For the First Time (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Rudolph MatéRelease Date(s)
1959 (January 27, 2026)Studio(s)
Metro-Goldywn-Mayer (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C
Review
Mario Lanza, the famous operatic tenor, starred in movie musicals between 1949 and 1959. As a young man in 1947, he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl. MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer was so impressed by his singing, he signed Lanza to a seven-year contract. Lanza made only seven films, each showcasing his voice in scripts that would give him plenty of opportunity to sing. For the First Time, Lanza’s last film, combines the story of an ambitious performer with a romance in a picturesque location.
The film begins with a black-tie audience awaiting the opening curtain of Rigoletto at the Vienna Opera House. The star, Tony Costa (Lanza), is nowhere to be found and the audience is getting impatient. Eventually, they leave the theater, grumbling. Only his friend Countess Gloria De Vadnuz (Zsa Zsa Gabor) remains, willing to wait for him, and reprimanding the others for not forgiving his artistic temperament.
When it’s discovered that Tony was outside, in the rain, standing on a taxi and serenading fans who were unable to get tickets to the sold-out performance, the ticket holders are furious. Manager Ladislas Tabory (Kurt Kaszner) suggests Tony keep a low profile and get out of town until the ill will and bad press dies down. The Countess invites him to stay at her villa in Capri.
At a party in Capri organized by the Countess, Tony is mobbed by girls who beg him to sing. He obliges with Come Prima (For the First Time) and transfixes his adoring audience. Only one girl seems uninterested and reads a book while he sings. She’s Christa (Johanna von Koczian), a beautiful young woman deafened at age five by a bomb explosion during World War II. Her father tells Tony that she’s been to many doctors but none believed that her hearing could be restored. Christa and Tony spend time together in Capri amid the island’s natural beauty and they fall in love. Tony proposes to her, but she will accept only if she can hear him sing.
Determined to find a specialist who will perform the delicate surgery, Tony asks Ladislas to book concerts in cities where the greatest surgeons have their practices. Christa will accompany him and be examined at each stop. Doctors they approach refuse to operate because the surgery is extremely risky until Dr. Bessart (Walter Rilla) in Salzburg, emphasizing the low probability of success, accepts the patient.
The tour provides a reason for Lanza’s Tony to sing arias from Rigoletto (La donna e mobile), I Pagliacci (Vesta la guibba), Otello (the death scene), Cosi Fan Tutti (Laughing Song Trio) and Aida (Ritorna vincitor!). Other songs he performs include O Sole Mio and Schubert’s Ave Maria.
On a lighter note, he joins locals, stein in hand, belting out a Bavarian beer song and the folk/soft rock Pineapple Pickers.
Lanza’s acting is uneven in For the First Time. In some scenes, he looks relaxed and natural. But in others, his affectation is obvious. Either the actor didn’t care enough to take direction or the director was intimidated by Lanza’s stature. In either case, Lanza frequently overacts to the point of distraction, his line readings amateurish. When he’s on a stage, singing arias, he’s in his element and truly shines. The producers knew this and made sure there were plenty of opportunities for audiences to hear his unique voice.
As Christa, German-born Johanna von Koczian is sweet, with a lovely smile, but her acting is barely passable. Her dramatic moments never convince, especially when she presents Tony with her emotional declaration that she won’t marry unless she can hear him sing. The script here is also problematic. Though it may sound romantic, why should Christa want her inability to hear rob her of a happy marriage?
As the Countess, Zsa Zsa Gabor, effervescent and beautiful as ever, is merely the means to get Tony to Capri and to move the plot forward. She has a few scenes and wears sumptuous gowns, but other than adding glamor and name value to the cast, she’s wasted in a tepid supporting role.
The opera sequences are elaborately staged by director Rudolph Maté, with Lanza in costumes appropriate to each role. Set design and costumes are lush and rich-looking. This appears to be where a sizable part of the production budget went along with the costs of location shooting. Filming away from the studio, especially in foreign countries, was fairly new at the time. With television competing for viewers’ attention, movies were increasingly made in color, widescreen, and took viewers to foreign locations at a time when most Americans didn’t often travel abroad. Three Coins in the Fountain pioneered this trend with its breathtaking views of Rome. For the First Time makes Capri an important “character’ in the narrative.
For the First Time was shot by director of photography Aldo Tonti on 35mm film in the Technirama process, processed by Technicolor, Hollywood, and presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Warner Archive brings the film to Blu-ray from a new 6K scan of the original Technirama camera negative. The images are sharp and well defined. The color palette is dominated by vivid hues, with Zsa Zsa Gabor’s dresses mostly in vibrant red, Mario Lanza’s costumes in a range of golds, blues, and reds, and bright tones in a party sequence especially striking. Tonti’s cinematography of the Capri locations is lovely, adding to the story’s romantic mood and often resembling picture post cards.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Kurt Kaszner speaks with a slight accent, as does Zsa Zsa Gabor. Lanza’s tenor is beautifully rendered under the direction of George Stoll. Italian composer/conductor Carlo Sabina conducted Lanza on three songs, Come Prima, O Mon Amour, and O Sole Mio. The sound mix is seamless, with music, dialogue, and sound effects nicely balanced. Sound effects include a heavy downpour, car engines, ambient party noise, and bodies being pummeled in a barroom brawl. A stereo soundtrack would have added additional vibrance to the arias, but the existing soundtrack still captures Lanza’s vocals in all their glory.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- Long-Haired Hare (7:36)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:11)
Long-Haired Hare – Directed by Chuck Jones, this 1949 Looney Tunes Technicolor cartoon has Bugs Bunny playing various instruments to distract opera singer Giovanni Jones as he tries to practice for his concert at the Hollywood Bowl that evening. After being attacked by Giovanni each time he’s disturbed, Bugs decides to get revenge by heckling him during his concert. The cartoon features caricatures of Groucho Marx and Leopold Stokowski. The singing voice of Jones is provided by opera singer Nicolai Shutorov. Voice characterizations are supplied by Mel Blanc.
For the First Time has some beautifully staged excerpts from famous operas—the film’s prime appeal—performed by Mario Lanza, who was at the end of a whirlwind decade of worldwide popularity. The screenplay by Andrew Solt is simply a way to tie together a series of musical performances. The dialogue lacks wit and is often cumbersome, and Lanza’s uneven line readings don’t help to make it sound natural. When you hear Lanza sing, you know why his extraordinary voice is what has defined his legacy. For the First Time is unfortunately a weak farewell for what would be Lanza’s final screen appearance. He died less than two months after the release of the film.
- Dennis Seuling