That Midnight Kiss (1949)

In Philadelphia, the soprano Prudence Budell returns from Europe after a period of five years training in the best Europeans music schools. Her millionaire grandmother Abigail Trent Budell ... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Bruce Manning (screenplay), Tamara Hovey (screenplay)

Stars:

Kathryn Grayson, José Iturbi, Ethel Barrymore

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kathryn Grayson	...	Prudence Budell
José Iturbi	...	Himself (as Jose Iturbi)
Ethel Barrymore	...	Abigail Trent Budell
Mario Lanza	...	Johnny Donnetti
Keenan Wynn	...	Artie Geoffrey Glenson
J. Carrol Naish	...	Papa Donnetti
Jules Munshin	...	Michael Pemberton
Thomas Gomez	...	Guido Russino Betelli
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Mary
Arthur Treacher	...	Hutchins
Mimi Aguglia	...	Mamma Donnetti
Amparo Iturbi	...	Herself
Bridget Carr	...	Donna Donnetti
Amparo Ballester	...	Rosina Donnetti
Ann Codee	...	Mme. Bouget

Storyline

In Philadelphia, the soprano Prudence Budell returns from Europe after a period of five years training in the best Europeans music schools. Her millionaire grandmother Abigail Trent Budell sponsors an opera company under the command of the famous maestro Jose Iturbi to give a chance to Prudence to lead an opera. They hire the also famous tenor Guido Russino Betelli, but Prudence does not feel comfortable with him on the stage. When Prudence accidentally sees the American-Italian truck driver Johnny Donnetti singing opera, she convinces Jose Iturbi to give a chance to Johnny. They fall in love for each other, but when Prudence visits his work to tell that he will be hired, she meets Mary and she believes Johnny is in love of his colleague.

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Plot Keywords:

tenor | truck driver | opera singer

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Taglines:

The biggest kiss in movie history!

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Genres:

Musical | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

23 January 1950 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Aquele Beijo à Meia-Noite

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although this was officially Mario Lanza's film debut, he had previously appeared as an uncredited chorus member in Winged Victory. Like the character he plays in the movie, Lanza was an opera singer from an Italian-American family in Philadelphia.

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Quotes

Abigail Trent Budell: Every opera singer should fall in love with her tenor, or composer, or baritone, or conductor. I'm glad it's a tenor. We could use one.

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Connections

Featured in Some of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership (1949)

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Soundtracks

"Verrano a te sull'aura"
(uncredited)
from "Lucia di Lammermoor"
Music by Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano
Sung by Kathryn Grayson and Thomas Gomez (the latter probably dubbed)

User Reviews

An Autobiographical Debut

For Mario Lanza's first feature film role it wasn't much of an acting stretch for him. He played exactly who he was an opera singing truck-driver from South Philadelphia. Mario would have been 28 at the time That Midnight Kiss came out and that is his approximate age right here.

Of course in real life he wasn't discovered by the granddaughter of another real life noted Philadelphian, Ethel Barrymore. As the plot would have it, Kathryn Grayson finds Mario playing on the piano and singing an old Italian song Mama Che Vio Sape.

Grayson's got singing talent herself in abundance and when you're from the Philadelphia Main Line you've got a grandmother who's willing to start a production company built around her. Of course to make sure it makes a little money you want a name tenor like Thomas Gomez as opposed to some unknown truck-driver.

Kathryn would rather make music with Mario both on and off the stage. The story with a few of the usual Hollywood romantic complications shows how they get to do just that.

Mario and Kathryn sang a good collection of classical and popular selections. My favorite recording of Jerome Kern's first great hit song They Didn't Believe Me is from Mario's original cast album of That Midnight Kiss. It's a solo recording, on screen it's done with Grayson and done just as beautifully. MGM made a good choice in including that great song in this film.

A good cast of MGM regulars supported Mario and Kathryn that included Keenan Wynn as Lanza's friend and Jules Munshin as the manager of the opera company. Best in the supporting cast however is Thomas Gomez as the egotistical tenor Lanza replaces. Gomez utilizes some seldom tapped comedy talent for this role.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer engineered a very auspicious debut for their new singing discovery in That Midnight Kiss.