"The Great Caruso" is a film that I am glad I hadn't watched until now. This is because only recently have I learned to appreciate opera and after attending several, I was ready to appreciate a movie about opera much more than I might have been a decade ago. Now this does not mean you must love opera to enjoy the film...but it is a tough sell if you aren't an opera fan.

Because the film was made by MGM in 1951, it isn't surprising that the film gets the full, glossy MGM treatment...with bright Technicolor, a very nice and capable cast and it looks great.

Now this is not to say the film is perfect. As a history teacher, I realized early on that the story on the screen was NOT exactly the real life of Caruso. Too often, films take great liberties in order to make the story more cinematic...and in this case the Caruso family even sued (successfully) because the details were often wrong in the movie. I did some reading and a HUGE problem with the film is that it ignores a long-lasting unmarried relationship which produced four children and is never mentioned in the movie!! The general gist is correct...and even Caruso's son (from this previous relationship) later admitted that he loved the film.

Mario Lanza is quite good in the lead and it's probably his best or one of his best films. He's also likable and it's a real shame he died so young, as he is excellent here.

Overall, well worth watching, particularly if you like opera, but not exactly Caruso's real life biography...more a glossy, MGM-style version of it.