It's a shame this is such a poor movie. I really like the cast, especially the two leads. But poor it is.
All that saves it, in my opinion, are the songs written for Ezio Pinza, most of which are really very enjoyable, and certainly beautifully sung by Pinza.
But the plot is obvious and boring. The Student Prince warmed over, and not very warm at that.
And, for whatever reason, there is no real chemistry between Plnza and Turner. He doesn't deliver his lines well, in part because, despite decades of singing at New York's Metropolitan Opera, his English was still very poor. In part, perhaps, because he just wasn't a very good actor without music to sing. (I don't know what he was like in South Pacific, in which he opened in 1949 after he retired from the Metropolitan Opera.)
I watched all of this because I have loved Pinza's singing for decades. Unless you share the same love of great singing, I don't know that this movie will hold you. It just isn't a very good picture.
All that saves it, in my opinion, are the songs written for Ezio Pinza, most of which are really very enjoyable, and certainly beautifully sung by Pinza.
But the plot is obvious and boring. The Student Prince warmed over, and not very warm at that.
And, for whatever reason, there is no real chemistry between Plnza and Turner. He doesn't deliver his lines well, in part because, despite decades of singing at New York's Metropolitan Opera, his English was still very poor. In part, perhaps, because he just wasn't a very good actor without music to sing. (I don't know what he was like in South Pacific, in which he opened in 1949 after he retired from the Metropolitan Opera.)
I watched all of this because I have loved Pinza's singing for decades. Unless you share the same love of great singing, I don't know that this movie will hold you. It just isn't a very good picture.