The Great Caruso

OSCAR WINNER: Best Sound Bravo, Enrico! Bravo, Mario! Renowned tenor Mario Lanza portrays his longtime singing idol Enrico Caruso in the crowd-pleasing musical that was 1951’s #4 box-office hit. Suggested by Dorothy Caruso’s biography of her husband, "The Great Caruso" rings out with aural pleasures (27 musical selections) and shines with the grandeur of a life lovingly refracted through the Hollywood bio-pic lens. The music (by Puccini, Donizetti, Verdi and more) emphasizes works most closely associated with Caruso. The story, spanning Caruso’s Naples boyhood to worldwide acclaim and tragedy-stricken final performance, touches on the down-to-earth character traits that spread the singer’s fame beyond the black-tie society of Metropolitan Opera connoisseurs. Nominated for three Academy Awards, the 1951 movie won for "Best Sound."