atlasmb There is a similarity between the films of Elvis Presley and some by Mario Lanza. A young man travels around, singing for people along the way, sometimes surrounded by his adoring fans. There is usually a fistfight, and always a girl. "For the First Time" even includes a dust-up, like a Presley film.The young lady in this film is a deaf girl Tonio (Maria Lanza) falls in love with. The fact that he is a singing superstar and she cannot hear his voice is a plot point. The fact that the title song is uninspiring is a weak point of the film.Lanza's career capitalized on his crossover appeal to fans of opera and popular music alike. Here, the viewer gets some of both. But the plot is weak and fails to capitalize on Lanza's tremendous voice. As an actor, Lanza is adequate, but he lacks the ability to engage the audience in drama the way his voice can capture feelings with heart-rending effect.Lanza's film career was plagued with concerns about his weight, so a brief bit involving a scale is a self-deprecating moment of levity. Not so funny is the fact that this was Lanza's last film and that his girth surely had something to do with it.

lleopldnll SpoilerWhile watching this film I was struck by the fanciful idea that this is really about health care in Italy in the late 1950s. Here we see Mario Lanza raising money for a deaf girl's operation by performing in a stunning series of operas. I suppose a lucky patient would have to be an attractive, virginal girl like the one in this film. Then I recalled that Mario was often called upon in real life to raise money for charities in this way. I began to think this must have been how health care evolved in Italy. With Mario's untimely death- some claim by the Mafia because illness caused him to miss a concert he had promised to give-some other system had to replace him.The film itself is an excellent opportunity to witness Mario's rapturous tenor in a variety of roles -Canio,Radames,Otelo among others. The locations are gloriously picturesque. The copy I saw was actually dubbed in German which made it more interesting.

bkoganbing Released two months before his demise, For The First Time proved to be Mario Lanza's last film. While it's not the young Lanza in his prime, booming out Be My Love, it's still a good film to go out on. It's a Cinderella type fairy tale of a concert singer/Prince Charming who meets and falls for a deaf girl and spends his time looking to cure her affliction. One thing For The First Time has going for it are those European locations, especially the fabulous Isle of Capri. Capri is one of those places in the world where you cannot film anything that won't be beautiful. Ranks right up there with the Grecian Isles and Hawaii in that regard. Paramount would also use Capri around the same time for the Clark Gable-Sophia Loren film, It Started In Naples also with gratifying results.The deaf girl who Lanza falls for precisely because she can't hear him and isn't groupie material is played by German actress Johanna Von Koczian who's had a distinguished career in German cinema to this day. She's billed as 'introducing Johanna Von Koczian' but she's only being introduced here to American audiences. Walter Rilla as the hearing specialist who operates and cures her and Hans Bohnker as Von Koczian's uncle, are also from the German film industry. Most of the rest of the cast is Italian. Of course with the exceptions of Kurt Kaszner as Lanza's manager and Zsa Zsa Gabor as Zsa Zsa under any name.Mario too is Mario under any name. He always was himself because the audiences came to hear him sing, they didn't expect Hamlet from him. For The First Time has a good mix of classical and popular songs. Highlights are Come Prima which Lanza introduced and which sold a few records for him on RCA Victor Red Seal label and O Sole Mio which he sings at Sandra Giglio's wedding.Lanza was in training at the time of his death on October 7, 1959 to finally go into grand opera. A hint of what he could have done is in the arias he does from Otello and the triumphal march from Aida which is a great piece of DeMille like spectacle in opera. He's just fabulous in both.Back in the days of The Odd Couple I remember an episode where Felix says to Oscar he wants the triumphal march from Aida played at his funeral as his casket is paraded seven times around the cemetery before the planting. As an opera lover, I'm sure Felix must have seen For The First Time and was influenced.If he heard Mario Lanza sing it, it sounds like a plan.

jotix100 This MGM film showcases the great Mario Lanza, whose untimely death came right after this film was completed. It's a vehicle for the star, who had one of the most powerful tenor voices in the cinema. As such, "For the First Time" is an excuse to present its star in different European settings in a picture that is more of a travelogue than a musical.Rudolph Mate directed with an eye for the backgrounds being shown. We are taken to that magical island of Capri, then to Salzburg, among other places that go by too quickly. The DVD we watched had a faded look, and one can only guess the original copy had glorious colors.Mario Lanza plays an opera singer who goes to Capri to stay away from the scandal he caused at the Vienna Opera house for not showing for a performance, when in reality, he was outside entertaining the people that couldn't get inside. In Capri he meets sweet Christa, who happens to be deaf. They fall in love and she will not marry him unless she can hear him. Naturally, like in all fairy tales, everything comes true and everyone is happy at the end.Mario Lanza has some good moments in the film. He sings arias from Pagliacci, Aida and Othelo, as well as the theme song, "Come prima", in his usual style. Johanna Von Koczian is seen as Christa, the sweet girl who conquers Tonio Costa's heart. Kurt Kasznar plays Tonio's agent.This is a happy film without any pretensions. It's not Mr. Lanza's best film, but for all his fans it will be something to savor.