Beniamino Gigli Movies

Carosello Napoletano was the first major Italian musical of the postwar era. The title, which translates to Neopolitan Carousel, refers to a family of street singers. The story covers a century or so in the lives of this family, with ample screen time given over to romance and heartbreak. Basically an "inventory musical", the film spotlights several well-known Neopolitan tunes, given sprightly performances by the cast. The uncredited voice of famed tenor Beniamino Gigli is heard from time to time for the benefit of his legions of fans. At 125 minutes, Carosello Napoletano tends to wear on the viewer at times, though lovers of popular Neopolitan music and dance will get their fill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Soho Conspiracy isn't a movie, it's a crazy quilt. The thin plot strand concerns a group of down and out residents of London's Soho district. Pooling their talents, these worthies put on a Big Show to save a church from falling apart. If the musical numbers seemed familiar to British filmgoers in 1951, it was no surprise. All the musical highlights in Soho Conspiracy were lifted bodily from earlier films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The leading lady of the Italian Mad About Opera was billed in the English-language prints as Lollo Brigida. By the time the film was reissued in the mid-1950s, this gaffe had been corrected, and Gina Lollobrigida received proper screen credit. The story details the misadventures of a group of Italians living in London who hope to stage a musical concert. The proceeds will go to the restoration of a church which was destroyed during the Blitz. Spearheading the project is journalist Carlo Scala (Carlo Campanini), who must overcome some pretty formidable opposition to realize his goal. The final reels of Mad About Opera are given over to such powerhouse musical talents as Tito Gobbi, Gino Bechi, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia and the La Scala Corps de Ballet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Broken Love was the English-language title of the Italian musical Cuore Infrantro. The film is a showcase for the splendid singing of Beniamino Gigli, who in 1946 was endeavoring to prove to the world that he hadn't been a WW2 fascist collaborator. Accordingly, the film's storyline is completely apolitical, dealing with a world-famous tenor (Gigli) whose daughter (Camilla Horn) is suffering from a rare heart ailment. The tenor exacerbates his daughter's medical condition when he tries to meddle in her romance with a young bank clerk (Herbert Wilk). Everybody suffers operatically against a lavish backdrop of Venetian canals and Riviera gambling houses. The lachrymose musical climax, lifted from Puccini's La Boheme, is calculated to make sure that there won't be a dry eye in the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Giuseppe Verdi was also released as The Life of Verdi for the benefit of filmgoers who had trouble grasping the obvious. Fosco Giachetti stars as the title character, aging nearly 30 years in the course of the film. The story begins when the teenaged Verdi leaves his hometown behind to study music in Milan, only to face rejection from the school's hide-bound board of directors. He is forced to endure several subsequent setbacks until he is helped along the road to success by sympathetic opera diva Giuseppina (Gaby Morlay), whom he eventually marries. An amusing later moment finds Verdi and a pompous tenor (Beniamino Gigli) rehearsing the La Donna e Mobile aria from Rigoletto, all the while attempting to keep this composition secret from potential music thieves. The film ends with the triumphant premiere of Aida in Egypt, in commemoration of the opening of the Suez Canal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Du bist Mein Gluck (You Are My Joy) was the third starring feature for the great Operatic tenor Beniamino Gigli. Gigli's imposing presence and splendid singing notwithstanding, the film is dominated by Isa Miranda in a dual role. After deserting her husband to shack up with Mario Monti (Gigli), Bianca Scarpa (Miranda) returns home years later to beg for custody of her child, only to be throw out into the street. Years later, the child has grown up into a beautiful young woman and an excellent dancer (Miranda plays both mother and daughter). Feeling guilty about causing so much family dissension, Monti tries to arrange for a reconciliation between Bianca and her daughter. The musical highlights in Du bist Mein Gluck feature such operatic luminaries as Hildegarde Ranczak, Maria Cornelius, and Ludwig Weber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Alexander and Zoltan Korda production Forget Me Not serves as a splendid showcase for that matchless Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli. The star is cast in the strangely unsympathetic role of opera star Enzo Curti, who falls in love with impressionable tourist Helen (Joan Gardner). After their marriage, disillusionment quickly sets in for Helen, who can't cope with sharing her new husband with his thousands of fans. When seductress Irene (Jeanne Stuart) moves in on Enzo, Helen leaves him, returning to her former sweetheart. Now contrite, Enzo spends the rest of the film desperately trying to win his young wife back. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide