SERENADE

[jora...@gmail.com]

I watched my old favorite “SERENADE” the other day with the following “take-aways”:

1.    Mario had much more acting ability than he is given credit for.

2.   His Shubert Ave Maria was the best rendition EVER done by a tenor! It is unfortunate they didn’t film this in one of his thinner moments (you could see his weight fluctuations throughout the movie).

3.   His Nessun Dorma was very good but it was filmed very poorly as re angles, emphasizing his lack of height.

4.   His movie ending Serenade was over the top, particularly the ending note.

But everything considered, a very good movie methinks.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Joe: You'll get no disagreement from me about any of your excellent comments on Serenade. 

It remains my favourite Lanza film too, despite featuring a more uneven acting performance from Mario than in his first four films, and equally uneven work by both the screenwriters and director Anthony Mann.

But when Mario is on form acting-wise here, he's impressive---and at times even moving. There's no doubt in my mind that he had the potential to be a fine actor; he just needed some reining in at times. Having said that, he does amazingly well here for someone who hadn't acted in more than three and a half years. 

And as for his singing in this movie---with just a few exceptions, he does some of the best work of his career. Not even the splendid Great Caruso soundtrack comes close!