SpoilerWhile watching this film I was struck by the fanciful idea that this is really about health care in Italy in the late 1950s. Here we see Mario Lanza raising money for a deaf girl's operation by performing in a stunning series of operas. I suppose a lucky patient would have to be an attractive, virginal girl like the one in this film. Then I recalled that Mario was often called upon in real life to raise money for charities in this way. I began to think this must have been how health care evolved in Italy. With Mario's untimely death- some claim by the Mafia because illness caused him to miss a concert he had promised to give-some other system had to replace him.The film itself is an excellent opportunity to witness Mario's rapturous tenor in a variety of roles -Canio,Radames,Otelo among others. The locations are gloriously picturesque. The copy I saw was actually dubbed in German which made it more interesting.

For the First Time is a very beautiful movie worthy of a Lanza. We saw it when we were beginning to see the difference between the birds and the bees.¨For the first time, for the first time, I'm in love...¨ After that, all of us pre-teeners were trying to do a Lanza. Ít is extremely hard to find this kind of movie nowadays. The hundreds of million dollars needed to make a movie like this exceeds all our expectations, and the results often leave us frustrated, disgusted and disappointed. Maybe I'm down with Norman Desmond Syndrome, but I prefer the movies of the yesteryear, like this one. It is said that before one kicks the bucket, even if one is sick, one looks good. Eeriely, this is so with Mario Lanza. He gives his all here, and unsurprisingly so. After the decade of the fifties, gone forever is the Golden age of Hollywood when art is done for art's sake. Then came the Beatniks and the Hippies and the GenXers. Suddenly we are left with performers who challenge the lucidity of Ms. Anita Bryant and the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Our so-called movie moguls nowadays sadly lack the will to tap the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, José Carreras or Andreas Bocelli. O Sole Mio seems to belong to another dimension. Ubinam gentium sumus?

From the beautiful backdrop of Capri, to the enormous, passionate ringing voice of Mario Lanza, this is a must see movie for one and all.Mario is in wonderful voice, and looks every bit the part of an opera singer hiding incognito. The scene where he sings "Come Prima ("For the First Time") is a showstopper, and you can almost feel the warm sunlight in your face and the salt air in your lungs as you listen to the one true voice known as Mario Lanza, singing to the swooning girls and admiring men. Don't miss this one!

He was really coming into his own in this film, it was released just before he died in 1959 at the tragically young age of 38, murdered (some say) by the Italian mafia, but most likely a heart attack, But anyway in this movie he could even sing a "calypso/rock n roll" in it with the "pineapple pickers" number, as well as his outstanding operatic music too, He was so truly good and believable in this his last movie, helped by a wonderful supporting cast including Kurt Kasner and Zsa Zsa Gabor that helped him with his role tremendously as Tony Costa, Mario was so handsome, a sexy man Yes, indeed Mario shines through this movie.His scene where he sings "Come Prima ("For the First Time") is a top moment indeed!, Aside from the movie's vocal strengths, what also helps save the film is the tender love story between Lanza and his delightful co-star, Johanna Von Koczian. Their flowering love for each other quickly though it develops, seems convincing and heartfelt, you believe they do love one another and without question...yes, Mario Lanza will live forever in this motion picture vehicle from the last year of the 1950's!