''The Young Caruso'' is a

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

, directed by

Giacomo Gentilomo Giacomo Gentilomo (5 April 1909 – 16 April 2001) was an Italian film director and painter. Biography Born in Trieste, at very young age Gentilomo moved to Rome, where at 21 years old he entered the cinema industry, working as a script survivo ...

. It stars

Ermanno Randi Ermanno Randi (27 April 1920 – 1 November 1951) was an Italian film actor. After serving in the Italian Army during the Second World War, Randi made his screen debut in 1947. He gradually moved up from playing supporting to lead role A lea ...

as Enrico Caruso and

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...

. Its original Italian title is ''Enrico Caruso: leggenda di una voce'' (''Enrico Caruso: Legend of a Voice''). It was produced by Asso Film, Londo Films and Tirenna Film Associata di Roma. It was adapted from a 1942 novel by

Frank Thiess Frank Thiess (13 March 1890 – 22 December 1977) was a German writer. Biography Born in Eluisenstein (now Ogre Municipality), Kreis Riga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (now Latvia), Thiess grew up in Berlin. He worked as a journalist fo ...

, ''Neapolitanische Legende'' (''Neapolitan Legend''). The film follows the life of the legendary tenor from

childhood poverty Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It's esti ...

in Naples to the beginning of his rise to fame. Caruso's voice was provided by Mario Del Monaco and Lollobrigida's voice was dubbed by

Dhia Cristiani Dhia is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representative of the village. Demography , The village has a total number of 60 houses and the population of 297 ...

Plot

Cast

as Enrico Caruso *

as Stella * Ciro Scafa as Luigi Gregorio Proboseide *

Carlo Sposito Carlo Sposito (1 May 1924 – 9 September 1984) was an Italian character actor, sometimes credited as Carletto Sposito. Born in Palermo, he was among the most active actors in the post-war Italian genre cinema. He was also pretty active on stag ...

as Giovanni "Gianni" Palma * Maurizio Di Nardo as Caruso as a boy *

Gaetano Verna Gaetano (anglicized ''Cajetan'') is an Italian masculine given name. It is also used as a surname. It is derived from the Latin ''Caietanus'', meaning "from ''Caieta''" (the modern Gaeta). The given name has been in use in Italy since medieval pe ...

as Caruso's father *

Mária Tasnádi Fekete Maria von Tasnady (16 November 1911 – 16 March 2001) was a Hungarian singer, stage and film actress. She was born as Mária Tasnádi Fekete and used a variety of other professional names including Maria De Tasnady during her career. von Tasna ...

as Anna (Caruso's mother) *

Lamberto Picasso Lamberto Picasso (21 October 1880 – 17 September 1962) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1914 and 1953. Selected filmography * ''The Naked Truth'' (1914) * ''The Doctor's Secret'' (1931) * ''Paradise'' (1932) * ' ...

as Vergine the Maestro *

Nerio Bernardi Nerio Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. He was born in Bologna, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Nero'' (1922) * ''The Sheph ...

as Francesco Zucchi * Gianpaolo Rosmino as Goffredo * Romano Laurienzo as Gino Saltamerenda *

Elena Sangro Elena Sangro (born Maria Antonietta Bartoli Avveduti, 5 September 1897 – 26 January 1969) was an Italian actress. Selected filmography * '' The Crusaders'' (1918) * '' Fabiola'' (1918) * ''Samson'' (1923) * '' Emperor Maciste'' (1924) * '' Ple ...

as Signora Tivaldi *

Franca Tamantini Franca Tamantini (24 August 1931 – 11 August 2014) was an Italian film, television and stage actress. Life and career Born in Rome, since young age Tamantini studied piano, singing and classical dance at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. In 1948 ...

as Carragi, a soprano * Mimi Ferrari

Reception

Although an initial commercial success, the film producers knew that the film was almost total fiction; indeed, an introductory title describes the plot as "a poetic interpretation of aruso'syouth." The film has thus been called a "travesty" because it had so many biographical inaccuracies. The film greatly upset the Caruso family who ended up suing the producers of the film for five million lire. The family also successfully sued

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

who was forced to withdraw ''

The Great Caruso ''The Great Caruso'' is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as Enrico Caruso. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay b ...

'' from distribution in Italy because of that film's many inaccuracies. Shortly after the film's release Ermanno Randi was murdered by his lover Giuseppe Maggiore in a jealous rage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Caruso, The 1951 films Italian biographical films 1950s historical musical films Italian historical musical films 1950s Italian-language films Films set in Italy Films set in the 19th century Films about classical music and musicians Films directed by Giacomo Gentilomo Cultural depictions of Enrico Caruso Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films