Puccini (1953)

Produced in Italy in breathtaking Technicolor, this biographical story of Puccini (played by L'avventura's Gabriele Ferzetti) spans his creative life from early student days to the height ... See full summary »

Director:

Carmine Gallone

Writers:

Leonardo Benvenuti (story and screenplay), Carmine Gallone (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Gabriele Ferzetti, Märta Torén, Nadia Gray

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Giacomo Puccini
Märta Torén	...	Elvira Puccini
Nadia Gray	...	Cristina Vernini
Paolo Stoppa	...	Giocondo
Myriam Bru	...	Delia
Sergio Tofano	...	Giulio Ricordi
Mimo Billi	...	Fanelli
Silvio Bagolini	...	Gianni
Alessandro Fersen	...	Padre di Delia
Jacques Famery	...	Antonio Puccini
Carlo Duse	...	Boito
Piero Palermini	...	Fontana
Oscar Andriani	...	Giacosa
René Clermont	...	Illica
Mario Feliciani	...	Enrico

Storyline

Produced in Italy in breathtaking Technicolor, this biographical story of Puccini (played by L'avventura's Gabriele Ferzetti) spans his creative life from early student days to the height of success, including his early flop Madama Butterfly and his incomplete Turandot. Along the way he encounters three women who change his life, including a sexy, beautiful singer (Two for the Road's Nadia Gray) whom he drops for a small town girl (Sirocco's Marta Toren), and a servant girl who commits suicide over him. Well-selected excerpts from Manon, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Turandot are featured along with other Puccini music, including the voice of Beniamino Gigli. Sets, costumes and production values are first class, all sumptuously filmed by Claude Renoir.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | suicide | success | servant | musician | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Two Loves Had I... Puccini

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rizzoli Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Märta Torén spoke all of her lines in English during the production.

User Reviews

Beware of Image's DVD of "Puccini"

It's nearly impossible to judge the true merits of "Puccini", which appears to be an attractive, old-fashioned, Hollywood-style bio pic, due to the disastrous DVD mastering done by its U.S. distributor Image Entertainment. This usually reliable company has really dropped the ball this time by releasing a disc that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. Only the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers, in their prime, could have put together a mess of a disc like this, with scenes wildly out of order, characters appearing, disappearing, then meeting again, as if for the first time, scenes stopping in mid-sentence practically, only to resume some 10, 20, or 40 minutes later, characters aging, then growing young again, well, you get the idea. As for the film's memorable music, well, as lovely as it may be, the presentation of the famous operas now makes absolutely no sense at all. In the end, if you care anything about Puccini, the man and his music, you'll most likely be pulling the hair out of your head by the time the last curtain finally falls.

Now, whether the multitude of errors on this disc were human or technical or a combination of both, Image Entertainment needs to do something about them, and right away! This disc has been on the market for a couple of years already, and I'm rather surprised it hasn't been recalled before now. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be, because any company that would let this mess out the door likely doesn't care much about the product itself in the first place. After all, time is money, and Heaven forbid someone might actually have to waste it by watching the DVD before it's sent off to market. Too bad they didn't though because it's likely a pretty good flick, at that. Sweet-natured, old-fashioned, filled with some of the most beautiful music ever written. Maybe someday, somebody somewhere will care enough to sort this thing out, and the real "Puccini" will be available once again, but until then, all I can do is offer that old adage, "Buyer Beware!"