The 4th Tenor (2002)

Director:

Harry Basil

Writers (WGA):

Rodney Dangerfield (written by) &
Harry Basil (written by)

Release Date:

3 December 2004 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

A comedy with high notes.

Plot:

A restaurant owner falls in love with an opera singer and, desperate to impress her, travels to Italy to learn how to sing.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Restaurant | Italian Restaurant | Italy | Italian American

Cast

Rodney Dangerfield	...	Lupo
Anita De Simone	...	Rosa
Annabelle Gurwitch	...	Gina
Charles Fleischer	...	Alphonse
Robert Davi	...	Ierra
Hamilton Camp	...	Papa
Elsa Raven	...	Mama
Jacob Urrutia	...	Mario
Richard Libertini	...	Vincenzo
Dom Irrera	...	Petey (as Dominick Irrera)
Patrick Cupo	...	Nunzio
Anney Giobbe	...	Francesca
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Marcello
Pierrino Mascarino	...	Roberto
Marty Belafsky	...	Johnny
Don Stark	...	Tony
Lisa Mende	...	Sonia
Carmen Filpi	...	Bum #1
Roger Behr	...	Bum #2
Don Calfa	...	Bum #3
Benito Prezia	...	Priest
Rae Allen	...	Italian Woman
Vasili Bogazianos	...	Pilot
Mario Piccirillo	...	Italian Man #1
Fausto Callegarini	...	Italian Man #2
Elin Carlson	...	Soprano
Carrie Freeman	...	Ticket Agent
Ric Mancini	...	Neighbor Man
Argentina Brunetti	...	Neighbor Woman
Joe Nipote	...	Cop #1
Joseph Vassallo	...	Cop #2 (as Joe Vassallo)
Bianca Rossini	...	Flight Attendant #1
Shana Hiatt	...	Flight Attendant #2
Yosi Oved	...	Passenger
Joe Bucaro III	...	Vespa Driver (as Joey Bucarro)
Morgan Reese	...	Birthday Girl
Joseph Della Sorte	...	Conductor
Granville Ames	...	Singing Waiter #1
Marcos Sola	...	Singing Waiter #2
Dina Torok	...	Singing Waitress
Phil Culotta	...	Doorman #1
Frank Torres	...	Doorman #2
Mark De Alessandro	...	Man in Lake
Jefferson Wagner	...	Dishwasher
Gregory J. Barnett	...	Audience Member (as Greg Barnett)
Dennis Madalone	...	Audience Member
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jenna Hagel	...	Maria
Jeremy Galeaz	...	New Yorker (uncredited)
Ray Huffman	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Harry Basil

Writing credits (WGA)
Rodney Dangerfield		(written by) &
Harry Basil		(written by)

Produced by
John J. Kelly	....	line producer
Joseph Merhi	....	producer
Jack Nasser	....	co-executive producer
David Shoshan	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Lennertz

Cinematography by
Ken Blakey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tony Lombardo

Casting by
Allison Cowitt
Mike Fenton

Production Design by
Jacqueline Masson

Art Direction by
Mark A. Thomson

Set Decoration by
Geoffrey Maynard

Costume Design by
Nicole L. Schroud

Makeup Department
Danielle Basil	....	assistant hair stylist
Danielle Basil	....	assistant makeup artist
Colleen Collins	....	assistant hair stylist
Colleen Collins	....	assistant makeup artist
Anna Futrell	....	key hair stylist
Joseph Gaddi	....	hair stylist: Mr. Dangerfield
Susan Romero	....	assistant hair stylist
Susan Romero	....	assistant makeup artist
Linda Vallejo	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Stephen Adrianson	....	post-production supervisor
Frank R. Gardner	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rachel Dickson	....	second second assistant director
Melissa Engle	....	additional second second assistant director
Bryan Goeres	....	first assistant director
Tarik Heitmann	....	second second assistant director
Igor Meglic	....	second unit director
Caroline Stephenson	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Jason Addy	....	property master
Sean Boyriven	....	assistant property master
Matt Caetano	....	swing gang
Jose Dallesandro	....	swing gang
Aaron Dick	....	swing gang
Thomas Gandy	....	swing gang
Christopher Goodson	....	carpenter
Geoff Hathaway	....	swing gang
Limore Issac	....	assistant props
Ty Jones	....	swing gang
Jeanne Kukor	....	on-set dresser
Nicole Lee	....	swing gang
Chip Mefford	....	carpenter
Kenneth Mefford	....	swing gang
Nathan Ogilvie	....	set dresser
Michael Provart	....	lead man
Michale Savage	....	swing gang
Clinton Scott	....	carpenter
Jordan Shapiro	....	construction coordinator
Brian Small	....	carpenter
Luc Smith	....	swing gang
Sherry Snodgrass	....	swing gang
Edward Stevenson	....	set dresser
Christopher Sullivan	....	swing gang
Steve 'O' Watson	....	lead man
Markus Wittman	....	swing gang (as Marcus Wittman)

Sound Department
Troy Allen	....	adr recordist
Jeremy Grody	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael J. Hall	....	sound mixer
Mike Hall	....	sound mixer
Casey King	....	sound mixer: second unit
Richard Partlow	....	foley artist
Dennis Patterson	....	sound effects editor
Dennis Patterson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy Potvin	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Craig Ray	....	boom operator
Ron Ruzicka	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Jefferson Wagner	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Erik Anderson	....	digital artist
Nick Anderson	....	optical assistant
Toby Anderson	....	animation camera
Brian Midkiff	....	optical camera
Derek N. Prusak	....	assistant cameraman

Stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunts
Doc D. Charbonneau	....	stunts (as Doc Charbonneau)
Phil Culotta	....	stunts
Mark De Alessandro	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Andy Gill	....	stunts
David M. Graves	....	stunts (as David Mic Graves)
John J. Kelly	....	stunts
Gene LeBell	....	stunts
Dennis Madalone	....	stunts
Spiro Razatos	....	stunt coordinator
Mike Ryan	....	stunts
Ben Scott	....	stunts
Frank Torres	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Armstrong	....	grip
James 'Slim Jim' Ballard	....	key grip (as Slim Jim Ballard)
William Ballard	....	best boy grip (as 'Cool Breeze' Ballard)
Madison Bellanger	....	camera operator: second camera (as Madison Belanger)
Glen Brown	....	electrician (as Glen A. Brown)
Mike Cahoon	....	camera loader: second unit
Randy Crawford	....	grip
Louie DeMarco	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Nathan Donat	....	electrician
Justin Duval	....	electrician
David Elmore	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Mike Flaningam	....	key grip: second unit (as Michael Flaningan)
Greg Gayne	....	electrician
Michael Brian Hart	....	electrician
Oliver Henry	....	additional first assistant camera
Zoran Hochstätter	....	camera operator: second unit (as Zoran Hochstatter)
Thomas Holm Deleurang	....	focus puller (as Thomas Holm)
Sean Patrick Hourihan	....	grip
Paul Janossy	....	first assistant camera
Jason Kelly	....	grip
Seth Kotok	....	additional first assistant camera
Mike Lancaster	....	dolly grip
Heather Lea	....	first assistant camera (as Heather Leroy)
Jamie Lind	....	grip
Igor Meglic	....	director of photography: second unit
Ryan Meyer	....	electrician
Gannon Murphy	....	electrician (as M. Gannon Murphy)
Lou Newell	....	second assistant camera
Jesse Pence	....	electrician
Derek N. Prusak	....	second assistant camera: second unit (as Derek Prusak)
Paul Reyes	....	grip
Erik Rodgers	....	best boy electric
David Rosner	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Jason Rupe	....	grip
T.J. Sampson	....	grip
Christopher Taylor	....	additional first assistant camera
Adam Teichman	....	gaffer
Bela Trutz	....	Steadicam operator
Ely Vegh	....	electrician
Kim Whaley	....	additional second assistant camera
Rafael Winer	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jeanine Castle	....	on-set costumer
Kemi Cooks	....	additional costumer
Lisa Wujick	....	additional costumer

Editorial Department
Stephen Adrianson	....	additional editor
Robin Saban	....	assistant editor
Issam Tahan	....	post-production logistics
Chris Weber	....	negative cutter
Gary Weber	....	negative cutter
Chuck Winston	....	color timer
Jonathan Zuaiter	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Martin Blasick	....	music producer
Martin Blasick	....	music supervisor
James Jacobson	....	orchestrator
Christopher Lennertz	....	conductor
Dino A. Moriana	....	music editor
Dana Niu	....	additional orchestrator
Dawn Soler	....	music supervisor
Marcus Trumpp	....	orchestrator
Jeff Vaughn	....	scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Harry Zabounian	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Peter J. Clark	....	script supervisor
Kevin Dreher	....	production assistant
Ivan Drehspul	....	airline technical supervisor
Michael Frayeh	....	production accountant
April Fuhrmann	....	animal trainer
Segrid Lunde	....	animal trainer
Fulton Marquez	....	office production assistant
Kenneth Mefford	....	production assistant
Itay Mevorakh	....	production assistant
Laura Nash	....	location scout
Nathalie Perkins	....	production assistant
Don Reynolds	....	animal trainer
Paul 'Sled' Reynolds	....	animal trainer (as Paul Reynolds)
Titus Reynolds	....	animal trainer
Daniel Richardson	....	production assistant
Tom Roach	....	animal trainer
Eric Rudolph	....	animal trainer
Meghan Schafer	....	animal trainer
Laura Sherman	....	production coordinator
Tim Shuler	....	set medic
Brad Sidio	....	production assistant
Cody Smith	....	animal trainer
Chad Steiner	....	office production assistant
Matthew Thomas II	....	location manager
Mark Thompson	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• WW & S Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Finnkino (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Imageworks Entertainment International (non-USA)

Other Companies

• Act One Script Clearance  script research
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Keslow Camera  camera equipment provided by
• Matchframe Video  post-production services
• T&T Optical Effects Company  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual humor

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-3

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

WW & S Productions Inc.

Trivia:

The opera song the mediocre female singer sings who ends up dating "Lupo" (Dangerfield) to further her career (since he owns a famous restaurant), is the same tune written for Citizen Kane (1941) in which the main character, buys his "trophy" girl an opera house.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the bartender is talking to the server about how much Rodney is in love, his white shirt collar tucks itself under his black vest between shots.

Quotes:

Rosa:I've never heard of wanting to kill somebody because they sang.
Lupo:Well you never heard me sing.

A human comedy from one of the last of the greats

A comedy like this won't hold up to today's standards. It doesn't have the acidic bite, the sarcasm or the snappy gags that make modern comedies so successful, despite the fact that it was written by & stars Rodney Dangerfield who basically invented acidic bite, sarcasm & snappy gags.

Instead, in this story--the last one Rodney would write for the big screen--he takes us on a trip back to the smooth, human vibe we used to get from the classic comedies with Jimmy Stewart, Tony Curtis, etc. He doesn't play the part of the wisecracking, quick-witted hero you might expect from "Back to School" but instead he plays sort of a schlep, an emotionally downtrodden loser (despite his material success) who evokes our sympathies like a lost puppy dog.

Having read some of the other reviews, I think this takes people by surprise, particularly his fans, who deem his performance sluggish & lackluster. However, if you drop all preconceived notions of what a Rodney film 'should be' and instead approach this as a human story where the wisecracks are merely incidental, you'll really enjoy it. This is Rodney, the real man, not the performer. And I consider it a real treat to catch a glimpse of his human side.

Some of the gags are predictable or outright silly, but then again, can't we say the same thing about a classic Jimmy Stewart comedy? I can't stress enough how much this film reminds me of those bygone movies, right down to the dreamy cinematography (lots of crane shots) and manufactured studio sets (like in the opening scene of a city block on a rainy night: pure nostalgia). I think a lot of care went into establishing this old-timey vibe. It's quite the opposite of the slick & hip "Back to School" (which I loved, by the way). "The 4th Tenor" is more like an 80s Hugh Grant romantic comedy but instead of the face of prettyboy Hugh & his classic British accent, we get the mug of Rodney Dangerfield & his Brooklyn twang. If that image doesn't scare you off, then I think you'll really enjoy the flick.