The Toast of New Orleans (1950) User Reviews

A fisherman becomes the "Toast of New Orleans"

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 6 September 2006]

Using the formula that worked so well in "That Midnight Kiss," Mario Lanza, this time one Pepe Duvalle, is again discovered by someone with connections to the opera world while he's singing his heart out doing his normal job. Here he's a bayou fisherman, but after the loss of their boat, Pepe and his Uncle Nicky (J. Carrol Naish) head to New Orleans to look up the opera director (David Niven) who offered Pepe an opportunity after hearing him in the village when Pepe joins his prima donna (Grayson) in song. Pepe finds himself in love with the somewhat cold diva, who is being pursued by Niven.

Lanza is in fine form as a crude, loud, uneducated man who, in order to fit into New Orleans society and the opera world, has to learn manners, as well as how to dance and dress. A natural actor, he makes his complete transformation believable. He sings Jose's aria from "Carmen" beautifully, and this film introduces his hit, "Be My Love" to audiences, which he sings with Grayson. With the diminutive soprano, he also does "Libiamo" from "La Traviata." In the days in which this story is set, a singer like Grayson would have sung "Traviata," though audiences aren't used to hearing a fluttery coloratura sing it any longer. The two perform the love duet from "Madama Butterfly" as well - an absolutely horrid choice for Grayson, calling for a much weightier voice. Obviously the repertoire was chosen with Lanza in mind. Had MGM not used "Lucia" in "That Midnight Kiss," they could have perhaps used it here. Grayson gets to use her high extension in "Je suis Titania," but the rest of the aria suffers from pitch difficulties.

Lanza really helped to commercialize opera in the United States, but he did it without the help of MGM. Is it necessary for Niven to give the wrong explanation for the duet "La ci darem la mano?" And why, during the Butterfly duet, which is total foreplay, does Grayson constantly try to get away from Lanza? No matter her personal feelings, she was on stage playing a role.

Grayson looks lovely in an assortment of magnificent gowns and hats, and if her voice doesn't match Lanza's, it doesn't mean she could not have sung opera, which is often the criticism. There is definitely a place for coloratura sopranos in the opera world - just not singing with spinto tenors.

J. Carrol Naish plays an embarrassing, annoying stereotype as Uncle Nicky; Niven is wonderful, if underused, and his perfect voice and smooth manners are in great juxtaposition to Lanza's bumbling Pepe. James Mitchell, known to soap opera audiences now as Palmer Courtland on "All My Children" has a good featured part as a friend of Pepe's from the bayou, and he and a very young Rita Moreno, who's in love with Pepe, do a spirited dance number.

Lanza's reign at MGM was disappointingly short, and yo-yo dieting and drinking would claim his life nine years after this film. But what years, in which he gifted the world with his fresh, passionate, Italianate sound and thrilled millions of people all over the world.

A B-movie romance with excellent singing

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 1 February 2008]

Mario Lanza only did 10 movies, and only two with Kathryn Grayson. She could not get along wt him due to his temper and alcohol abuse. That is a real shame as the two together on the Oscar-nominated "Be My Love" was pure magic. (It lost to "Mona Lisa" in another crash of Academy voters.) Current moviegoers can hear Lanza sing in Zodiac or The Polar Express, but why settle for one song when you can enjoy a half dozen by this wonderful tenor.

Those who think of Pavarotti when they think of tenors, will be surprised by Lanza's looks. He is more like Sly Stallone with good looks that the typical rotund singer.

This movie was a joy to behold as it was funny and sweet. The great David Niven (Separate Tables, Eye of the Devil) was fantastic.

A great demonstration of what Lanza could and could not do well

[richard-1787 · 5/10 · 25 June 2014]

It's easy to dismiss this as a silly movie - which it is - and say that all that's worth paying attention to is the music, which is not true in several ways.

Yes, the plot is silly. But it shows how Lanza could be presented to show off his most attractive qualities. Though he is already verging on the portly in some of the scenes, and though he is more or less handsome depending on the angle from which he is photographed, the fact remains that he comes across as a generally handsome guy with a lot of very powerful virility. That's not something to be dismissed lightly.

There are lots of examples of that in the movie, but perhaps the most obvious, if also, in certain respects, the most troubling one, is the last scene, the performance of the love duet that closes Act I of Madama Butterfly. You have to forget that, in the opera, Butterfly is only 15, otherwise this comes across as very uncomfortable to watch. Grayson certainly doesn't look 15, though, so what we have is a young naval officer who is clearly very "eager" (you know the word) to get his new "wife" into bed, and who quickly subdues any efforts on her part to delay the wedding night. Modern productions of the opera make Pinkerton more nuanced, and have to. Here, the officer knows what he wants, and he's not going to take no for an answer, or wait for Butterfly to come around by charming her. It's a very powerful performance. Not, perhaps, the most faithful to the libretto, but completely convincing. Lanza conveys an animal magnetism that is very powerful.

The other aspect of Lanza that comes across very well is his singing of popular music. He really gets into it, and he can sing it in a very natural and appealing fashion. Nothing makes this clearer than the first time he sings "Be my love" with Grayson. She starts out, and she is NOT good. Yes, the notes are fine. But she c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e-s every syllable, and it sounds completely unnatural, like an opera singer trying to sing pop but with no idea how to do so. Then Lanza joins her, and you hear the difference. He enunciates clearly, but the words sound completely natural. It's no wonder he was able to turn that into a major hit. What it shows is what MGM executives evidently did not understand: Lanza had a magic when doing popular music. Later efforts to get him to do 1920s American operettas, like the Student Prince, which were far more formal, took him out of what he could do very well.

You see this in the several opera excerpts Lanza sings. He's formal and stilted in the Flower Song from Carmen, where he is clearly working on getting the French right, and he sings it all at one volume level, which makes it much less interesting than other tenors' performances. When he sings O Paradiso (in Italian) from L'Africaine et M'appari (again in Italian translation) from Marta he is much more at ease. And he is downright first-rate in the Butterfly duet (in the original Italian, of course), where it is very obvious that he knows just what every word means, and means them.

I don't have anything to add about the rest of the movie. Grayson is no favorite of mine. She's alright in the canary fluff that was still done in those days - O luce di quest'anima, from Linda di Chamounix, Je suis Titania, from Mignon, Ombre légère, from Dinorah. She's much less right in the excerpt from Lucia, and not at all my cup of tea in Butterfly. She sounds as if she grew up listening to Lily Pons recordings, but she's not as good.

MGM should have paid closer attention to what did and did not work in this movie, and given Lanza movies that played off his strengths and avoided what he did less well.

My Favorite Mario Lanza

[Kalaman · 11 December 2003]

"Toast of New Orleans" is an interesting little period musical, an admirable vehicle for Mario Lanza and his opera songs. This is my third Lanza musical after "Because You're Mine"(1952) and "For the First Time"(1959) and so far it is my favorite.

In spite of being an MGM musical, "Toast of New Orleans" is more in line with the nostalgic period froths and extravaganzas that were common at the Fox studio. The Technicolor and period costumes here are as enchantingly garish and gorgeous as those at Fox. Lanza plays a Bayou fisherman who is discovered by David Niven and falls in love with a fellow opera star named Suzette played by Kathryn Grayson. I found their love scenes somehow cold and unmemorable; however, the songs "Be My Love," and some arias from Madame Butterfly, Carmen, and La Traviata are sublimely potent and unforgettable.

Lanza and the music make The Toast of New Orleans well worth seeing

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 6 June 2015]

The Toast of New Orleans is a long way from perfect, but anybody who loves opera and classical music and who is a fan of Mario Lanza will enjoy it a lot. As a lifelong fan of opera and classical music and who likes Lanza's voice a great deal, The Toast of New Orleans was very enjoyable to me.

As the review summary says, it's mainly the music and the performance of Mario Lanza that makes The Toast of New Orleans worth viewing. The music is just glorious, Be My Love became Lanza's signature song and not only is it a melodically beautiful song sung beautifully but it does stir up the emotions a fair bit. There are a number of operatic arias from the likes of Carmen and La Traviata(two of the finest operas ever written) and they are guaranteed to delight opera and musical fans. The Madama Butterfly duet scene is truly unforgettable. The music score is just lovely as well. Lanza as ever is in magnificent voice(one of the loveliest and most distinctive tenor voices ever) and proves himself to be a very likable leading man, his acting looking more comfortable than in his debut, That Midnight Kiss.

Kathryn Grayson is by no means inferior, she radiates in charm and sings like an angel, while David Niven is wonderfully suave and Rita Moreno turns up in a super dance number, that's excitingly choreographed and exuberantly danced. The Toast of New Orleans also looks grand, with lavish sets and bright colourful costumes and the whole film is very lovingly photographed. The script is appropriately witty and amusing and has a good deal of heart.

Where The Toast of New Orleans is let down is in the story, which again like That Midnight Kiss is silly and wafer-thin, except that the story is even more predictable than the story for that film and occasionally drags, I do agree that it's more an excuse to string as many operatic scenes together. J. Carrol Naish tries far too hard for laughs that he comes over as unfunny and obnoxious. Some of the more romantic scenes are a little cold as well, the Madama Butterfly duet is just fine in this regard but Lanza and Grayson's chemistry in That Midnight Kiss, from personal opinion, was warmer and more natural.

All in all, a nice film and worth seeing for Lanza and the music. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Effect rather than finesse

[mik-19 · 6/10 · 12 July 2004]

A bayou fisherman of deplorable social graces but endowed with a wonderfully resonant, if unschooled voice (Mario Lanza) is discovered by the director of the New Orleans French Opera (David Niven), and falls in love with the prima donna, a refined young soprano (Kathryn Grayson).

I never thought I would say this, opera fan that I am, but 'Toast of New Orleans' boasts altogether too much singing to keep the admittedly meager narrative afloat. And the singing is not, honestly, always of the highest possible standard, Lanza as well as Grayson aiming for rather coarse, stylistically 'wrong' effects rather than finesse, and their Italian and French leave much to be desired. Having said that, the climactic love duet from 'Madame Butterfly', which actually has a meaning in the film beyond that of pretty sounds, works brilliantly, and the involved cinematography of that penultimate scene helps the drama along.

There isn't so much else in the film. What it wants is to entertain us with gorgeous music and good-looking stars, and it does just that. That may not be enough to engage very many TV viewers in this day and age, but if you like opera and if you are none too puritanical about how it is done, you're probably in for a good time.

Opera lovers take note, opera haters run for cover...

[FelixtheCat · 6/10 · 1 June 2000]

Turn-of-the-century New Orleans is the setting of this operatic, musical romance starring Mario Lanza and his powerful voice and the porcelain Kathryn Grayson. Lanza plays a bayou, shrimp fisherman who lives with his nagging uncle, J. Carrol Naish. He is a brash and verile lout until an opera director, David Niven, sees him singing and believes he is the tenor that his opera has been needing. Lanza's voice is ironed out through the company's training as are his brutish manners, with the help of opera star Grayson, whom Lanza has fallen for. The humor is typical, but opera lovers may enjoy the inclusion of arias from "Mignon," "Carmen," and "La Traviata," along with duets from "Madam Butterfly." A young Rita Moreno appears as a waterfront girl.

A so so movie - at best

[rap-39 · 4/10 · 17 August 2009]

A typical Lanza flick that had limited audience appeal with a weak story line that was put together simply to justify Lanza's MGM contract at the time.

As reported by member Lastliberal (above) Grayson could not stand Lanza because of his obscene advances towards her off (and sometimes on) camera. In addition, his gutter mannerism and the continual smell of alcohol in her face during scenes they did together were intolerable. After doing their second (and last) film together, "Toast of New Orleans", the normally quiet Grayson stormed into Louie B. Mayer's office and told him in no uncertain words that she would never work with Lanza again – period. Mayer felt that Grayson was much more valuable to MGM then Lanza, so Grayson's statement stuck. Grayson went on to star in a number of widely received (and far more profitable) musicals with Howard Keel and others. Later in life when asked to compare Lanza and Keel her reply was that there was no comparison between them, and that Keel was great to work with and had much more appeal to the "real people" in the audiences.

"The Dreams That You Inspire, With Every Sweet Desire, Be My Love"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 1 February 2008]

With the success that Mario Lanza and Kathryn Grayson had in That Midnight Kiss, MGM knew it had a box office team of appeal. The following year the two of them moved from contemporary Philadelphia to pre-World War I, New Orleans.

People paid their money to hear Mario sing and really didn't care about the plots of his films. Lanza was cast as an opera singing truck driver in That Midnight Kiss, as an opera singer drafted into the army in Because You're Mine, and the greatest opera singer of all in The Great Caruso. I think we can see a pattern forming here.

In The Toast of New Orleans Lanza plays a shrimp fisherman who works on the boat with his uncle J. Carrol Naish. When opera singer Kathryn Grayson comes to town, Lanza boisterously and impulsively joins her in a duet of Be My Love. Her manager and New Orleans opera kingpin, David Niven is as impressed as everyone else was in 1950 with Mario's voice. He's even willing to overlook to some extent the fact he's moving in on Grayson.

Acting wise The Toast of New Orleans is no strain on anybody. Mario and Kathryn play a pair of singers and Mario as in all of his films, just played himself. It's interesting that the only times he attempted to play a role from classic operetta, The Student Prince and The Vagabond King it didn't work out for him.

As for David Niven, he's as debonair and charming as he always was. Niven carried more films on the strength of his charm than any other star in the sound era.

But no one worried about acting and a plot in this film. Like That Midnight Kiss, The Toast of New Orleans has a nice mixture of classical opera and some good songs by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn to round out a very full score. One of the songs, Be My Love, became Mario Lanza's signature song, his biggest selling record on RCA Victor Red Seal label. You could not go ANYWHERE in 1950 without hearing Be My Love coming out of some radio. Be My Love was nominated for Best Song in 1950, but lost to Mona Lisa.

Norman Taurog directed Mario in this film, he had previously won an Oscar for Skippy and had directed Spencer Tracy to his second Academy Award in Boy's Town. Taurog was an interesting choice for a director to pilot a picture with a personality like Lanza. Later on Taurog would end his career directing nine of Elvis Presley's feature films, another instance of him directing a mega-pop personality successfully.

The Toast of New Orleans is for Mario Lanza fans everywhere and this review is dedicated to my father who was a big fan.

Why isn't she happy with The Niv?

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 9 February 2018]

In The Toast of New Orleans, Kathryn Grayson plays a beautiful opera singer with a beautiful soprano singing voice. As you can imagine, she pulls it off wonderfully; the problem with this movie has nothing to do with her performance. She's romantically involved with her manager, the classy, handsome, wealthy, supportive David Niven. So far so good. Enter Mario Lanzo, a poor, crude, ignorant fisherman who happens to have been blessed with a natural singing talent. Now, why would Kathryn-who has everything a woman could ask for in her career and relationship-be drawn to Mario? That, my friends, is the problem with The Toast of New Orleans. If they wanted us to sympathize with her conflict, they shouldn't have cast David Niven!

To give her credit, when Mario first imposes himself, Kathryn wants nothing to do with him. He literally interrupts her singing with his own, topping her high notes and singing as loud as he can without bursting a lung. However, The Niv is intrigued by Mario's untrained talent and attempts to turn him into a genteel opera singer to match Kathryn. Some of the scenes are cute, but the basic story just doesn't make any sense because not only is The Niv a class act, but his character is written to have no flaws. If he's going to be as gorgeous in Technicolor as David Niven is, he should at least be written with flaws, as he was in Please Don't Eat the Daisies.

The big song from The Toast of New Orleans is the lovely ballad "Be My Love", and while I'm not really a fan of Mario Lanzo's voice, the duet he sings with Kathryn is pretty cute. If that's one of your favorite songs, you might want to watch the movie that introduced it to the world. I've been overly harsh on this movie, but it really isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. If you like Kathryn Grayson or operatic singing, you might like this cutesy musical.

Pepe The Fisherman

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 11 October 2012]

It seems fairly obvious that at MGM they were staunch believers in the saying if it ain't broke don't fix it. In 1949 they launched their new signing Mario Lanza in That Midnight Kiss; he played a truck driver who both liked to and could sing as the insipid Kathryn Grayson discovered when he delivered a piano to her home. By chance Grayson was a fledgling opera singer and gave Lanza a send-in with Jose Iturbi. In passing Grayson fell for Lanza but he had an 'understanding' with Marjorie Reynolds. So much for plot. The film made big bucks so they remade it the next year. This time Lanza is a shrimp fisherman who likes to and can sing, Grayson is now a full-fledged opera diva who discovers him by chance and this time around, just so we can't say 'not again', it's Lanza who falls for her and her that has an 'understanding' with David Niven as the impresario who gives Lanza a crack at Madame Butterly. In the previous film J.Carroll Naish scored as Lanza's father so, for extra insurance, he's here again but this time as Lanza's uncle. Subtle, right. There was only one 'new' song in That Midnight Kiss so MGM put Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodzsy to work and they came up with Lanza's first million seller Be My Love albeit Grayson sings it first and then they duet. By 1950 there was probably just enough post-war hysteria sill hanging around to make this palatable.

My favorite Mario Lanza's film, is very fresh, I just love it

[maritere1939 · 10/10 · 7 July 2004]

I've watched this film more than 50 times, and as much as I watch as much as I like best. Mario Lanza was just unique, I agree that he did not educated his voice enough, but his natural voice was so wonderful, none of the best tenors hadn't his magnificent voice, is enough to know that Mo. Toscanini said that was "The Voice of the Century". This film is fresh and light and romantic, Mario's performance of "Be my love" as a duet is nice too, and "Madame Butterfly duet" is the greatest I've ever heard. David Niven, J. Carroll Naish and Rita Moreno, each one in the role they played are just wonderful too. Mario Lanza should be in the opera stage but if so, common people didn't had the opportunity to be delight with opera.

They like diamonds in the rough....

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 17 March 2013]

Life in the Bayou for fisherman Mario Lanza comes to an end when an opera star and her agent (Kathryn Grayson and David Niven) visit for the annual blessing of the fishing boats and discover his untrained but classical singing voice. He's unaccustomed to life among polite society so he's a bit crude when introduced. Fame is only a song away with a few bumps along the way. This is basically a re-tread of "That Midnight Kiss" with Lanza in a fishing boat instead of a truck and in period costumes instead of modern dress. Ms. Grayson gives an extremely funny performance, her eyes indicating hysterical disgust as he "intrudes" on her singing of "Be My Love" and later swings her around in a fiery dance. Niven's subtle performance suggests his character is totally amused by Lanza's lack of sophistication and how it puts the woman he loves in some precarious predicaments.

This film is highlighted by the "Tina Lina", a production number sung by Lanza and danced by the people of the Bayou, lead by Broadway dancer James Mitchell (later "All My Children's" Palmer Cortlandt) and future Oscar Winner Rita Moreno. She is a soft and lovely character, not the spitfire usually associated with her, although she brought a lot of femininity to "West Side Story's" Anita who was really only a spitfire when she danced. Pedro Armandariz as Lanza's father makes his stereotypical character a bit more likable by giving him a rough around the edge persona that is actually charming once you get used to him.

There's also a very funny "curtain call" at the end where Grayson and Lanza engage in a chase around the stage (front and back) which seems a pre-cursor to Grayson's later diva in "Kiss Me Kate". My only issue with the film was its repeat of basically the same story as their previous one together and the quick ending that seemed to wrap up the story too abruptly and unbelievably.

Beautiful music, silly story

[jjnxn-1 · 9/10 · 30 April 2013]

Hokey almost beyond belief but also bright and colorful this can be enjoyed in a mindless way. The story is meaningless anyway since the picture serves merely as an excuse to highlight both Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza's voices and on that basis it succeeds well. As for the rest of the movie it provides a very young Rita Moreno one of her first roles of any size as Mario's wharf-side spitfire girl, she performs well and has a nice dance number with James Mitchell. David Niven does what he can to make something out of his nothing role as Kathryn's benefactor and his dignity does much to balance out the overacting hamminess of J. Carrol Naish's Uncle Nicky. The real reason to watch this though is a great deal of good music highlighted by the beautiful Be My Love.

entertaining, if much misunderstood, comedic musical romance

[weezeralfalfa · 9/10 · 2 January 2012]

This is a variation on the much repeated love story in which a cloistered upper class girl must choose between marrying a safe but dull man of her class or a dashing Romeo rogue. Examples include some of MGM's most popular films of the '30s and '40s,such as "Gone with the Wind", "Captain Blood" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood", as well as the poorly received musical "The Pirate". In "The Belle of New York", Fred Astaire's character incorporates both of these elements. Thus, the conflict for Vera Ellen involves trying to reformulate his character so as to bring out the best mix for her(every woman's fantasy!).That is also what this love story is about:making a gentleman as well as a talented opera singer out of a boisterous rough hewn bayou fisherman with a golden singing voice(Mario Lanza), without making him too dull and unromantic.

The film begins with the festivities surrounding the annual blessing of the fishing fleet of a small early 20th century bayou fishing village. Evidently, the village mayor has contracted to have an opera star(Kathryn Grayson) and her manager/escort(David Niven) arrive for this festival. Mario spends too long looking at the beautiful Kathryn and grounds his uncle's boat so that they miss having it blessed with holy water: a bad omen, as things turn out. Mario wants to impress Kathryn the only way he knows how: by impulsively joining in her song, and later practically forcing her to join in the local folk dance. This makes Kathryn look foolish twice over. Is that any way to catch a woman of her upper class breeding? Certainly not, but subsequent events might make her change her mind. After his uncle's boat is wrecked in a storm, Mario reluctantly gives up fishing for a possible career as an opera singer.He is groomed as Kathryn's costar, but only after he gets an education on how to behave around upper class opera patrons. His relationship with Kathryn ocillates from cold to warm and back. She is a very difficult woman to consistently please or figure out! Meanwhile, they both do much singing, solo and as a duet, not actually a lot of heavy opera until the finale "Madame Butterfly" performance. At one point, Kathryn asks the unemotional Niven to marry her, apparently to resolve the conflict in her mind about how to respond to Mario's strong romantic overtures.

Now, for the very puzzling behavior of Kathryn during and after their "Madame Butterfly" love duet. Obviously, she often looks very anguished and is trying to push Mario away during most of this performance, in contrast to what she should have been doing. Some have interpreted this as the real Kathryn reacting to the real Mario, reflecting her well known aversion to his advances toward her, garlic eating, and other rude behaviors between takes. I can't believe MGM would allow this to show so blatantly, although it may have been a contributing factor. Rather, I favor the following interpretation as being the dominant explanation: Before this performance, Kathryn, as well as several of Mario's village friends complain that he has become too much of a gentleman, afraid of showing his impulsive rogue persona that village girls found so irresistible. Basically, she's playing hard to get, again, hoping the old Mario will break through his gentlemanly facade to sweep her off her feet. Meanwhile, Mario has gotten a hint from Niven that he should do this. Symbolically,this happens in his forceful treatment of her during their duet, a subsequent chase around the stage area, and when he breaks through her locked dressing room. End of story. Yes, Kathryn's character was a complicated and difficult woman to fathom, which some reviewers interpret as bad acting. Not so!

I found J Carrol Naish an entertaining and sometimes hilarious 'sidekick' for Mario, providing comedic relief throughout, along with the Mario-Kathryn unlikely pairing comedy. His character remained unimpressed with NO high society culture,refusing to be transformed by it, as Mario had been. Naish had been incorporated into several of Fox's high profile Latino-oriented musicals of the early '40s, again as a somewhat humorous supporting character. David Niven retains his British upper class reserve and charm throughout, as Kathryn's chaperon, overseer and probable lover: the alternative safe choice for Kathryn as a husband.

A musical and comic riot from start to finish

[derekmcgovern · 6 February 2003]

This is without a doubt the most consistently cheerful of Lanza's movies, and a real hoot. Mario's hitherto unknown comedic skills are a big surprise, and the supporting cast of J Carroll Naish and David Niven is wonderful. I wish I could say the same for co-star Kathryn Grayson, but her shrill coloratura, grating vibrato and minimal acting skills make her a poor match for Lanza.

This is the film that introduced Lanza's signature song, Be My Love. The scene in which the song is first sung (as a duet between Grayson and Lanza) is great fun to watch, with both singers trying to outdo the other. The Madama Butterfly Love Duet scene is even better, as Lanza throws caution to the wind and shows Grayson the true meaning of PASSION.

Were it not for Grayson, the movie would merit the highest evaluation. Despite this one casting flaw, Toast of New Orleans is an excellent vehicle for newcomers to opera. Like the man himself, Lanza's screen character's lusty ways and thorough lack of pretentiousness are a breath of fresh air, and he sings impressively throughout. Highlights include the Libiamo (much better than his commercial recording), a gorgeous Bayou Lullaby and the aforementioned Butterfly Love Duet.

Following this movie, Lanza would go on to star in The Great Caruso, the pinnacle of his movie career and the film that has influenced more singers than any other in cinematic history.

Get a life (you, the detractors)

[gkeith_1 · 10/10 · 1 February 2013]

I love this movie. I am a first soprano, and I feel that Kathryn Grayson had an absolutely beautiful voice. Paired with the famous tenor of Mario Lanza (not Danza; he is a "dancer" BTW), Kathryn is absolutely radiant.

I liked seeing James Mitchell (Dream Curly in Oklahoma movie), and I never saw his soap opera. He was a wonderful dancer in Oklahoma, and the same in Toast of N.O. Rita Moreno went on to appear in The King and I Movie, plus later as everybody knows as the older sister in movie West Side Story. She is still alive at 81-82 years old, and still looks very beautiful. James and Rita are excellent in Toast of N.O.

J. Carrol Naish; quite the funnyman. Accent a riot. Clothes totally ridiculous and wonderful. Table manners from he#@; too funny for words. A shrimp expert, LOL.

Niven the staid proper Britisher; not my idea of a romantic leading man. He was the onlooker. Didn't want to make marriage more important a career than opera. Kathryn actually had to ask HIM to marry HER. He was such a numbskull.

Loved seeing the oldtime stage actor photographs on the walls and furniture. I recognized young Constance Collier. Pictures obviously of that era in theatre history. You see old theatrical performer photographs in other movies such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Morning Glory. Constance Collier, a stage beauty in early 20th century, was the elderly resident in movie Stage Door starring Kathryn Hepburn and Ginger Rogers.

Lanza, when dressed up and gentlemanly, reminding me of Enrico Caruso -- the Homburg hat, fancy morning coat, etc.; rotund body; dark hair; matinée presence. When dressed in fisherman garb, he always got the attention from his bright red scarf or perhaps his rotund body and loud voice.

I love the city of New Orleans, in real life. Noticed French Quarter-looking scene in this movie; the lace balconies plus matte-background church, etc. Raspberries and plaintains for sale, indeed. Lanza sang to everyone on the street.

Clinton Sundberg tended to have secondary, but important, roles, that seemed to tie the stories together. He did not have leading man looks, but was gentle with the other characters.

Some posters said Kathryn played an upper class society woman, but I think if we look underneath the facade here was yet another of Niven's lower class discoveries who decided to fake her way into N.O. society. N.O. is rather sophisticated in some parts than some think compared to the fishing-community "rustics" as portrayed in this movie, but I am sure that the Cajuns had a lot more sense than some of the city dwellers.

Yes, this was 50s movie-making, as some said. This was also 40s storytelling, and YES it was post-World War II -- BUT give the movie makers credit for a sugar coated fantasy instead of the fighting-and-killing-World-War-II movies that went on for decades afterward. You can imagine perhaps this movie was started in 1949, cast in 1948, storyboard 1946, ideas 1942-1943 during the ugliest part of the worldwide conflict. So, stop whining and complaining and enjoy this wonderful escapist bit of fluff. RIP Kathryn Grayson, who had one of the most beautiful singing voices in musical movies.

The only thing missing here was tap dancing, which, as all of you know, is my fave. (And they could have slipped Gene Kelly in here, from Anchors Aweigh with Kathryn Grayson).

Who are the judges?

[cuneiform · 9/10 · 17 August 2019]

KG was a coloratura soprano versus ML tenor. Along the scores, KG's part is more difficult. Every syllabe of any piece ended by this soprano, but not by this tenor which was merely assistent! So, the real protagonist in the both musicals seems to be KG.

KG's playing is dynamic, while that of ML only static. Thus, performing for the 2nd time Be My Love, KG's head movements are truly artistic and dynamic, while ML stays static. The same again with I'l Never Love You where 2 ladies and 2 gentlemen are catching one another's looks.

Her personal life ended with two divorses as stated by courts due to the 'mental cruelty' of her both husbands. However, singing was her eternal aim and end, nothing was more important in her life than that. Recollecting the scene at the riverside, she mentions that in the same words. It's not a lady trick while refusing any further kiss. We do believe she is doing so because she is really afraid of her career getting lost due to a love adventure. So, she is playing herself.

KG's creature is more powerful in any sense while she ended as a supervisor at the state university of Idaho.

That's why her name must be placed before that of ML, she is the real protagonist in the both musicals, The Toast of New Orleans and That Midnight Kiss.

KG puts through the modernism style as for the way of dressing herself (more precisely, the Jugend Style), keeping her (mouth) make up properly sized versus that of these times in postmodernism. Those times will never come back again.

Thank you for having read my contribution.

A.T., a university professor, Berlin, Germany.

The Talented Mario Lanza

[willrams · 26 December 2002]

Mario Lanza's second film bursting with energy and musical talents with Kathryn Grayson in old New Orleans. Mario is discovered by David Niven and teamed up with Kathryn and they are the Toast of New Orleans. Mario is the scruffy seaman and his partner J. Carrol Nash, who provides the comedy. The music includes arias from Aida, Madame Butterfly, and La Boheme, etc. Mario does imitations of various people and this is a delight to all. The glorious voice of Lanza still lingers on!

This Is a Mario Lanza Pic Not to Be Missed

[LeonardKniffel · 8/10 · 1 May 2020]

Seeing this film for the first time almost seventy years after it was made was a revelation. The film casts Mario Lanza as a country boy who rises to fame as an opera singer. Never much of a Lanza fan, I was mesmerized by his charisma and that beautiful voice, which outshines even the magnificent singing of costar Kathryn Grayson as a snooty soprano who eventually falls for him. Filled with shots of the Big Easy in all of its diversity and European style and scattered with the colorful faces of extras looking like authentic residents, it is a visual as well as audio treat. It is also delightful to see a very young Rita Moreno demonstrate some of the dancing and acting ability that will earn her an Oscar for "West Side Story" eleven years later. Although the movie is filled with great opera snippets, the song that put Lanza at the top of the sex-appeal heap is "Be My Love."

Worth seeing for the music alone...Lanza and Grayson in fine voice...

[Doylenf · 10 May 2001]

David Niven discovers Mario Lanza, a Cajun fisherman who leaves the Bayou and falls in love with opera singer, Kathryn Grayson. Lushly photographed in the usual grand MGM manner of gaudy costumes and lots of background color, the simple storyline serves as an excuse to have Lanza belt out some ringing tenor numbers and blend his voice with Grayson for some tuneful arias. Opera fans will love it--others beware!

The humor gets a bit overdone with J. Carrol Naish straining for laughs and there's only a glimpse of Rita Moreno in a dance number. But brimming over with arias from "Carmen", "La Traviata" and "Martha", music lovers should have no complaints. Lanza and Grayson are both in fine voice and one would never suspect that she soon tired of his boorish antics on the set and would later refuse to co-star with him when MGM wanted her to do one more film with Lanza.

Remove "music" from "musicals" and you get the only part I like about musicals i.e. the "als".

[fedor8 · 31 October 2008]

More wide-eyed, hysterical 50s hyper-cheerfulness that gives new meaning to anti-social, pathological behaviour. Danza and Grayson will leave you begging for mercy.

It's a shame that all the people involved in the making of this movie are now dead (or in nursing homes). I kinda thought about suing them for torture. As this movie started unleashing its shamelessly aggressive operatic assault onto my poor, defenseless ear-drums, I felt instant, strong pain envelop my entire being. That damn muscular vibrato can shatter Soviet tanks into tiny bits, nevermind glass.

"Why didn't you switch the channel if you didn't like it?", you might ask angrily. Fair point, fair point... The answer is that I wanted to, but the pain was so sudden and excruciating that I fell to the floor, writhing in agony. With my last ounces of energy, I tried to reach the remote but couldn't.

A silly little fisherman with the questionable talent of singing with an annoying opera voice is discovered by Niven, who then proceeds to "pigmalionize" him. Lanza is in love with asymmetrical Grayson, but she predictably treats him with contempt until they finally hook up. This may seem like a rather thin plot, but this noisy movie is so chock-full of singing and music that there is barely any dialogue at all. This movie is RELENTLESS. Forget about torturing hippies and war prisoners with Slayer's "Reign In Blood" (as in a South Park episode). Whatever little conversation there is amongst the silly adults that infest this strange 50s musical world, it's all infantile - as if they were all 6 year-olds impersonating grown-ups. I can only envy people who find movies like this funny. It must be great being easy-to-please: what a world of wonder would open up to me if only I could enjoy any silly old gag as hilarious, gut-busting comedy.

But let's examine this phenomenon, the 50s musical. My best guess is that 50s musicals offered the more day-dreaming idealists among us a glimpse into Utopia or Heaven (depending on whether you're church-going or Lenin's-tomb-going), or at least very cheesy version of these fantasy-inspired places. TTONO is more akin to a representation of Hell, but that's just me. I don't seem to "get" musicals. People talk, there is a story - but then all-of-a-sudden everyone starts singing for about 4 minutes after which they abruptly calm down and then pretend as if nothing unusual happened! When you think about it, musicals are stranger than any science-fiction film.

Worse yet, TTONO (my favourite type of pizza, btw) is not just a 50s musical, but one with opera squealing. Opera is proof that there is such a thing as over-training a voice - to the point where it becomes an ear-piercing weapon rather than a means of bringing the listener pleasure. The clearest example of this travesty is when Lanza and Grayson unite their Dark Side vocal powers for a truly unbearable duet. I tried lowering the volume. I lowered it from 18 to 14. Then from 14 to 10. Then 8. I ended up lowering it to a 1, which is usually so low that it's only heard by specially-trained dogs and certain types of marsupials, and yet I STILL could hear those two braying like donkeys!

Take the scene in the small boat in the river. Danza starts off with one of his deafening, brain-killing tunes, and then... nothing. No animals anywhere to be seen. Even the crocodiles, who are mostly deaf, have all but left. If you look carefully, you might even see the trees change colour, from green to yellow, in a matter of minutes. No, this was not a continuity error, it was plain old torture of the flora. And those trees were just matte paintings! Imagine how real trees would have reacted.

The reason glass breaks when a high C is belched out of the overweight belly of an operatic screamer is not due to any laws of physics relating to waves and frequency, but because glass is only human - hence can take only so much pain before committing suicide through spontaneous self-explosion. I can listen to the loudest, least friendly death metal band for hours, but give me just a minute of a soprano and I get a splitting headache.