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| Ezio Pinza as the prince |
MR. IMPERIUM (1951). Director: Don Hartman.
Showgirl Fredda Barlo (Lana Turner) is performing in a nightclub in Italy when she encounters a dashing stranger named Mr. Imperium (Ezio Pinza). Imperium is actually Prince Alexis, heir to the throne of an unspecified nation, as well as the widowed father of a twelve-year-old boy. Alexis' father dies and he is called to duty. Several years later, Alexis makes plans to abdicate and reunites with Fredda, who is now a famous movie star, in Palm Springs. They stay in separate rooms at an inn run by Mrs. Cabot (Marjorie Main) and her niece, Gwen (Debbie Reynolds). But just as the two lovers are planning their film-making future together, they get a visitor from the dour prime minister (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) with bad news ...
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| Pinza ands Lana Turner |
Mr. Imperium was a starring vehicle for famous Metropolitan opera bass Ezio Pinza, who had also conquered Broadway with his role in
South Pacific (he died the same year the film version was released). Pinza and Lana Turner, while obviously not the perfect pairing, still play well together, and both give good performances, as do the other actors in the film, including Barry Sullivan as Lana's producer and would-be lover. A more subdued Marjorie Main and a very young Debbie Reynolds are also notable. One problem with the picture is that in the earlier part of the film the prince nearly comes off as a kind of creepy stalker, overly confident of his somewhat oily charm and appeal. The situation at the end has its moving aspects, but the script is a bit too superficial to make this more than a reasonably pleasant time-passer. Pinza gets to sing some nice songs, including "Let Me Look at You" and "Andiamo," a duet with a dubbed Turner. Has the usual MGM gloss but it doesn't look like this had a tremendous budget.
Verdict: Always a pleasure to hear Pinza sing. **3/4.
2 comments:
Would love to see this, especially since I have never seen Pinza on screen; have only heard him on the original cast recording of South Pacific w Mary Martin. I am a big fan of the lovely Lana, and with roles by Marjorie Main and a young Debbie Reynolds, I will definitely put this on my list.
-Chris
It's available on youtube, although the print is not great. The film is in public domain, so even the DVDs of this are of poor quality. One DVD claimed the film was digitially remastered, which it definitely was not. A first-class transfer of this will probably never be released because they would have to compete with the cheap inferior copies out there.
Tyhanks for your comments, as always, Chris. Have a great week!
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