Aida (1953)

Aida, featuring the actress Sophia Loren, is a film adaptation of a theatre performance written by Verdi. The plot revolves around the character Radames who falls in love with what he ... See full summary »

Director:

Clemente Fracassi

Writers:

Clemente Fracassi (screenplay), Antonio Ghislanzoni (based on the libretto by)

Stars:

Sophia Loren, Renata Tebaldi, Lois Maxwell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sophia Loren	...	Aida
Renata Tebaldi	...	Aida (singing voice)
Lois Maxwell	...	Amneris
Ebe Stignani	...	Amneris (singing voice)
Luciano Della Marra	...	Radamès
Giuseppe Campora	...	Radamès (singing voice)
Afro Poli	...	Amonasro
Gino Bechi	...	Amonasro (singing voice)
Antonio Cassinelli	...	Ramfis
Giulio Neri	...	Ramfis (singing voice)
Enrico Formichi	...	Il Faraone [The Pharaoh]
Domenico Balini	...	Il messagero
Paolo Caroli	...	Il messagero (singing voice)
Marisa Valenti	...	Un'ancella
Giovanna Russo	...	Un'ancella (voice)

Storyline

Aida, featuring the actress Sophia Loren, is a film adaptation of a theatre performance written by Verdi. The plot revolves around the character Radames who falls in love with what he thinks is a slave in a country his armies has conquered. The young woman is actually the daughter of the leader he ousted.

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Plot Keywords:

based on opera | lip synching | character name in title | 

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Taglines:

Surging brilliantly beyond the confines of the stage - its glorious arias sung by the great operatic voices of our age - its powerful drama portrayed by a brilliant cast... AIDA is THE film event of the decade!

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Genres:

Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

8 October 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aida

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oscar Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Ferraniacolor: negatives) Color (Technicolor: prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Renata Tebaldi was originally going to play Aida herself, but backed out.

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Connections

Version of Aida (1992)

User Reviews

Disappointing

This was a film I really wanted to love, I adore Verdi's opera and Renata Tebaldi, Ebe Stignani and Gino Becchi a great deal. This Aida was interesting in a sense for historical value, but it didn't work for me.

Granted, despite the score being cut/shortened, the music is brilliant. Renata Tebaldi sings Aida absolutely wonderfully, Ebe Stignani is a compelling Amneris and Gino Becchi a powerful Amonasro. Rhadames is sung very nicely too, Guilio Neri is one of the better Ramfis's I've heard and Sophia Loren looks beautiful and gives her all to what she's got.

However, the film does look dated. The costumes are alright, but the sets in alternative to grand are rather cheesy and the editing and picture quality look tacky. Despite such amazing music and singing, the film feels rather dull, some of the best dramatic elements are either cut or badly underplayed especially the Bass-Tenor chorus ensemble, the choreography looks unimaginative, the lip-synching is pretty much a disaster with the lip movements rarely being in sync to the singing, and there are some unnecessary added scenes too which add nothing to the story. The on-screen acting apart from Loren and perhaps Afro Poli is lacking too, Rhadames is bland and seemingly unheroic, but Lois Maxwell fares worse, her acting throughout is very awkward.

All in all, rather disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox