This film is a piece of fanciful fiction that I am sure never actually occurred. A young Quaker girl (Sandy Deschler) is on a train journey* when she notices a lot of folks making a huge fuss over Caruso (Lotfi Mansouri) who is getting on the train. As a Quaker, such ostentatious behaviors are frowned upon and a bit later the little girl approaches the great opera singer to tell him about the importance of humility. Caruso is quite taken with her and spends the rest of the trip serenading and talking to the nice young lady in his private compartment.
This is a very charming episode of "Screen Director's Playhouse". It lacks depth (the story is VERY simple) and never could have happened, but it is enjoyable. Additionally, Deschler was adorable as the girl and Mansouri did fine as the famed tenor and they used Caruso's own recordings (primitive as they are) and Mansouri lip synced along with them. Interestingly, Mansouri was an Iranian-American but his accent sounded pretty good- -though with such a heavy accent it also would have helped if the show had been captioned (especially since I am hard of hearing).
This is a very charming episode of "Screen Director's Playhouse". It lacks depth (the story is VERY simple) and never could have happened, but it is enjoyable. Additionally, Deschler was adorable as the girl and Mansouri did fine as the famed tenor and they used Caruso's own recordings (primitive as they are) and Mansouri lip synced along with them. Interestingly, Mansouri was an Iranian-American but his accent sounded pretty good- -though with such a heavy accent it also would have helped if the show had been captioned (especially since I am hard of hearing).