the film premiered, and for a while there even was a to-and–fro between the titles “The Great Caruso” and “The Life of Caruso.” I could not locate any newspaper notes mentioning the title “The Caruso Story,” except this one:  I [Erskine Johnson] second the motion for the casting of Jan Peerce in “The Caruso Story” (Advocate, January 27, 1948).

 

‘Tis rumored that Ezio Pinza will play Mario Lanza’s father in “The Life of Caruso.” That’s somewhat different from playing pappy to a couple of kids in “South Pacific,” and I’m wondering where’s the romance. (Seattle Daily Times, July 5, 1949)

 

 “Hollywood, Cal. – Jimmy Durante and Mario Lanza will be co-starred in “The Great Caruso” (Stage and Screen by Jake Rachman in Omaha World Herald Dec 4, 1949)

 

Ten Opera Singers in ‘Life of Caruso"                                                                                                 Jesse L. Lasky joins M-G-M as associate producer with Joe Pasternak in filming “The Life of Caruso” with an all-star cast headed by Mario Lanza. According to the Film Daily it is planned as one of the year’s outstanding musical pictures. Ten great opera stars will have leading roles in the film. Sonya Levien has been assigned to write the screen play. (Springfield Union, Dec. 21, 1949)

 

[…] Lanza has his future pretty well assured. He is now doing “The Toast of News Orleans” and next tackles “The Life of Caruso,” which will be given the epic treatment […] (Register Republic January 7, 1950)

 

“The Life of Caruso” has been changed to “Caruso Sings Tonight” (Times – Picayune, June 17, 1950)

 

“ [..] Ann Blyth was borrowed from U.I. to play Mario Lanza’s wife in “The Great Caruso. She’s unlike Dorothy Caruso, but she’s a sweet girl […].” (Times Picayune, July 26, 1950)

 

Mario Lanza is going to be up to his tonsils in opera singers in “The Life of Caruso.” Jarmila Novotna is the latest to be added to the life story of the great Enrico. Just a few days ago, Miss Parsons told you Dorothy Kirsten will sing arias from three operas with Mario. Novotna will duet with him in “Rigoletto” in the scenes when Caruso made his debut at Covent Gardens in England. (San Diego Union, August 3, 1950)

 

Picture May Make Wardrobe Record                                                                                                          Hollywood, Aug 26 (Special) -  I addition to containing more music in actual running time than any other film in history, M-G-M’s “The Great Caruso” may also set a mark as the mostly elegantly gowned. Faced with the largest single wardrobe task in years, the studio is producing 129 changes for Mario Lanza who plays Caruso, and his six friends, all fastidious dressers. Lanza himself requires 39 changes. Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Blanche Thebom and Yvette  Duguary, the women in the picture, require 33 changes, while 500 costumes are necessary to cloth participants in the 15 operas shown in the film. In  addition, audiences for the operas require 500 full dress costumes for men and women, with an additional 250 street-stroller wardrobes for the Naples and Covent Garden sequences (San Diego Union, August 27, 1950)

 

[…] He[Caruso] said that his last name  meant “a dear use,” and he firmly believed that applied to his voice. He felt that it was God-given and that it was more important than anything else in his life. That will be the theme of the movie to be called “The Great Caruso.” (from “Caruso Story Studio Worry,” (Oregonian,  September 24, 1950)

 

Dorothy Kirsten’s frocks in “The Life of Caruso” film were too decollette for the censor whom ordered them upped (Augusta Chronicle, Oct. 10, 1950)

 

Dorothy [Kirsten] told me [Louella Parsons] she had never sung “Aida” until she played opposite Mario Lanza in “The Great Caruso” and an aria from that famous opera was included in the picture. Now she hopes to sing it some day at the Met.” (San Diego Union, Nov 26, 1950)

 

Lanza Starts Classic Fad                                                                                                              Hollywood – Mario Lanza had everybody doin’ it. Since start of Technicolor musical film “The Great Caruso,” which co-stars  Ann Blyth, all roads at M-G-M led to stage 5 where a set duplicating the Metropolitan Opera house had been erected.  Here observers have witnessed parts from 18 great operas enacted and sung by Lanza and Met stars Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Blanche Thebom, Nicola Moscona and Giuseppe Valdengo […].” (The San Diego Union,  December  17, 1950)

 

[…} Lanza made his screen debut in “That Midnight Kiss,” in 1949 and subsequently appeared opposite Kathryn Grayson in “Toast of New Orleans.” Recently he completed the title role of “The Great Caruso.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch January 16, 1951)

 

The Italian tenor [Caruso] made only two movies in his lifetime, both directed by Jesse Lasky. It was Lasky who directed Lanza in “The Great Caruso,” just completed. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 25, 1951)

 

Smoothie:  From the upcoming movie, “The Life of Caruso,” the Percy Faith orchestra and chorus (Columbia) play a smoothie entitled “The Loveliest Night of the Year.” The lyrics are strange and new but the melody hits a familiar note. Could it be a musical cousin of Rosas’ “Over the Waves?” (From ‘Listen with Rowe’, Richmond Times Dispatch, March 18, 1951)

 

Steff 

[Derek McGovern]

Thanks for going to all that trouble, Steff. I now wonder if MGM went through a period of alternating between the titles The Great Caruso and The Life of Caruso in its press releases!

Time for a new trivia question:

What monthly journal devoted to opera featured Lanza on its cover in 1990, and also included in the same issue a glowing (if occasionally inaccurate) four-page article on the man?    

Cheers

Derek

[norma]

Dear Derek I do not know but I wish I had a copy.
Norma

[leeann]

Hmm, racking my brain here, and I am pretty sure the answer's nowhere to be found. In fact the whole category of opera/classical music publications is pretty empty. It seems difficult to imagine that Gramophone would ever have run Lanza on the cover, much less include a four-page positive article, given their generally denigrating reviews of his work over time. But the BBC does have a classical music publication (although I don't know when that would've begun publishing). Of course, British doesn't have to be ENGLAND, does it? Generally, it seems that Australian publications frequently give glowing Lanza coverage. Clearly I have no idea. Lee Ann

On Monday, January 7, 2013 6:29:21 PM UTC-5, Derek McGovern wrote:

Well, it looks as though my question has flummoxed everyone! So here's a hint: the opera journal (or magazine) is British.

Cheers

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: No, it definitely wasn't Gramophone!

I think I may have to reveal the answer---it was always going to be a toughie---but let's give it another 24 hours, shall we? :)

Cheers

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Pamela: The answer is indeed Opera Now. Well done!

Back in December 1990, this magazine published a four-page article titled "Lanza the Inspiration," which was accompanied by a page of reminiscences by Ellisa Lanza. The focus of the main article was Mario's MGM films, and there were many glowing comments---particularly about the "Vesti la Giubba" scene in The Great Caruso:   

[W]hat he does with the article is remarkable. Purists may carp at the inserted sobs and shakes---in the exaggerated verismo tradition---at the end of the aria, but his conviction throughout is riveting. . . .The secret of his acting skill [during the aria] lies in the expressive use of his face: the eyes flash, the eyebrows register tension, and the mouth---notably on 'forzati' and 'ridi Pagliaccio'---curls into a snarl.

Yet there is no exaggeration, no distortion. Every shift of feeling---through rage, despair, jealousy, and self-contempt---is clearly visible. As one of his admirers comments in Because You're Mine, 'he sure is a two-handkerchief tenor.'

Not bad, huh? :)

Cheers

Derek   

[Derek McGovern]

Time for a new trivia question!

In a typical recital during his (final) 1958 tour, Mario Lanza performed fifteen to sixteen selections, the majority of which were staples of his previous (1951) tour. But over the course of his entire concert/recital career (1942 to 1958), approximately how many individual numbers---e.g. songs, arias, duets, trios---is he known to have performed in front of live audiences* either in concert/recital or on television and/or radio? 

*I.e. audiences that were actually present when he was performing. This excludes the "Great Moments of Music" programs of 1945-46. 

[Derek McGovern]

Well, it looks like my latest trivia question has everyone either flummoxed or bored :) Does no one want to hazard a guess?

On the subject of Lanza's live performances, Armando surprised me yesterday with a transcription of a newspaper cutting from one of Mario's own scrapbooks. In the summer of 1942, the 21-year-old stripling gave one of his more unusual public performances, singing a selection of fascinating material ("Lolita," Recondita Armonia," and possibly even "Estrellita") in a concert with contralto (now there's a change!) Anne Simon, accompanied by the intriguing mix of piano, harp and violin trio. Oh, how I wish portable recording devices had existed then!!

Cheers

Derek 

[Derek McGovern]

Whoops: a couple of corrections to the above. I was confusing some of
the selections Lanza sang at that 1942 concert with contralto Anne
Simon with those that he sang five years later in a July 1947 recital
with Joseph Blatt at the piano. (I'm currently compiling a list of all
known concerts and recitals that Lanza gave.)

For the Summer of 1942 concert (with piano, harp and violin trio), the
program included "Estrellita" (as I mentioned before), "Vesti La
Giubba," "Mattinata," and, interestingly, ended with "bright songs
from “The Student Prince’"; for his July 28, 1947 recital in
Shippensburg, PA (Lanza's second appearance there in the same year),
Mario performed, among other selections, "Lolita," "Recondita
Armonia," "A Song of You" and "Che Gelida Manina."

Cheers
Derek

[leeann]

I'll go with flummoxed; maybe overwhelmed; definitely not bored!

First off, I would have loved to have heard Lanza sing "Estrellita!"

Second, I'm pretty certain there are forum readers and participants who know a lot more about this than I, with orderly lists in their heads, but in fact, it's an awfully interesting discussion prompt, so I'll just start it up and look forward to plenty of additions and specificity from others.

And there's a thirdly, actually: how to quantify Lanza's operatic roles in Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III of La Boheme, and Madam Butterfly or selections from "On the Beam," and "Winged Victory." "

Sixteen selections are preserved from the 1958 Albert Hall concert--mostly his concert standards.
The London Palladium adds "The Loveliest Night of the Year."
Three Hugo Wolf lieder. (Honolulu)
Lord's Prayer (Honolulu)
Earlier concerts and perhaps throughout his public appearances: "Parigi o cara," "O soave fanciulla," "Agnus Dei," "Nessun dorma," "Un tal giocondo." Una furtiva lagrima," "Improvviso" (Andrea Chenier), "M'appari," (Ottawa), "È il Sol dell'Anima...Addio, Addio,"

Culling from Derek's list above, then, ""Lolita," "Recondita Armonia," "A Song of You" and "Che Gelida Manina." Then there's "Ecco il magico liquore," (from L'Elisir d'Amore with George London), Farewell scene from The Magic Flute (in English, trio, Yeend/London/Lanza), "Nobody Could Love You More" (Yeend, Lanza), Prison Scene from Faust (Yeend/London/Lanza), "Roses from the South" (Yeend/London/Lanza), "Cielo o Mar," "Yours is My Heart Alone," "Someday," "Wanting You," "Will You Remember," "Nina," "Thine Alone," "Someday."

"Caro Mio Ben," "La Donna e Mobile" in English. Did he ever actually do "Ch'ella mi creda" in concert? I don't think so.

There, that's a jump start, a non-exhaustive beginning of roughly 50 selections, more or less in no particular order and not including operas and World War II performances or stating with whom he sang other than Bel Canto trio members. And it doesn't cover live radio performances--other than Derek's caveat about Great Moments in Music, I'm not sure when the audiences were live.

Whew. Cheers, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann

Thanks for putting so much thought into your post. And, thanks to your efforts, I can now add one additional selection (that I'd somehow missed) to my list of material that Lanza performed live.

Yes, the thought of him doing "Estrellita" is tantalizing, though of course we don't know whether it was actually performed instead by contralto Anne Simon, who was also singing at that "Summer of 1942" concert. A second possibility is they could have performed it as a duet! But I just love the idea of Lanza participating in a concert with piano, harp, and violin trio.

Did he ever sing "Ch'Ella Mi Creda" from Puccini's La Fanciulla del West in concert? According to Derek Mannering, yes. That aria was one of a number of selections Lanza apparently performed on April 5, 1942 at the Vernon Room, Haddon Hall, in Atlantic City. I would love to see a newspaper review of that concert.

One other April 1942 performance that Derek Mannering mentions in his second book (page 13) is a concert at the "Sam Wanamaker store in Philadelphia" at which Lanza sang with soprano Carolyn Long under the direction of Emanuel Balaban. Mannering mentions various selections that Lanza apparently performed, including "Cielo e Mar" and "Some Day" and duets from New Moon and Maytime. There are just a couple of problems with this report: first, to the best of my knowledge, there is no "Sam Wanamaker store"---though there is a John Wanamaker store (Sam W. was an actor)---and the program Mannering describes is identical to the one that Lanza, Long and Balaban performed several times in 1947 (and we have a review of it). Could all three have got together five years earlier for the same program? It seems unlikely. (Lanza did apparently sing at the Wanamaker store in 1942, but I've never seen a newspaper account of what he performed there.)  

Anyway, thanks for your guess! I'll be back later once a few more people have taken the plunge :)  

Cheers

Derek

[Armando]

Ciao Derek: You wrote in your post, “(Lanza did apparently sing at the Wanamaker store in 1942, but I've never seen a newspaper account of what he performed there.)

The 1942 concert with Anne Simon was held in the Grand Court in John Wanamaker’s store.

Saluti

Armando

[leeann]

I totally forgot "Be My Love!"

However, having duplicated a few in the list above, I'll  now go a  little commando here with a few additions: "Boom Biddy Boom," "Because", and "O Sole Mio," and "La Danza."  And "In quelle trine morbide" from Manon Lescaut. I'll also add "Vogliatemi Bene" simply because, on second read, Derek's question seems to exclude operas.

And now, it's time to sit back and await the experts, but my final guess is that Lanza performed approximately 75 unique numbers before live audiences. Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Ciao Armando: Sorry: for some strange reason I hadn't registered that the Grand Court mentioned in that 1942 clipping was actually at the Wanamaker Store!

It's clear from the article that the concert was in summer, and since it mentions that Lanza would soon be going to Tanglewood, I guess it was sometime in June of 1942. 

Was there also a concert on April 1st at the same venue? According to Eddie Durso, yes---and he even gets the day of the week right (a Wednesday), as well as mentioning that it was a "pre-Easter-themed concert." But I'd be very surprised if a conductor of Balaban's stature (not to mention an already experienced soprano) would have got together for a concert with a 21-year-old unknown tenor in a department store! And, tellingly, Durso doesn't mention a soprano in his account.

I wonder if Derek Mannering's source for this story was Terry Robinson? After all, it was Terry who assured you, Armando, that Lanza had performed the roles of Pinkerton in Trenton and Chenier at La Scala!!

Cheers

Derek  

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: I love it when you go commando :) And, yes, your hunches were right! Well, all except one: "In Quelle Trine Morbide." (That's actually a soprano aria.) Sadly, Lanza never sang anything (as far as we know) from the gloriously melodic Manon Lescaut, though he would certainly have known the opera. As Eddie Durso mentions in his reminiscences, even in twelfth grade Mario was already extremely knowledgeable about opera (and not just the more familiar works):

Freddy spent many hours at my home with my father, who was an opera critic for a newspaper, talking about opera. He really knew so much, in fact, that Mr. Maioriello would let him take over the class to explain the plots, characters, and main arias of the operas to the students. Freddy did this with detail, authority and a great deal of humor. The class was thoroughly entertained by his lectures. Mr. Maioriello stayed in the back of the room and listened to the lecture and when it was completed applauded Freddy for a job well done. This, needless to say, was a class he never missed nor was late for.

I also love Eddie Durso's account of attending opera performances at the Academy of Music with the teenaged Mario (who could only afford one ticket for the two of them, and would therefore devise clever ways of getting around the problem). During the performance, whenever Durso  tried to talk to his friend, he'd be "lost in a trance," as he listened, and "[hanging] on every note." 

Lovely.

Cheers

Derek

[Armando]

Ciao Derek: Regarding the Summer of 1942 concert at John Wanamaker’s store, it’s more than likely that Lanza would also have sung A Dream by John Bartlett, a popular song written at the end of the 19^th century and recorded among others by Caruso, McCormack and Peerce.  

As to whether he sang it or not only Terry Robinson could tell us!:-)

Saluti

Armando

[Derek McGovern]

Grazie, Armando.  

If Lanza sang "A Dream," as seems very likely, I wonder then if it was the contralto (Anne Simon) who performed "Estrellita"? But even that song seems more appropriate for a tenor voice.

I find it very interesting that the program also included "bright songs from The Student Prince." (I guess "bright songs" meant the likes of the Drinking Song, Serenade, etc?) It seems so fitting that at the very beginning of his career---and nearly four years before the Great Moments in Music broadcast!---Lanza performed songs from the work that would become so closely associated with him.

Cheers

Derek   

[Derek McGovern]

Well, since no one else has come forward with a guess, the prize for the question "How many unique selections did Lanza sing in concert or in recital (or in front of a live TV or radio audience)?" goes to Lee Ann, whose answer of 75 is probably bang on!

Here's a list of the material that Lanza is known to have performed in concert/recital. Bear in mind that this doesn't include the music of Fenton and Pinkerton that he performed in staged performances of the operas Merry Wives of Windsor and Madama Butterfly, respectively (although he did reprise Fenton's Serenade at a 1943 concert and the Butterfly love duet was a staple of his Bel Canto Trio concerts), nor does it include the entire Act III of La Boheme that he performed twice in Tanglewood. 

It's an impressive list, and includes approximately eighteen selections (asterisked here) of which we have no recordings from any stage of Mario's career. These include such tantalizing duets as "Nobody Could Love You More" from Lehar's Paganini and "Ecco, il Magico Liquore" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Both were highlights of the Bel Canto Trio concerts, according to the critics, with Lanza's and Yeend's performance of the Lehar duet hailed as "bewitching" and the Lanza/London Donizetti duet described as "a showstopper."          

1/   Fenton's "Serenade" from The Merry Wives of Windsor. [1943 concert]*

2/   Little Shoes from Lionel Barrymore's Halloween Suite [1948]

3/   Agnus Dei

4/   Celeste Aida

5/   Vesti la Giubba

6/   Seven Hills of Rome

7/   Some Day (in concert, as well as on the 1954 Shower of Stars Show)

8/   E Lucevan le Stelle

9/   O Sole Mio

10/ The Loveliest Night of the Year

11/ Because You're Mine

12/ Lamento di Federico (E' la Solita Storia)

13/ La Donna e' Mobile

14/ E' il Sol dell'Anima

15/ Parigi, O Cara

16/ Vogliatemi Bene

17/ O Soave Fanciulla

18/ Cielo e Mar

19/ M'Appari'

20/ Che Gelida Manina

21/ Ch'Ella Mi Creda

22/ Improvviso

23/ Come un Bel Di' di Maggio

24/ Ombra Mai Fu*

25/ Nessun Dorma

26/ La Danza

27/ Be My Love

28/ Gia', il Sole del Gange

29/ Tell Me, Oh Blue Blue Sky

30/ My Lady Walks in Loveliness*

31/ The House on the Hill

32/ Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise

33/ Marechiare

34/ Mamma Mia, Che Vo' Sape?

35/ 'A Vucchella

36/ Tre Giorni Son Che Nina*

37/ Lasciatemi Morire

38/ Pieta' Signore

39/ The Lord's Prayer [1948 radio; 1950 recital]

40/ Cosi' Cosa

41/ Tosca Act I Duet

42/ Wanting You (as a duet)

43/ Thine Alone (as a duet and as a Bel Canto Trio solo encore)

44/ Deep in My Heart, Dear (with Carolyn Long)

45/ Schubert "Serenade"*

46/ Una Furtiva Lagrima

47/ Will You Remember

48/ Bonjour, Ma Belle

49/ Because

50/ Yours Is My Heart Alone

51/ Boom Biddy Boom

52/ The Forsaken Maiden (Hugo Wolf)* (in 1949 and probably 1950)

53/ Secrecy (Hugo Wolf)* (in 1949 and probably 1950)

54/ Song to Spring (Hugo Wolf)* (in 1949 and probably 1950)

55/ Nobody Could Love You More* (Johann Strauss)

56/ Qual Volutta' Trascorrere* (from I Lombardi)

57/ Prison Scene from Faust*

58/ Ecco, il Magico Liquore* (L'Elisir d'Amore)

59/ Farewell Scene from The Magic Flute*

60/ Perdon, Perdon, Amelia* (Simon Boccanegra)  

61/ Mattinata

62/ For You Alone

63/ Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes*

64/ Lolita
65/ Recondita Armonia
66/ A Song of You*
67/ Verranno a Te sull'Aure
68/ They Didn't Believe Me
69/ I Know, I Know, I know

70/ Caro Mio Ben*

plus (almost certainly) "A Dream,"* additional songs from The Student Prince (from the summer concert in Philadelphia in 1942), and possibly "Estrellita" (also at the 1942 concert).

Cheers

Derek  

[Derek McGovern]

Whoops: make that 71 confirmed selections. I forgot "Southern Roses" (mentioned earlier by Lee Ann), a Johann Strauss II waltz turned into a vocal number (with lyrics by Josef Blatt), which often served as a final encore for the Bel Canto Trio at their concerts.

   

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

That's quite a remarkable list!

And the trophy deservedly goes to Lee Ann. My list would not have been approximately as close to the final result as Lee Ann's.

 

I wonder, would the list be even bigger if we knew what Mario sang at more or less private gatherings during is army time? He was known to give solo performances  when they performed "short cut" version of "On the Beam" for example. Any idea?

 

Steff

[leeann]

Woo. Trophy and prizes for this one, you say. Well, "I'd like to thank..."

Such an eclectic and diverse repertoire now that Derek's taken the disorderly bombardment and lined it up an classified it properly. And Steff, given that I just skimmed press releases, so many of which you've been kind enough to share, this was just clerical work.

In any event, it's interesting that all Derek's explorations and expansions of some of the most basic material in lists like this and in the who's who--exploring and expanding on who these people were--not just their relationship to Lanza, but their role in their profession--offers a new and deeper perspective on Lanza and really, on the world of music and how things worked, who fit where, during his lifetime. I'm trying to put the pieces together in my head. Cheers, Lee Ann

[Steff]

Hi Lee Ann,

 

Your system of storing and archiving everything seems to be better and probably more defined than mine!    :)  

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Steff wrote:

I wonder, would the list be even bigger if we knew what Mario sang at more or less private gatherings during is army time? He was known to give solo performances  when they performed "short cut" version of "On the Beam" for example. Any idea?

Hi Steff: My hunch is that Mario would have stuck to the more familiar arias in those settings---the likes of "Vesti la Giubba" and "E Lucevan le Stelle" that he usually performed for On the Beam. He probably also performed the odd song, such as "Danny Boy," which Edmond O'Brien recalled him singing for his mother around that time.

I'd love to know what he sang when actor Walter Pidgeon accompanied him on the piano for an impromptu concert at a Hollywood gathering in 1944!     

Cheers

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

New trivia question!

When, why and where was Mario Lanza once jailed for the night?

(I've always found this one of the more bizarre incidents in his life :))

[Derek McGovern]

A P.S. (and a hint) to the above: the incident concerned did not happen either before or while Lanza was in the Army Air Force. In fact, he was a married man when it occurred! (And he wasn't alone.)  

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Was this incident ever topic of a newspaper note?

 

Steff

 

Am Montag, 21. Januar 2013 00:31:50 UTC+1 schrieb Derek McGovern: new trivia question!    When, why and where was Mario Lanza once jailed for the night?

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff

No, it wasn't the subject of a newspaper article---not to my knowledge, anyway. I first read about it in the 1970s in a direct quote from someone reliable who was in a position to know it was true.

How's that for vague? :)

Cheers

Derek

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Hmm..., a story that came from someone "reliable," as you say ... does not make it easier... :)

As you say it had nothing to do with Mario's army time, so I don't think that Barry Nelson had to do with it... One of my first thoughts was that George London was "involved," and that it occured during the Bel Canto Trio time. I am really puzzled ....

His and the other person being jailed, did this happen by mistake?

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: Yes, it was during the Bel Canto Trio tour---and, believe it or not, George London and Frances Yeend had to spend the night in jail as well! And, yes, it was due to a misunderstanding (coupled with a lack of foresight by Columbia Artists Management).

So when, where and why did it happen? :)

Cheers

Derek

[Steff]

Hmmm.... guessing the location now and the reason.....

Did it happen in Mexico?

Maybe missing documents for the singers?

[norma]

It was in Mexico and Betty was with him.There is a photograph of them in gaol.ithink it was when they were trying to get back into America but did not have the correct papers Norma

[Steff]

 

Hi Norma,

 

I remember that picture, but I think this was just a fun-picture.

I seem to remember that it was taken a few years after the Bel Canto Trio time,

maybe in Nevada (1952). I could be completely wrong though ......

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Norma: Steff is right about the "jail" photo you're thinking of being from a holiday in Nevada---and that was taken four and a half years after this event. The Nevada vacation seems to have caused some chronological confusion, though. In his book Mario Lanza: A Life in Pictures, Derek Mannering has photos from this trip placed in the period before the filming of Toast of New Orleans (i.e., 1949), when in fact the pics were taken in April 1952, a good two months after the filming of Because You're Mine. Mr. Mannering also puts the 1951 Oregon photos, taken when a heavy Mario was hurriedly trying to lose weight for Because You're Mine, in place of the Nevada photos in his 1952 section, and asserts that they show the tenor had "packed on a few pounds" after Because You're Mine. (In fact, the reverse was true: Lanza stayed slim right through the six-month period between BYM and the pre-recordings for The Student Prince, looking remarkably youthful as a result.)   

But getting back to the jail question, yes, the incident did happen in Mexico (well done Steff!), but I'm sure Betty wasn't there, and the incarceration of the Bel Canto Trio wasn't due to their not having the correct papers.

You're so close, though! 

Cheers

Derek  

[Steff]

Hi Derek.

 

You say that the incarceration took place four and a half years before the Nevada photos were taken in April 1952, so it was sometime in September or October 1947.

Is there any connection to the Hollywood Bowl concert which took place only a few weeks before?

 

Steff

[Steff]

 

Another thought Derek.....  forget about HB 1947...

 

   You mentioned that they had the correct papers, but I wonder if one of the three had

   the "wrong name"???

 

   Both, Lanza and London were not born with the names under which they later

   would become famous singers. London was born George Burnstein, but I understand he

   already changed his name in 1946. In 1947, when the incident happened, Lanza's

   legal name still was his name at birth, Alfredo Arnold Cocozza, as he legally changed

   his name only one year later, in April 1948. My wild guess is now that Columbia Artist

   had him only "registered"  with his then stage name Mario Lanza, and consequently they got

   trouble with the Mexican border control,  as his passport identified him as A. A. Cocozza......

   The border controls got confused and had to check the documents first ....

   I understand the Mexican city Chihuahua was one of the places for a Bel Canto Trio

   concert and maybe even the first venue in Mexiko? Maybe the mysterious story happened

   there??

 

   Lots of "thinking out loud," and maybe I have too much fantasy .....  :) It's late in the night  

   here ..... :)

 

   Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: That's an interesting thought about Lanza's and London's real names causing problems at the Mexican border. The only flaw in your theory is that Yeend was detained in a cell overnight as well---and her professional name was also her married name (at the time) :)

No, the problem happened after they'd sung their two concerts in Mexico....

Any more guesses, or should I spill the beans? :)

Cheers

Derek  

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Well, I don't think that they were jailed due to their terrific singing ..... LOL...

I really have NO clue .....

 

Steff

[Steff]

Derek,

 

My last guess ..... for the moment ..... I see no-one else here seems to have an idea, have they??

 

This is a very CRAZY guess: Maybe Columbia Artist had forgotten to book hotel rooms for the three singers. The problem: No other hotel rooms available at short notice, hotel(s) fully booked. Of course, the problem had to be fixed immediately, and so the local prison governer - he might have attended the concert and therefore learned about the mishap -offered unbureaucratic help by providing an unusual accomodation: a "cosy" three-bed jail cell .....   :) 

Steff 

[Derek McGovern]

Another interesting theory, Steff! (And Rob Pollock: thanks for emailing me with your equally plausible notion of what happened in Mexico.)

Here's what actually happened, though:

According to Bill Judd of Columbia Concert Artists Management, his agency's decision to reverse the order of venues for two concert dates in Mexico---one originally scheduled for Torreón on November 27, 1947, and the other for the following day in Chihuahua---upset the local authorities:

The Mexicans responded to this type of activity by putting on an income tax at the last minute. Obviously the Trio didn't have the money to pay its tax. The community monies had all been sent to New York direct, so [Lanza, Yeend and London] cooled their heels in the Mexican clinker the whole night. We couldn't get them out till the next day, when it all came clear that they weren't trying to get away with the national treasury." [From the liner notes to the 1976 LP Mario Lanza: A Legendary Performer.] 

So there you have it! I wonder how the Trio felt about their night in the "clinker"? And did Lanza and London entertain their fellow detainees and the guards with an impromptu performance? :) 

Whatever the case, the experience doesn't seem to have derailed the Bel Canto Trio tour. Just three nights after their incarceration, the Trio gave a concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Cheers

Derek  

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

Getting back for a moment to the trivia about the "Opera Now" magazine.

Just out of interest, do you or anybody else know how often Mario was on the front cover of a magazine?

 

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: I know that the British magazine Picture Show (see example below from May 1958) featured Lanza at least three times, the ghastly US rag Top Secret (again, see below) had him on its cover in August 1956 (concerning his Grand Jury testimony on behalf of that rogue Teitelbaum), there was a German film magazine that featured him as its cover story in February 1959, the US Screen Stories in 1951, etc. I couldn't give you a definitive answer, though, as I have no idea how many non-English-language magazines may have featured him.

My favourite cover remains the 1990 Opera Now one. Unfortunately, I can't scan it for you at present, but the entire cover consisted of this striking (if ubiquitous!) photo:  

    

[Derek McGovern]

Speaking of Lanza being on the cover of things, I wish the gentleman responsible for releasing these bootleg CDs in the UK would stop manipulating the poor guy's photos! Look at how he's ruined these two fine images:

    

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

Going through my photo archives I noticed I have quite a few covers (I think I never saw the German one) and I have to say one of my favourites is the one from the TV Mirror (May 3, 1958 issue), which has the interview of Godfrey Winn with Mario Lanza "Mario Lanza Tells Godfrey Winn 'My Voice Is A Gift From God' (see below).

 

Steff

 

Here are a some covers:

 

 

 

 

[Steff]

 Some more:

 

 

 

[Steff]

 

[Steff]

The two other Picture Show cover:

 

 

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff

I like that TV Mirror cover! It's endearing.

By any chance, do you have the Godfrey Winn article scanned? I'd love to read it again.

Incidentally, Lanza said in 1959 that the only only two British journalists he regarded as friends were Winn and Donald Zec.

Cheers

Derek

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 12:32 AM, Steff <Stefanie....@t-online.de> wrote:

 Some more:

 

 

 

--
 
 

[Steff]

And some not so flattering ones .....

 

Sorry for the many single posts, but I get only one picture of this size posted in one single post.

 

Steff

 

[leeann]

Goodness, from Opera News to Confidential. Now, that's diversity!  Here are a couple more from the RCA Picture Record Review, a publication from RCA that appeared regularly in the early 1950s and at some points (I'm not sure when ) in the 1940s. RCA used it to publicize their artists, from their Red Seal stars like Lanza and other classical singers to vocalists on their big band, country, and pop recordings.

In 1951 and 1952, he appeared in several articles in this publication, just not always on their cover. Cheers, Lee Ann

[Steff]

These are great ones, Lee Ann.

And here's another one:

 

 

 

 

[Steff]

And a last one for the moment, of which Nelly from Italy kindly sent me a photocopy.

It's the cover from a French magazin.

 

Steff

 

 

 

[Derek McGovern]

New trivia question!

Identify the singer whom Lanza is referring to here:

“____ sings from his boots, from his toe-nails, from way down. He is not an exhibitionist. He sings the way nature tells him to sing."

[Barnabas Nemeth]

How about di Stefano?

Barnabas

2013/1/30 Derek McGovern <derek.m...@gmail.com>

New trivia question!

Identify the singer whom Lanza is referring to here:

“____ sings from his boots, from his toe-nails, from way down. He is not an exhibitionist. He sings the way nature tells him to sing."

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[Derek McGovern]

No, not Di Stefano or Irene Williams :)

[Steff]

Hi Derek,

 

This description certainly does not refer to an opera singer.

What about Elvis Presley? I remember there was an interview of Henry Thody with Mario (printed in a British magazine, I suppose) and it was headlined: "Lanza Says: Presley Is Wonderful," so maybe Mario did this remark about Elvis in then aforementioned interview?

Just guessing, as I only know about the existence of this article, but have no idea about its content.

 

Steff

 

 

 

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff: The answer is indeed Elvis Presley! Well done! (More later on this quote, as I'm in transit right now in Sydney.)

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Here's the relevant part of the Henry Thody article that Mario's comment on Elvis Presley came from. It was published in the November 16, 1957 edition of Melody Maker, and transcribed on the Lanza Legend site by David Weaver in 2009.

 

There's some interesting stuff in the article, including a reference to a film entitled Largely a Question of Love, which was supposedly going to be made by MGM in London in the spring of 1958. I know nothing about this project, but the title certainly would have been a few notches above the usual uninspired names that Lanza was saddled with for his film!

 

The article also makes it clear that, contrary to Terry Robinson's later claims (which themselves contradicted what he'd told me in 1980), Presley and Lanza never met!

 

Cheers

Derek  

 

"'It may surprise you – but I am a Presley fan! And Elvis recently saw my parents in California and told them he was a fan of mine – that I had been an inspiration to him.'

 

"The speaker was the new streamlined, bouncing, buoyant Mario Lanza, who was talking to me in Rome before leaving for his first trip to England.

He continued, 'I take my hat off to Elvis Presley. I have a great respect for success. What that boy has done is phenomenal. He has busted many of the disc sales records I held in little over a year.'

 

"'This boy sings from his boots, from his toe-nails, from way down. He is not an exhibitionist. He sings the way nature tells him to sing. And let me tell you it takes a lot of guts to get up there on the platform and do what nature tells you. I think the boy is humble – not arrogant. He is honest. He respects his audience.'

 

'"I like singers who give; who give to the audience. I like Judy Garland for that reason. She gives everything to the audience. I am not impressed by ANY of the other young singers. They all follow their predecessors. They follow tradition. They are afraid to be themselves.

 

"'Young Presley reminds me of my first time up there on the platform. They made me wear tails, hold a book in my hand pressed against my chest. That's the way tenors have always sung. Halfway thru the first number, I threw away the book and tore open my collar because it was choking me. I've never worn tails and stiff collar since. In my last picture I do a take-off on Elvis – but I don't mean it. The boy's great. Again, I take my hat off to him."

 

[Lou]

Hi Derek: Many thanks for posting this delightful excerpt from the Henry Thody article. I know that Elvis Presley idolized Mario Lanza, but before reading your post I didn't know the admiration was mutual. 

What movie was Lanza referring to when he said, "In my last picture I do a take-off on Elvis – but I don't mean it."? 

Cheers,

Lou

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lou: I wondered what Lanza meant as well. It can't have been the Imitation sequence that he was referring to, as none of the singers he was taking off in that scene were of Presley's generation or style. 

 

Perhaps he was referring to a brief scene that never made it to the final cut of the film---a scene in which he imitated Presley's gyrations or other mannerisms? It's quite possible that he hadn't seen the final release version of Seven Hills when he gave that interview. (The film was released in Italy later that same month, but the English-language version didn't come out until the end of January the following year.)  

 

Incidentally, I've always felt that Lanza was imitating Presley's speaking style when he tells Johanna Von Koczian "Don't leave me, Honey!" immediately before "Pineapple Pickers" in For the First Time.

 

Cheers

Derek

 

[Barnabas Nemeth]

You may be right by citing the "Incidentally, I've always felt that Lanza was imitating Presley's speaking style when he tells Johanna Von Koczian "Don't leave me, Honey!" immediately before "Pineapple Pickers" in For the First Time."

 

Similar style can be detected in the intro part of the Seven Hills of Rome. Frankly, I don't like it, since it doesn't fit to his image.

 

Barnabas

2013/2/1 Derek McGovern <derek.m...@gmail.com>

Derek

 

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