For the First Time: Lanza's Sweet Little Swansong by Derek McGovern
It is one of the great ironies of Mario Lanza's movie career that his best film, Serenade, should have been eclipsed at the box office by his weakest effort, the meandering Seven Hills of Rome. The latter contains so few opportunities for Lanza--either vocally or dramatically--that it emerges as a lifeless, stillborn piece of movie-making. Lanza himself described the movie as "lousy" and condemned his performance in it as "terrible."
While he was certainly being far too harsh on his efforts, this stinging self-criticism ensured that his next—and final—cinematic effort, the 1958 For the First Time, would be a considerable improvement over the previous movie. Vocally magnificent, and possessed of a sweetness that redeems its many shortcomings, For the First Time emerges as a touching swansong from an extraordinary talent.
From the very beginning, the angelic choir that heralds the opening credits makes it clear that this is not a movie for prune-faced cynics. The film historian David Shipman, in one of his pedantic and self-important tomes on movie-making, would later slam the picture, adding that some reviewers had envied the plight of the leading lady, Johanna von Koczian, who for plot purposes is deaf.
Critics Comment
At least, he implied, she was spared the "misfortune" of hearing Lanza sing. Shipman conveniently overlooked the fact that von Koczian does hear Mario's voice, and that furthermore the tenor is in glorious vocal form throughout (with one exception, which I'll get to later.) Howard S. Thompson of the New York Times was a rare source of critical approval, singling out Lanza's courtship of Miss von Koczian as believable and charming, and calling the movie "the tenor's most disarming vehicle in years."
"Toning his voice down—mercifully—he never sounded better," was also Thompson's assessment of Lanza's singing, and he lavished special praise on the tenor's renditions of "O Sole Mio," "Vesti la Giubba," and "Nium Mi Tema." He also commented approvingly on Lanza's slimmed-down appearance, a great improvement, he said, "over the previous year's Seven Hills of Rome, in which he looked like the eighth [hill]."
What Thompson overlooked, however, was the alarming evidence that Lanza was clearly far from well in his final movie. Mario may have been slimmer throughout much of the film— not only in comparison with Seven Hills, but also several of his earlier movies—but here he often looks tired and subdued, with noticeable bags under the eyes and a strangely "painted" appearance confirming his precarious state of health. At other times he looks disarmingly handsome—almost like the Mario of yore, with his endearing qualities of mischief and warmth written all over his expressive features.
The tenor's most disarming vehicle in years.
The final shooting script of For the First Time was reportedly inferior to the original version that Lanza had approved. What he thought of the changes is unclear, but as with Seven Hills of Rome, far greater attention should have been paid to the dialogue, which is often bland and uninspired.
