Screen Directors Playhouse: The Day I Met Caruso (1956)
** (out of 4)
A 10-year-old Quaker girl named Elizabeth (Sandy Descher) boards a Boston to New York train where on-board she meets the one and only Enrico Caruso (Lotfi Mansouri). At first the girl isn't impressed with this man but that soon changes when he begins to sing. This Frank Borzage film is a rather bizarre one and I'm not going to try and hide the fact that the end result is somewhat of a letdown. While watching the film I really couldn't understand what the director and writer were going for. Yes, the little girl is experiencing something she's going to remember for the rest of her life but I'm still a bit confused on why us, the viewer, should care. The two talk about religion and Caruso teaches her a few card tricks. Fine but not all that entertaining. The only thing that saves the film from complete boredom is getting to hear some famous Caruso tunes. The singing is undoubtedly terrific and it makes the film worth sitting through. Many will probably notice how poor some of the audio is compared to the rest of the film but it's worth noting that Caruso died before higher fidelity recordings came into play. Both Descher and Mansouri are good in their parts but outside the actual singing there's very little going on here.
** (out of 4)
A 10-year-old Quaker girl named Elizabeth (Sandy Descher) boards a Boston to New York train where on-board she meets the one and only Enrico Caruso (Lotfi Mansouri). At first the girl isn't impressed with this man but that soon changes when he begins to sing. This Frank Borzage film is a rather bizarre one and I'm not going to try and hide the fact that the end result is somewhat of a letdown. While watching the film I really couldn't understand what the director and writer were going for. Yes, the little girl is experiencing something she's going to remember for the rest of her life but I'm still a bit confused on why us, the viewer, should care. The two talk about religion and Caruso teaches her a few card tricks. Fine but not all that entertaining. The only thing that saves the film from complete boredom is getting to hear some famous Caruso tunes. The singing is undoubtedly terrific and it makes the film worth sitting through. Many will probably notice how poor some of the audio is compared to the rest of the film but it's worth noting that Caruso died before higher fidelity recordings came into play. Both Descher and Mansouri are good in their parts but outside the actual singing there's very little going on here.