The 1953 version of Beloved

[Derek McGovern]

Of all Lanza's English-language recordings, I'd have to say that his
1953 version of Beloved is my favourite. Of course, he sang far
greater songs than this -- just think of the gloriously romantic
Serenade from The Student Prince or If I Loved You, for starters --
but when he walked on to the MGM lot for that last time on May 20th,
1953, something extraordinary happened. Mystics would say that all
the stars were in alignment, but to me it was just a series of amazing
coincidences.

Just to remind everyone: here was a man who hadn't sung anything (at
least in a studio) for nine months, and who had been to hell and back
physically and emotionally during that time. His career was in
tatters: he was virtually bankrupt, and now he was being asked to
re-record a song for someone else to lip-synch to! And, of all things,
in the very movie that he had most wanted to make as a follow-up to
The Great Caruso.

Given all of the above, who could have predicted that the re-recording
of Beloved would result in a masterpiece?

The amazing coincidences to me are that, here, he's in the perfect
vocal form for this song -- a little darker in timbre than he'd been
nine & ten months earlier when he recorded the other tracks for The
Student Prince soundtrack, but, fortuitously, *exactly* what this song
needed, especially on the unforgettable intro; his interpretation is
just right (one heck of a balancing act on a song as potentially
overwrought as this); and his phrasing is sublime. To top things off,
the arrangement has been tweaked since his earlier recording - and for
the better - and Callinicos & the orchestra give him excellent
support. (Notice all the little touches, as in "Beloved! The very
*stars* above you"; here the orchestra is in perfect sync with him -
markedly different from the 1952 version.)

A couple of years back, In Opera News, a critic whose name I don't
recall just now was spouting forth that Lanza's singing "lacked
nuance". Good Lord! Does this luminary lack ears? Mario's "nuance" on
this occasion, at least, makes even the most hackneyed phrases in the
song (and there are quite a few of them :-)) sound magical. Just
listen to what he does on "I only know I'll never rest till you are
mine...Beloved [all in one breath, please note!], believe me when I
tell you" and try to imagine Caruso, Del Monaco, or Corelli -- or
indeed virtually any other tenor -- being able to pull it off so
evocatively. The delicacy of his singing on these phrases reminds me
of some of Fritz Wunderlich's most beautiful renditions of lieder.

But I've gone on long enough :-) I have plenty more to say on this
recording, and, for that matter, on Mario's other two versions of
Beloved, but for now I'd like to know what other members think of this
rendition.

Cheers
Derek

BELOVED (music: Nicholas Brodszky; lyrics: Paul Francis Webster)

Tonight was just a masquerade,
Tomorrow just another day,
Let come whatever: tonight or never,
I'll throw the mask away.

Beloved! With all my heart, I love you,
With ev'ry breath I pray some day you will be mine;
Summer or spring,
Winter or fall,
You are my life, my love, my all!

Beloved! The very stars above you,
Are jealous of the way your eyes sparkle and shine;
Day after day,
Near or apart,
I try to say, "Be still my trembling heart."

But try though I may, I cannot hide
This passion inside that won't be denied.
If this be madness, then call it madness,
I only know I'll never rest till you are mine.

Beloved! Believe me when I tell you,
From now until the last bright star fades from the blue;
Now and forever, whatever I do,
Beloved, I love you!

[Armando]

Beloved is Lanza at his very best. In fact the 1953 recording is not
only singing of the highest standard, it's also faultless.

It is a superb declaration of love sung in the most sublime romantic
way imaginable by a tenor voice in all its glorious beauty.

The impassioned delivery is just right, never over the top as in the
1952 take, the arrangement perfect, and Callinicos' conducting
possibly the best work he has done with Lanza.

There's no doubt that when he got it right, Lanza was pretty much in
class of his own.

Di Stefano summed it up more than accurately when he said "In the
English repertoire no-one could touch him!"

I think the reason for such a superb take is that Lanza still thought
that there was a chance of a reconciliation with MGM. This, as we
know, was not to be as Schary was determined to get rid of him
permanently. The contract had in fact been terminated the previous
month, but I'm convinced that Lanza was still hopeful of making the
film.

[Derek McGovern]

Ciao Armando: I love that quote from Di Stefano!

You know, it'd never occurred to me that when Lanza re-recorded
Beloved, he was still hoping that MGM would make the film with him.
I'd always assumed that he simply wanted to prove - not just to the
public, but to himself - that even after such a long vocal lay-off, he
was still capable of singing like no other tenor alive. You could well
be right, though. Interesting!

It would be fascinating to know what Lanza thought of this remake. (I
don't suppose Callinicos mentioned anything about this to you?) I can
imagine Mario sitting down and comparing the two versions, and then
saying to himself, "Damn it! Bernhardt was right all along!" In any
event, the remake shows that he must have studied the original
recording closely to identify where he'd gone astray. (In his whole
conception of the song, I would say :-)) Listen, for example, how
differently he sings "Tonight or never" in the intro; on the earlier
version, he actually sounds sleazy!

It's incredible to think that on that same day he recorded not only
Summertime in Heidelberg, but his magnificent version of the Student
Prince Serenade.

For me, the only time he comes close on the 1952 take to matching the
1953 version, either vocally or musically, is on these lines: "But
try though I may I cannot hide/ this passion inside....[and then, with
thrilling emphasis] that won't be denied!".

Still, the 1952 take makes for easier listening than the sad 1959
version. At the latter session, everything that possibly go wrong
*did* go wrong: the recording quality was poor, the arrangement was
*hideous*, the song was in too low a key, the conductor was
unsympathetic, and, to top it all off, Lanza ended up having a heart
attack! (It's not clear to me whether this happened immediately before
or just after the session; RCA Italia was notoriously slack in
maintaining proper details of his recordings.)

You can compare all three Lanza Beloveds right here if you wish to:
http://mariolanza.4shared.com/ . I look forward to reading any
comments!

[Muriel]

Hi Armando: I, too, found it interesting that Mario had an idea he
might still film SP. It's very possible. It might have engaged his
basic instinct for survival enough to lift him out of his depression
to such a great degree that his rerecording of Beloved was practically
perfect. Surely something had turned him around so radically.

His Serenade in this film cannot be ignored for its pure poetic/
idyllic importance, but Beloved is a love song of an entirely
different class. Here he has a purpose: he's imploring his love to run
away with him, and he won't take "no" for an answer. He must convince
her, in his most ardent way, of his pure love and need for her. She
must get the message that it is now or never - ""I only know I'll
never rest till you are mine. Beloved, believe me when I tell you...."
and "Now and forever, whatever I do, beloved, I love you!!!!!" Mario
put such emotion into these words that they seemed to pour out of his
very soul. I know I instinctively feel the intensity of his message.

Another song along this line, but, not as dramatic perhaps, is his
Love Me Tonight from the Vagabond King album. I love this: "Love me
tonight, now while I long for you. Love, that in a day may be dying,
that sorrow will never renew. The hours that we know, measure our
dream of delight....Sweetheart, before they go.....Love me....love
me....tonight." Mario's phrasing and soft honing of these words make
for another heart-melting experience...

> > Beloved, I love you!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Muriella: I'm glad you brought up Love Me Tonight. As you know, I'm
very fond of this recording. Of course, we know that Lanza's not in
full health on this rendition - and, yes, there are a couple of wobbly
moments - but the defects simply don't matter when an artist gives as
much of himself as Mario does here. Great phrasing, as you say. And
the way he soars up to that first high A, in particular, is pure
vintage Lanza! His darker timbre suits this song too - this is a
mature lover, not a lovesick boy :-) And have you ever noticed how he
gives even the word "before" (as in "Sweetheart, before they go") a
special poignance?

It's significant that it was the first track recorded at that marathon
Vagabond King session just three months before he died. That's why he
sounds considerably fresher on this song compared with Some Day, which
was the final number recorded. What a crazy idea it was to do a whole
album in one sitting!

Of course, we know that the entire album was badly recorded. But I
really can't complain much about the sound quality on Love Me Tonight
here: http://www.4shared.com/file/34318228/6a13ecaa/Love_Me_Tonight.html

Getting back to Beloved: I see quite a few people have been listening
to the different versions on that file sharing site. Could they be our
"silent members", perhaps? :-) It'd be interesting to know what people
make of the two less familiar versions.

On Jan 9, 2008 4:35 PM, Muriel <mawsco...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Armando: I, too, found it interesting that Mario had an idea he
> might still film SP. It's very possible. It might have engaged his
> basic instinct for survival enough to lift him out of his depression
> to such a great degree that his rerecording of Beloved was practically
> perfect. Surely something had turned him around so radically.
>
> His Serenade in this film cannot be ignored for its pure poetic/
> idyllic importance, but Beloved is a love song of an entirely
> different class. Here he has a purpose: he's imploring his love to run
> away with him, and he won't take "no" for an answer. He must convince
> her, in his most ardent way, of his pure love and need for her. She
> must get the message that it is now or never - ""I only know I'll
> never rest till you are mine. Beloved, believe me when I tell you...."
> and "Now and forever, whatever I do, beloved, I love you!!!!!" Mario
> put such emotion into these words that they seemed to pour out of his
> very soul. I know I instinctively feel the intensity of his message.
>
> Another song along this line, but, not as dramatic perhaps, is his
> Love Me Tonight from the Vagabond King album. I love this: "Love me
> tonight, now while I long for you. Love, that in a day may be dying,
> that sorrow will never renew. The hours that we know, measure our
> dream of delight....Sweetheart, before they go.....Love me....love
> me....tonight." Mario's phrasing and soft honing of these words make
> for another heart-melting experience...
>
>

[Jana]

Hi everybody,

Let me rise from the stagnant waters of the "silent members" again for
a while. I'm not as behind schedule with my essays as I expected to
be :-)

Firstly, thank you, Mr.Cocozza of 4shared for sharing the files :-) I
always read that the 1952 rendition of Beloved was "too impassioned",
so I wanted to hear it just out of curiosity. I didn't expect *that*!
I'm very much used to the '53 version, I don't know how many times
I've heard it, but to me, "over the top" is an understatement for the
'52 one. Instead of a prince in love, I must imagine at times, sorry
for the expression, a randy pervert. His sleazy (thank you, Derek, for
the expression) "never" in "tonight or never" would scare me a mile
away, instead of making me fall in love with such a prince. It
certainly did scare me to the back rest when I was listening to it.

Mario's 1959 version seems sort of sad and scary to me. I imagine him
confessing his love to me in the middle of a dark misty forest with
swamps at midnight. It might be because of the musical arrangement,
too.

As for Love Me Tonight, I like most of the sad love songs. Of the
three I can recall now--September Song, This Nearly Was Mine, and now
Love Me Tonight--I do prefer the last one, and it is probably the most
superior one. However, as they're so sad, I'm unable to listen to them
too often. My personal English favourite is The Song Angels Sing, but
unfortunately I have it only in a relatively poor quality, taken from
the YouTube clip...

On 9 Led, 11:23, "Derek McGovern" <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Muriella: I'm glad you brought up Love Me Tonight. As you know, I'm
> very fond of this recording. Of course, we know that Lanza's not in
> full health on this rendition - and, yes, there are a couple of wobbly
> moments - but the defects simply don't matter when an artist gives as
> much of himself as Mario does here. Great phrasing, as you say. And
> the way he soars up to that first high A, in particular, is pure
> vintage Lanza! His darker timbre suits this song too - this is a
> mature lover, not a lovesick boy :-) And have you ever noticed how he
> gives even the word "before" (as in "Sweetheart, before they go") a
> special poignance?
>
> It's significant that it was the first track recorded at that marathon
> Vagabond King session just three months before he died. That's why he
> sounds considerably fresher on this song compared with Some Day, which
> was the final number recorded. What a crazy idea it was to do a whole
> album in one sitting!
>
> Of course, we know that the entire album was badly recorded. But I
> really can't complain much about the sound quality on Love Me Tonight
> here:http://www.4shared.com/file/34318228/6a13ecaa/Love_Me_Tonight.html
>
> Getting back to Beloved: I see quite a few people have been listening
> to the different versions on that file sharing site. Could they be our
> "silent members", perhaps? :-) It'd be interesting to know what people
> make of the two less familiar versions.
>

> > > - Show quoted text -- Skrýt citovaný text -
>
> - Zobrazit citovaný text -

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Jana: Yes, the 1952 version of Beloved would have stuck out like a
sore thumb in The Student Prince movie. Its devotees say that that was
the whole point - that it represented a man throwing all caution to
the wind. But as you pointed out, it's not romance he's offering here
but an evening's worth of torrid activities :-) It certainly would
have scared poor Kathy the virginal barmaid to death, when, in fact,
the whole point of the song was to convince her of his love. The 1953
version, on the other hand, has exactly the right balance of passion
and tenderness. Given how difficult this song is, it really is a
miracle of a recording in many respects, and I simply can't imagine
anyone else being able to pull it off. A few have tried: Jose'
Carreras, for example, gave it his best shot, but it just didn't work.
(The lower key that he sang it in didn't help either.)

In my opinion, the arrangement on the 1959 version ruins any chance
that Mario might have had with this song. Half the time, it seems to
be in open battle with him (it sounds like the arrival of the Orcs in
Lord of the Rings!), and then at other times it abandons him, offering
no melodic support whatsoever. It's a mess! Now if they'd used the
original arrangement and got Lanza to sing it in the same key, that
would have been interesting. But I honestly feel that even a healthy
Lanza could not have equalled the achievement of the 1953 recording.

[Armando]

Hi Derek, Callinicos waffled on about a number of things including the
often repeated story of Mario insisting that he be brought in to
conduct that first session ( he did blow his own trumpet quite a bit!)
but no mention of Beloved. I had jotted down quite a few points that I
wanted to discuss with him but, inevitably, there's always something
that, in hindsight, one wishes he had asked. Mind you, he was neither
the most articulate nor the easiest of people to talk to. Very
uptight, fidgety, and obviously desperate for work, since he again
asked me if I could get him some work in Australia!

Getting back to Mario's superlative recording of Beloved, the reason I
think he still thought it possible to make the Student Prince is
because it was not until July that MGM announced that they would
proceed with Purdom in the starring role.

This would also account for the successful June recording session
( Song of India, etc.) after which it was all downhill.

> You can compare all three Lanza Beloveds right here if you wish to:http://mariolanza.4shared.com/. I look forward to reading any
> comments!

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Armando: Yes, I know what you mean about Callinicos's fidgeting,
etc. This is plainly obvious on the outtakes from the 1982 American
Caruso documentary. He makes many interesting comments, but he seems
to find it impossible to sit still or to complete a sentence without
digressing. He's terribly longwinded. For these reasons, I can
understand why the producers chose not to include anything from him in
the doco. It's a shame, though - especially since they included a lot
of rubbish from people interviewed in the street (like the fellow who
said he loved Mario's rendition of "Mamma", which he didn't even
record!) or Mafia hit nonsense from the likes of James Bacon & Terry
Robinson.

Good point about the Purdom announcement. Yes, it all makes sense now.
Thank God they waited till July, though; I'd hate to be without the
Song of India!

[Vince Di Placido]

Beloved! What an absolutely classic recording!
Armando, I agree completely, I always felt that Mario still thought he
was making a recording for himself to lip synch to, I feel his
temperament would have got in the way of his performance if he thought
he was supplying a soundtrack for another body, as professional &
disciplined as Mario could be on his best days I think we would be
expecting too much from him to deliver this amazingly beautiful,
romantic performance if he thought he was being used, if you know what
I mean. In fact if Mario had have thought he was supplying a
soundtrack for another actor then I think that recording would sound
something like the original 1952 take. Mario was too sensitive a soul
to have not have allowed that kind of situation to affect his singing
& interpretation. Mario, in 1953, to me sounds on top of his game,
focused & looking forward to making The Student Prince... if only...

On Jan 9, 10:37 pm, "Derek McGovern" <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Armando: Yes, I know what you mean about Callinicos's fidgeting,
> etc. This is plainly obvious on the outtakes from the 1982 American
> Caruso documentary. He makes many interesting comments, but he seems
> to find it impossible to sit still or to complete a sentence without
> digressing. He's terribly longwinded. For these reasons, I can
> understand why the producers chose not to include anything from him in
> the doco. It's a shame, though - especially since they included a lot
> of rubbish from people interviewed in the street (like the fellow who
> said he loved Mario's rendition of "Mamma", which he didn't even
> record!) or Mafia hit nonsense from the likes of James Bacon & Terry
> Robinson.
>
> Good point about the Purdom announcement. Yes, it all makes sense now.
> Thank God they waited till July, though; I'd hate to be without the
> Song of India!
>

[am...@ruc.dk]

Beloved is a very beautiful song - the 1953 version, that is. And it
*is* amazing he could do it so beautiful, after all the commotion over
the first one. But it does make me feel a little sad to think that he
was doing his utmost best believing he still had a chance to be in the
movie. He must have felt *so* betrayed when he realized it was not to
be.

The 1952 *is* over the top and a bit 'sleazy' here and there, and I
think it probably would have damaged the perfection of the Student
Prince album, had he not re-recorded it. There are however two lines
in it, which I think works fine and that's his emphasis on the word
'sparkle' in 'your eyes sparkle and shine' and the line 'be still my
trembling heart'.
Luckily he realized the pitfalls from this first rendition and
corrected them to perfection in the much superior 1953 version, in
particular the "tonight or never" line (lol) and the line, which in my
opinion is worse, "Beloved! Believe me when I tell you..".

I never thought I would say this about any of Mario's renditions, but
the 1959 take is horrible! I'm actually a bit shaken, not to say
shocked hearing this.
Firstly the orchestral arrangement is dreadful, but hearing Mario this
way - so uninterested, emotional detached and out of touch with him
self - I never thought I would hear something like this from Mario. Of
cause if he was feeling sick it is quite understandable, and all the
more sadly, but I really think he should not have done this take. It
is almost unbearable to listen to.
Ann-Mai

> You can compare all three Lanza Beloveds right here if you wish to:http://mariolanza.4shared.com/. I look forward to reading any
> comments!

> > > Beloved, I love you!- Skjul tekst i anførselstegn -
>
> - Vis tekst i anførselstegn -

[Derek McGovern]

Ann-Mai wrote:

> I never thought I would say this about any of Mario's renditions, but
> the 1959 take is horrible! I'm actually a bit shaken, not to say
> shocked hearing this.
> Firstly the orchestral arrangement is dreadful, but hearing Mario this
> way - so uninterested, emotional detached and out of touch with him
> self - I never thought I would hear something like this from Mario. Of
> cause if he was feeling sick it is quite understandable, and all the
> more sadly, but I really think he should not have done this take. It
> is almost unbearable to listen to.

Hi Ann-Mai: I'm not surprised by your reaction to the 1959 Beloved! I
felt exactly the same way when I first heard it many years ago. But
there's no doubt that he was in terrible shape when he recorded it
(Baron confirmed this to me), and, not surprisingly, this is reflected
in both his singing and his voice. Two British women who visited him
that same month recently recalled how ill he was looking at the time;
two months later (in June), he "looked fine and was full of laughter",
which probably explains why he sounds far better on the Caruso
Favorites album.

There are a few highlights on the 1959 Student Prince album, though:
Summertime in Heidelberg is nice; Deep in My Heart, Dear has a few
tender moments; Just We Two is well sung; and Thoughts Will Come To Me
is very good indeed (if heartbreaking).

[Vince Di Placido]

Hi everybody! Here is a link to the video clip of Beloved from The
Student Prince.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGtpIxNYAO8

[am...@ruc.dk]

Great clip, Vince. One has to give Purdon this: he really did a
marvellous job lip-syncing to Mario's voice. When I first saw your
Student Prince clips on YouTube, over a year ago, I thought it was
*way* too weird hearing Mario's voice coming out of another mans
mouth, but now I have gotten used to it, I guess - it doesn't bother
me anymore.
I bought an unauthorised DVD copy of this movie some time ago, (shame
on me) but Nemesis caught me I guess, because the audio on it is one-
sided, the beautiful music which makes this film worth having only
comes out of one speaker. How is *that* for a nasty Nemesis trick? lol
Ann-Mai


On 13 Jan., 00:05, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> > is very good indeed (if heartbreaking).- Skjul tekst i anførselstegn -

[Joe Fagan]

Hi all, probably a dumb question but nevertheless...I have always wondered
about this: When Mario lip-synched to his already pre-recorded singing, did
he actually sing or was he merely mouthing words?. It would seem to me that
actually singing, albeit softly, would be the easiest route to lip-synching
accurately. Just curious.

[Derek McGovern]

Many thanks for the video clip link, Vince! The sound is a semitone
tone fast thanks to the PAL system, but visually it's terrific.
Wonderful colours; if only The Great Caruso could look this good!

One interesting thing about this clip is that Mario's brief "Mmmn"
immediately before the last phrase ("Beloved, I Love you!") hasn't
been removed. On my version (the American commercial videotape), the
"Mmnn" has definitely been deleted, and, unfortunately, the splice is
quite audible - as indeed it is on the RCA and BMG albums. What
possessed them to edit out such an inoffensive "Mario-ism" is beyond
me! But it's weird that some versions of the film contain the "Mmmn"
and others don't.

Purdom, by the way, was certainly a very handsome fellow - and a good
actor too. It's sad that his film career never amounted to much; in
fact, I think he had his own problems with MGM a year or two after The
Student Prince. Incidentally, he had a pleasant singing voice of his
own, and he certainly was singing along with Mario's recordings to
make the lip-synching look more real. In fact, he mentioned in a 1974
radio interview how he'd "wince" trying to hit the top notes (he was a
baritone) and he'd stop the take, much to the annoyance of director
Richard Thorpe, who'd remind him that, "We're not using *your* voice!"

Armando and his wife had dinner with Purdom in 2005 in Italy. At 81,
Purdom still looked good, I recall Armando saying.







On Jan 13, 12:05 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> > is very good indeed (if heartbreaking).- Hide quoted text -

[Derek McGovern]

No, that's not a dumb question at all, Joe. My guess is that Mario
would have been singing in half-voice to make it look more realistic.
(He certainly wouldn't have been singing full out.) You can see his
diaphragm moving much of the time, so he was obviously making some
kind of sound. Incidentally, in an interview some years back, Rise
Stevens discussed the topic of lip-synching, and she mentioned that in
The Chocolate Soldier (with Nelson Eddy) she would sing everything an
octave lower when filming. "I don't normally have a smile on my face
when I sing a high C", she said - but that's what the director wanted!

Mario's lip-synching was often very good, with only a few embarrassing
lapses (eg, he collapses at the end of The Great Caruso while he's
still singing :-)) At times, you'd almost swear he was singing live.

The only time that I can recall a performer in a film musical being
allowed to sing live on the set was in My Fair Lady. Rex Harrison
flatly refused to lip-synch (which, admittedly, would have been
difficult with his patter song - half-spoken/half-sung - technique),
and in the end the producers relented. But it wouldn't have been
possible with Lanza, since obviously many takes are required when
filming any number, as well as all the other technical considerations.

> > - Vis tekst i anførselstegn -- Hide quoted text -

[Muriel]

As I know next to nothing about film making, I was never sure of how
the musical numbers were handled. However, I figured the singer had to
be following the music in some way in order to look believable, and
also to synchronize with the proper body language. Imagine Mario, in
Serenade, singing such a perfect Otello Monologue or the terrifying
moments in his duet with Licia, and not singing along? Impossible! I'm
sure, as Ms. Stevens noted, he wasn't singing in full voice or taking
the difficult parts with the same pitch. From our few films of Mario
singing live - the second Showers of Stars Show and The London
Palladium, Mario's facial expressions were quite different.
We see how he looked sounding out the notes and words. His body
language was more pronounced as well. Bless his heart! Mario's face
was more relaxed singing in his films - and that is much more pleasing
to watch. Don't mistake me though, as I'd have given anything to have
seen him perform live!!!
Sigh........

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Armando]

Ciao Derek.

Your mention of us having dinner with Purdom (it was actually in 2002)
brought to mind my first encounter with him, albeit by telephone.

On that first occasion I found him to be pompous, arrogant, and
patronising.

I called him (Sam Steinman had given me his phone number) and things
got off to a bad start and went downhill from there.

Purdom proceeded to tell me that the reason Lanza refused to make the
Student Prince was simply because he couldn't visualise himself
playing the part. He went on to tell me that Lanza had only played the
humble boy rags to riches story in all his previous films and that he
really couldn't come to terms with such a departure from his standard
role to that of playing a prince. After I recovered from this totally
unexpected, and in my view completely erroneous take, I simply told
him that I thought his theory was wrong and reminded him that Lanza
had departed from the stereotype in Because You're Mine.

Purdom's immediate reply was that he knew better, that I had phoned
him, and that he was right and I wrong! At which stage I tried as
diplomatically as I could to end the conversation thereby abandoning
any thought of arranging a meeting with him.

When we met in person in 2002, he had no idea who I was and I
certainly wasn't going to remind him of that 25 year old unfortunate
phone conversation.

I found him to be quite changed from the earlier Purdom. Much more
down to earth and even humble, over dinner he told how he wasn't proud
of any of his films with the exception of Rasputin in which he thought
he gave his best performance. I've never seen it, so I couldn't
comment.

I asked him about the Student Prince and, surprisingly, he said "Yes
that was a wonderful film but even though I was in it, it was really
Mario's film."
He also said that Ann Blyth was very sweet and helped him a lot with
the dialogue and lip syncing.

At 78 he was still a handsome man, we spent the rest of the evening
drinking scotch and talking about his other movies.

I am glad I had a chance to re-establish contact with him as it left
me with some fond memories, as opposed to the unpleasant earlier ones.

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Derek McGovern]

Thanks to Mike's magnificent Student Prince CD, I've been thrilling
again this evening to Lanza's 1953 version of Beloved. I hadn't played
it for quite a while, and the intensity and beauty of this recording
-- as always happens when I take a break from listening to this &
other Lanza masterpieces -- took my breath away. I know there are many
contenders, but if I had to pick *one* recording of an
English-language song to represent Lanza at his absolute romantic
best, it would be this.

Here's a link for the benefit of any casual visitor to this site:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/8wjYhZ4V/Beloved.html

Out of curiosity, I dug up this old thread on the 1953 take, and I
must say that I'm very proud of it. Lots of great posts, and
definitely worth revisiting. And since the earlier links I posted
upthread no longer work, here's a new link to the 1952 outtake as
well:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/-POaXRc4/Beloved__outtake_.html

If you've never heard the earlier version, I'd love to know your
thoughts on how the two versions compare. (And if you *have* heard the
earlier version, I'd still like to hear from you :-))

[Derek McGovern]

Thought I'd reopen this interesting thread, partly because I brought up the Beloved outtake and retake on another thread this evening, but also because Vince has just sent me this link to the beautiful (original) widescreen version of the "Beloved" scene in The Student Prince:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F71dvyFTJQ   

Purdom does a great job here, and looks every bit the dashing teutonic Prince, but (as always!) I can't help imagining what Lanza would have done with it. Certainly, in the looks department, he would have given Purdom a run for his money if if he'd still been looking as good as he does here (a few months before the start of the production):

[norma]

I love the outake of "Beloved" as well as the 1953 version.The outake
is certainly more passionate but that is what i love about it.


Norma

On Jan 2, 1:34 pm, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thought I'd reopen this interesting thread, partly because I brought up the
> Beloved outtake and retake on another thread this evening, but also because
> Vince has just sent me this link to the beautiful (original) widescreen

> version of the "Beloved" scene in *The Student Prince**:*
>
> **http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F71dvyFTJQ 

>
> Purdom does a great job here, and looks every bit the dashing teutonic
> Prince, but (as always!) I can't help imagining what Lanza would have done
> with it. Certainly, in the looks department, he would have given Purdom a
> run for his money if if he'd still been looking as good as he does here (a
> few months before the start of the production):
>

> <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_9Ay2EZb484Y/TSB8O0PaVHI/AAAAAAAAAO...>

[Vincent Di Placido]

I am very happy that Mario re-made "Beloved" but I hate how it was handled by Curtis Bernhardt & MGM, I think Mario was in a very strange frame of mind at the time with all that had happened to him in the previous few years, he had become a superstar & must have felt under pressure to keep on top, keep his weight under control & put up with the "Because You're Mine" project, when he wanted to be taken seriously as a tenor of true operatic worth MGM gave him a trifle of a project with BYM... It must have been so frustrating. To then hear from Bernhardt that the singing & performance of his 1952 "Beloved"  was wrong must have sent Mario over the edge, now Bernhardt was right but how do you tell Mario he sang a song the wrong way? I think Bernhardt was the only one who ever did! 

But the positive side to all of this is that Mario made possibly his best recording of an english language song with that 1953 remake, no doubt it is superior to the 1952 version in every way! Perfect phrasing & singing. I just wish Mario had been dealt with better & that he had had the vison in 1952 to realise that he had another take, in more than one sense, of "Beloved" & not to go down the road of "It's Bernhardt or me!" back in 1952 no star would get away with that, the studio system would never allow a star to have that kind of control it would have caused mayhem! A few years later & maybe Mario might have got away with that stand-off... It was a very high price to pay for a retake no matter how perfect it is...

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: I don't think anyone except Dore Schary was pleased with the outcome of the Student Prince affair. Certainly, Mario's dismissal cost MGM's stockholders a lot of money, as I think it's safe to assume that the film would have been a commercial hit if Lanza had been in it. Then there would have been a couple more MGM movies to follow (since Mario's contract wasn't due to expire until 1954). But I suspect that even if The Student Prince had gone ahead, Lanza would have inevitably clashed with Schary, who (a) loathed him and (b) had no interest whatsoever in making musicals. It's thanks to Schary that the MGM musicals made during his reign look cheap -- with tacking-looking sets substituting for exterior settings and other defects; just look at the fake outdoor scenes in the 1954 movies Brigadoon and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! (Schary refused to allow location filming for musicals.)

No, I'm convinced that Schary would have scuttled any grand projects that Mario might have had after The Student Prince. This, after all, was the same worthy who had predicted that both The Toast of New Orleans and The Great Caruso would flop at the box office! (At the preview of the former, he'd dismissed the movie as "a three million-dollar lemon.") I certainly can't imagine him allowing a filmed opera, as Lanza had been hoping. And, let's face it, what else would have been worthy in Mario's eyes as a follow-up to The Student Prince? Certainly not another Because You're Mine.

I don't see Schary as the "anti-Christ," but I think it's a horrible historical accident for music lovers that someone so artistically, emotionally, and intellectually incompatible with Lanza happened to take control of MGM in 1951. Had he taken over just three years later instead, none of this would have mattered. Mario's MGM contract would have expired by then, and even if he had continued making movies, they would have been more on his terms as a freelancer. I've always felt that Louis B. Mayer was right when he claimed (shortly before his death in 1957) that had he still been in charge at MGM, the Student Prince fiasco would not have happened.

Cheers

Derek

  

[Maria Luísa]

I loved to read what Derek and others wrote about the wonderful film
S.P. and the beautiful song Beloved, in fact all of them were
beautiful. Sorry to say but in my opinion Mr. Schary was a very
ignorant director not to have recognized the exceptionally talented
tenor and actor he had before him. The enormous amount of money the
Studio would have made had Mario portrayed the Prince in S.P., a lot
more than the Studio and he himself would ever have dreamed of, makes
out of this director a very stupid individual to say the least.

And the worst of it all, was that his egoistical attitude hurt Mario,s
pride so tremendously and rightly so, to the point of his not
recovering from such a big offence ever more, was that the board of
MGM Chief Producers, supposedly above Mr. Schary,s doings, did not
stop him from doing such foolishness which by the way must most
certainly have pursued him for years after his having noticed the
tremendous success world over the S.P. album made.

I have the impression that Mr. Schary,s attitude was caused either by
pride, by bad temper, by jealousy of both such a big tenor and such a
strong personality he had to deal with and to direct or by all these
faults put together. Very sad. Especially because we could still
marvel today and for years to come with one more of the so few Mario,s
wonderful films with his charismatic personality and his splendid
voice in one of the most beautiful musicals ever made.

On Jan 4, 12:52 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Vince: I don't think anyone except Dore Schary was pleased with the

> outcome of the *Student Prince* affair. Certainly, Mario's dismissal cost

> MGM's stockholders a lot of money, as I think it's safe to assume that the
> film would have been a commercial hit if Lanza had been in it. Then there
> would have been a couple more MGM movies to follow (since Mario's contract

> wasn't due to expire until 1954). But I suspect that even if *The Student
> Prince* had gone ahead, Lanza would have inevitably clashed with Schary, who

> (a) loathed him and (b) had no interest whatsoever in making musicals. It's
> thanks to Schary that the MGM musicals made during his reign look cheap --
> with tacking-looking sets substituting for exterior settings and other

> defects; just look at the fake outdoor scenes in the 1954 movies *Brigadoon*and
> *Seven Brides for Seven Brothers*! (Schary refused to allow location filming

> for musicals.)
>
> No, I'm convinced that Schary would have scuttled any grand projects that

> Mario might have had after *The Student Prince*. This, after all, was the
> same worthy who had predicted that both *The Toast of New Orleans* and *The
> Great Caruso* would flop at the box office! (At the preview of the former,

> he'd dismissed the movie as "a three million-dollar lemon.") I certainly
> can't imagine him allowing a filmed opera, as Lanza had been hoping. And,
> let's face it, what else would have been worthy in Mario's eyes as a

> follow-up to *The Student Prince*? Certainly not another *Because You're
> Mine.*

>
> I don't see Schary as the "anti-Christ," but I think it's a horrible
> historical accident for music lovers that someone so artistically,
> emotionally, and intellectually incompatible with Lanza happened to take
> control of MGM in 1951. Had he taken over just three years later instead,
> none of this would have mattered. Mario's MGM contract would have expired by
> then, and even if he had continued making movies, they would have been more
> on his terms as a freelancer. I've always felt that Louis B. Mayer was right
> when he claimed (shortly before his death in 1957) that had he still been in

> charge at MGM, the *Student Prince* fiasco would not have happened.
>
> Cheers
> Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Luísa: I think the clash with Schary was the result of two antithetical personalities colliding. Schary was a serious, cerebral sort of person -- a writer who was primarily interested in making "message" films concerned with the social issues of the day. As I wrote earlier, he was not in the least bit interested in musicals, which I'm sure he saw as a frivolous waste of time. And as Armando observes in his book, once Schary became Studio Head, he was determined not to cater to any "whims," as he saw them -- regardless of how big the star was. 

Mario had the misfortune of colliding with Schary during the very period when his (Lanza's) sense of conflict over his neglected operatic career was at its height -- and, on top of that, he had just learned that his manager (Sam Weiler) had mishandled his finances. The break with Weiler was devastating for him. Throw in the fact that Mario was still seething over having been forced to make Because You're Mine, and you have the ingredients of a perfect storm. 

By the way, a story that Lanza later told about the difference between Mayer and Schary (as he saw them) always makes me chuckle. (It's in Armando's book.) Bear in mind that Mario was not actually anti-semitic -- far from it; in fact, he's on record as supporting the Jewish cause, and he would not tolerate anti-Jewish slurs -- and that he's being tongue in cheek here:

"The end of it all came for me when Mayer left MGM. Mayer knew how to deal with people. When I got mad I'd go into his office and I'd say what I was mad about, and I'd call him a Jew son of a bitch, and Mayer would burst into tears and say, 'Mario, I thought you loved me.' I'd say I didn't dislike him, but that he and the studio were making me unhappy with their demands on my life, and he'd say he'd do something about that and what I was talking about. . . and I'd leave feeling a little better. Most of the time northing was done about it, but he knew how to handle me. After Mayer left, I'd go in to see Dore Schary and I'd call him a Jew son of a bitch and he'd throw me out of the office. Now you can't work for a man like that."

Schary certainly knew how to hold a grudge. His autobiography contains a sustained attack on Lanza, and he even claims that he'd been obliged to hire two hefty-looking ex-Marines to threaten Mario if he should ever misbehave again toward Doretta Morrow. He claims they scared Lanza by telling him they'd assault him so badly that he'd sing soprano for the rest of his life. So much for Schary and his liberal conscience! The story is nonsense, of course. As Bessette points out in his book, the idea of Lanza being intimidated by anyone was laughable. 

Cheers

Derek

[gary from NS]

Hi folks..such interesting posts on this particular topic. You know as we all go through life,life "happens" and often not for the best.
This time in Lanza's life, was fraught with unexpected twists and turns.His money problems because of Weiller;his doubts or fears concerning his operatic future, and of course the shift of studio heads.
The cards dealt did not bode well for him. I have a particular dislike for Schary.
Perhaps Mario let his fiery temper, or emotions at the time, get the best of him;but then again it was his fiery passion that was such an intrinsic part of his nature.

As a man throughout my life, I have re-acted at times just as Mario,and sometimes paid the consequences.
Perhaps that is why I love tenors so very much. :-)

Best to all...Gary
 

[Maria Luísa]

Yes Derek, you must be right in what you wrote. Although is my belief
that what you pointed out about Mr. Schary - his liking certain kinds
of films and not at all musicals, for instance and not liking at all
Mario,s jokes respecting jews - is quite certain, but I honestly think
that the main problem between them was his being a serious jew - as
they normally are - and Mario a joyful Italian/American always ready
to make innocent jokes and being almost always merry.

This was perhaps the true key to their permanent conflict - and what
made it worse was that by those times, in the industry of films at
least, directors and producers who were jews did not like Italians or
any other nationals for that matter - since is known all over the
world that jews have terrible temper, with exceptions of course and I
know one or two of these good people in my own country.

Mr. Mayer for example, who was himself a jew, neverthless got along
very well with Mario and even liked him it seems, meaning he clearly
was another of those exceptions to the rule.
Yes, in Armando,s excellent book I read those passages you mentioned
and I still remember them well. As I said before I loved to read his
book.

On Jan 5, 1:05 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:he

> Hi Luísa: I think the clash with Schary was the result of two antithetical
> personalities colliding. Schary was a serious, cerebral sort of person -- a
> writer who was primarily interested in making "message" films concerned with
> the social issues of the day. As I wrote earlier, he was not in the least
> bit interested in musicals, which I'm sure he saw as a frivolous waste of
> time. And as Armando observes in his book, once Schary became Studio Head,
> he was determined not to cater to any "whims," as he saw them -- regardless
> of how big the star was.
>
> Mario had the misfortune of colliding with Schary during the very period
> when his (Lanza's) sense of conflict over his neglected operatic career was
> at its height -- and, on top of that, he had just learned that his manager
> (Sam Weiler) had mishandled his finances. The break with Weiler was
> devastating for him. Throw in the fact that Mario was still seething over

> having been forced to make *Because You're Mine*, and you have the

> ingredients of a perfect storm.
>
> By the way, a story that Lanza later told about the difference between Mayer
> and Schary (as he saw them) always makes me chuckle. (It's in Armando's
> book.) Bear in mind that Mario was not actually anti-semitic -- far from it;
> in fact, he's on record as supporting the Jewish cause, and he would not
> tolerate anti-Jewish slurs -- and that he's being tongue in cheek here:
>
> "The end of it all came for me when Mayer left MGM. Mayer knew how to deal
> with people. When I got mad I'd go into his office and I'd say what I was
> mad about, and I'd call him a Jew son of a bitch, and Mayer would burst into
> tears and say, 'Mario, I thought you loved me.' I'd say I didn't dislike
> him, but that he and the studio were making me unhappy with their demands on
> my life, and he'd say he'd do something about that and what I was talking
> about. . . and I'd leave feeling a little better. Most of the time northing
> was done about it, but he knew how to handle me. After Mayer left, I'd go in
> to see Dore Schary and I'd call him a Jew son of a bitch and he'd throw me
> out of the office. Now you can't work for a man like that."
>
> Schary certainly knew how to hold a grudge. His autobiography contains a
> sustained attack on Lanza, and he even claims that he'd been obliged to hire
> two hefty-looking ex-Marines to threaten Mario if he should ever misbehave
> again toward Doretta Morrow. He claims they scared Lanza by telling him
> they'd assault him so badly that he'd sing soprano for the rest of his life.
> So much for Schary and his liberal conscience! The story is nonsense, of
> course. As Bessette points out in his book, the idea of Lanza being

> intimidated by *any*one was laughable.
>
> Cheers
> Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Luísa: I have to say that I'm extremely uncomfortable with your
stereotyping of Jews. To make sweeping statements (purely on the basis
of ethnicity) to the effect that Jews are usually "serious" or that
"Jews have a terrible temper" is unfair and, frankly, pretty
offensive. At least it is to me. I'd feel the same way if someone were
to claim that "Mediterranean people are usually unfriendly" or
"Canadians are generally mendacious."

Schary's Jewishness, in my opinion, had nothing to do with his not
getting on with Lanza.

2011/1/6 Maria Luísa <maria...@gmail.com>:

[Tony Partington]

Such interesting posts and quite interesting speculations as to how and why Mario turned in a stellar performance of "Beloved" when he did the retake in May of 1953.  Armando's thought that Lanza still saw light at the end of the tunnel is an interesting one and one I wish had come to pass.  By the way, ironically my parents worked with Edmund Purdum back in the fifties, post SP, and they both said he was an ass but even worse and far more unforgiveable, he was a dreadful actor - at least on the the legit professional stage.  Film is one thing, theatre quite different.  There are many cases of very bad and mediocre actors and actresses realising successful carreers in film.

 

As for "Beloved," I guess I've a different take or at least a possible perspective to be considered.  I'm afraid my "theory," as it were, may have some of  the good folks on the forum wondering just what that Partington fellow been taking, but hear me out.  It has occured to me over the years that there are certain talents in this world that stand out so brightly, are so incredibly brilliant that they virtually eclipse all around them andthey also have the ability to perform and shine through at times when a normal person - a mere mortal - would not be able to.  Call this God given, but when it happens and we are wittness to it, it is a staggaring experience and I can only venture that many times one can be struck dumb,  Talents of this nature and status ar rare indeed.  Some that come to mind are: Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, Billie Holliday, Judy Garland, Jussi Bjoerling, Elvis Presley and, of course, Mario Lanza.  Now I realize the list of this sort of talent is far longer, I simply list a few that came to mind to illustrate my point and my point is this:  There are some talents, some artistic gifts which simply cannot be contained and when neccessary, this talent, this gift will shine through almost any man-made obstacle. 

 

I can think of two examples of this phenomenon.  The first is a story told to me by my voice teacher, at the time, Wayne Conner.  It involved the tenor Jussi Bjoerling. According to Conner, it was a Saturday afternoon and the matinee that day at the Met in NYC was LA BOHEME.  Well the story goes that either he forgot or just didn't care - I can believe the former much more easily than the latter - and he was at a nearby bar drinking.  Half-Hour was called and the stage manager really began to worry.  Known as a man with a severe drinking problem, Bjoerling however had never let it interfere with his performance to this extent.  Thinkiing quickly, the stage manager sent out several of he stage hands to look for Jussi.  They found him in the bar quite inebriated.  They quickly brought him back to the Met, sobered him up as best they could, got him into costume.  Meanwhile, the understudy had been alerted and was on his way. They held the curtain as long as they could but they had to start the performance.  Bjoerling weaved his way onto the set and slumped down in a chair.  What happened next, if it is indeed true, is nothing less than amazing.  As the opening chords of Puccini's score sounded, Bjoerling's back straightened, his eyes cleared and he sang a near flawless performance of LA BOHEME.  How did he do this?  I really do not know.

 

The second example is an audio one.  It is an outtake from the concert of June 19, 1977 in Omaha, NE of Elvis Presley.  CBS was making a TV special about Presley and they were filming virtually every concert on this 1977 tour and the plan was to cut and splice from the different concerts taking the best recordings of each.  It is no secret that Presley was fully immersed in prescription drugs at this point, but the combination his traveling physician shot him full of the night of June 19, 1977 rendered him practically paralyzed.  Yet, yet, when it came time for Elvis to sing the song "Hurt," made famous by Roy Hamilton and Timi Yuro, the talent, the energy, the something took hold of him and he turned in a performance which,considering his physical state, was nothing less than unbelievable.  Here is the link to that performance.

http://www.4shared.com/audio/ZQWWdFoW/Elvis_-_Hurt__6-19-1977_eq1.html

 

So what does this have to do with Mario Lanza and his 1953 re-take of "Beloved?"  Simply this; Lanza was in that class of artists who were so talented, so gifted, so possessed of ability, skill, talent, magic and beauty that the world could not contain him.  Oh it tried, and it hurt him a great deal.  But it did not nor could not take from him that glorious magical gift that we marvel at yet today. 

[Derek McGovern]

Ah, Tony, you've captured the essence of what it means to be a great performer. 

There's a wonderful story in Simon Callow's Being An Actor in which he writes about the famous Irish stage actor Micheál Mac Liammóir, whom he worked for in the late 1960s. Mac Liammóir was in his early 70s at the time, in failing health and almost blind, yet when he stepped on the stage and delivered a monologue he could make the audience believe it was witnessing a young Romeo. The years would simply fall away. That's a performer. 

Lanza, by all accounts, gave two of the finest performances of his career at Stuttgart in January 1958, and in Kiel three months later. Yet on both occasions, he was quite sick. And just listen to the sound of the man catching his second wind at some of those last sessions.

That's an amazing performance (all things considered) from Elvis! I really wasn't expecting him to deliver the goods that spectacularly. 

Cheers

Derek  

[Derek McGovern]

Here's another old thread that is worth reading/revisiting.

Cheers

Derek