Has replaced The Great Caruso as my choice for Mario Lanza's best film
While some are better than others(none masterpieces, none abominations either), all of Mario Lanza's films are worth seeing in some shape or form at least once. Of which Serenade, even with its flaws, replaces The Great Caruso as the best of them(not counting The Student Prince, which only had Lanza's voice featuring, as good as that film is). Something to bear in mind is that Serenade is a film that should be judged on its own merits as a film, other than the title and some characters names it does deviate quite substantially from the superb(and superior) book it's based on. As an adaptation, it's pretty much a bowdlerisation being tonally significantly toned down due to censorship, as a film on its own merits while not perfect it's very good.Serenade's weakest aspect is the script; to sum it up in one word it's patchy, with much of it feeling very bland, with the exception of Winthrop's very witty dialogue, and the writing being rather soap-opera-ish in the frothy and melodramatic sense. The romance between Damon and Kendall's characters also seemed rather hastily written and rushed in development, and the chemistry between the two of them felt cold. Also the ending didn't do much for me, it just felt forced and didn't quite seem to gel with the rest of the story.
The production values are absolutely top-notch though, the costumes and sets being the very meaning of lavish and the photography is rich and vibrant in colour as well as looking so professionally shot, the Ave Maria and Otello Monologue scenes are superbly filmed. It is very difficult to put into words how good the music is without resorting to superlatives, the music score is energetic, sumptuous and whimsical, while Serenade, while no Be My Love or Because You're Mine, is a worthy main song. There are many operatic/classical music favourites here that will delight many an opera fan, with Otello's Monologue, Ave Maria and Lamento di Federico coming off particularly strongly.
Serenade has one of the better-executed stories, perhaps even the best, of any of Lanza's films. Despite being longer than the average Lanza film, at two hours, it didn't feel that long to me, and is more eventful- Lanza's MGM efforts story wise were as thin as a wafer- and less predictable than his earlier films and even is more emotionally investing, the book is darker but the film isn't any less poignant. Mann's directs with a sure hand and the characters engage at least while not having an awful lot of dimension to them. The performances are very good, with the best acting performance coming from Vincent Price, giving one of my favourite supporting performances by far in a Lanza film, who is menacingly urbane and hilariously acid-tongued.
Lanza's performance contains the best overall acting he ever did, he overdoes it occasionally sure and Nessun Dorma sounds uncharacteristically strained, but his achingly sincere acting in Ave Maria and poignancy in Lamento di Federico more than makes up. He is at his best in the Otello Monologue, this is different and very heavy stuff for Lanza to take on but he brings riveting intensity and heart-wrenching emotion that it was difficult to not be moved by him. Lanza is also in golden voice, it's darker and heavier than his earlier films but has lost none of its beauty or what made the voice distinctive, musicality and phrasing are fine too. Joan Fontaine, while not at her absolute best, is both alluring and coolly vindictive, and Sarita Montiel is sensual and fiery with her performance certainly not being devoid of heart, like Lanza her acting(especially in her very telling reaction to hearing him singing) in the Ave Maria scene is magical.
All in all, well worth watching and a must for Mario Lanza fans. Fans of the book beware but opera and Lanza fans will be in heaven, judging the film on its own it has replaced The Great Caruso as my choice for his best film. 8/10 Bethany Cox
score 8/10
TheLittleSongbird 14 June 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3258171/36030
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