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
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