- Serenade (film)
Infobox Film
name = Serenade
caption = Original Movie Poster
director =Anthony Mann
producer = Henry Blanke
writer =Ivan Goff Ben Roberts
John Twist
starring =Mario Lanza Joan Fontaine Sara Montiel Vincent Price Joseph Calleia Vince Edwards
Harry Bellaver
music = Original Music:Nicholas Brodszky
Non Original Music:Giuseppe Verdi Giacomo Puccini
cinematography =J. Peverell Marley
editing =William H. Ziegler
distributor =Warner Brothers Pictures
released =March 23 ,1956
runtime = 121 min.
country =USA
language = English
budget
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:109488
imdb_id = 0049737"Serenade", a 1956
Warner Bros. release, wastenor Mario Lanza 's fifth film, and his first on-screen appearance in four years. Directed byAnthony Mann and based on the 1937 novel of the same name byJames M. Cain , the film also starsJoan Fontaine ,Sara Montiel (billed as Sarita Montiel), andVincent Price .Plot
"Serenade" tells the story of a poor vineyard worker who becomes an operatic tenor, and is involved with two women — one a high society hostess, the other a Mexican bullfighter's daughter. Highly melodramatic in nature, the film features a large amount of operatic music, all of it sung by Lanza. Of note is the monologue from
Verdi 's "Otello " (with Lanza inblackface ) featuringMetropolitan Opera sopranoLicia Albanese . Reviewing the film in "The New York Times ", A.H. Weiler wrote that, "Mr. Lanza, who was never in better voice, makes this a full and sometimes impressive musical entertainment."The movie differs greatly from the source novel. In the book, Juana (Montiel) is a prostitute and she and Damon (Lanza) set out to open a brothel together. She comes into conflict with the local police and the two flee to Los Angeles and then move to New York, where Damon struggles to overcome his bisexuality. Obviously, none of this material could be made into a popular movie in the US in 1956, so the story becomes merely that of an opera singer torn between a bitchy, worldly patron of the arts (Fontaine) and a Mexican bullfighter's daughter. The tenor has a breakdown because of his unrequited love for the society woman, but finds love (and a happy ending) with the Mexican girl.
References
Cesari, Armando. "Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy." (Fort Worth: Baskerville 2004)
External links
*
* [http://freeradical.co.nz/lanza/Serenade.php "Serenade - An Underrated Treasure"] , by Derek McGovern
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
