Yes, Giorgio
Yes, Giorgio | |
---|---|
Original movie poster | |
Directed by | Franklin J. Schaffner |
Produced by | Peter Fetterman |
Written by |
Anne Piper Norman Steinberg |
Starring | |
Music by | Michael J. Lewis |
Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
Edited by | Michael F. Anderson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | MGM/UA Entertainment Company |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Language |
English Italian |
Budget | $19 million |
Box office | $2,279,543 (US)[1] |
Yes, Giorgio is a 1982 musical/comedy film starring Luciano Pavarotti, his only venture into film acting. The film is based on the novel by Anne Piper.
Plot
Luciano Pavarotti plays a world-famous Italian tenor opera singer by the name of Giorgio Fini. While in Boston for a concert Fini gets a phone call asking him to perform at The Met. The call brings up bad memories from his disastrous appearance there seven years earlier. It scares him to the point where he cannot sing at rehearsal. Everyone panics thinking he is losing his voice.
His business manager (Eddie Albert) has a female throat specialist Pamela Taylor, played by Kathryn Harrold, look Fini over. Fini at first refuses believing her not to be a doctor but "a nurse" because she is a woman. After being scared into seeing her by his manager, she immediately detects that the problem is psychological not physical. Taylor makes up a serious-sounding name for the condition and gives Fini a shot to cure it (which she reveals to Fini's business manager is harmless vitamin B12). After reacting to the prick of the needle, Fini instantly gets his voice back and proceeds to sing the following day at the Hatch Shell in Boston.
Fini is immediately physically attracted to Taylor, and even though he is married with two children, she agrees to go out on a dinner date. The date does not go well, but Fini is persistent, visiting the hospital where Dr. Taylor works. His quick thinking helps calm a scared child getting ready for surgery to remove his tonsils, promising ice cream which he delivers after the surgery. Impressed by his handling of the children, she agrees to another date. She eventually becomes his traveling companion. After spending a romantic week in San Francisco and the wine country visiting friends of Fini, the two eventually fall in love. He gains the confidence through his love for her to agree to perform at the Met in the Giacomo Puccini opera Turandot. However, because Fini refuses to leave his wife, Taylor throws him a kiss and leaves the Met while Fini is singing "Nessun Dorma" to her.
Main cast
- Luciano Pavarotti ... Giorgio Fini
- Kathryn Harrold ... Pamela Taylor
- Eddie Albert ... Henry Pollack
- Paola Borboni ... Sister Theresa
- James Hong ... Kwan
- Beulah Quo ... Mei Ling
- Norman Steinberg ... Dr. Barmen
- Rod Colbin ... Ted Mullane
- Kathryn Fuller ... Faye Kennedy
- Joseph Mascolo ... Dominic Giordano
- Karen Kondazian ... Francesca Giordano
- Leona Mitchell ... Herself
- Kurt Adler ... Himself
- Emerson Buckley ... Himself
- Alexander Courage ... Conductor, Turandot
Awards and nominations
The song "If We Were in Love" was written by John Williams for the movie, and was nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Song and nominated for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture by the Golden Globes. Pavarotti was nominated by the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Actor and Worst New Star as well as a nominee for Worst Screenplay for Norman Steinberg.
Reception
The movie opened to negative reviews and is considered Schaffner's weakest film. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert selected the film as one of the worst of the year in a 1982 episode of Sneak Previews.[2]
References
- ↑ "Yes, Giorgio (1982)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
- ↑ Sneak Previews: Worst of 1982
External links
- Yes, Giorgio at the Internet Movie Database
- Yes, Giorgio at the TCM Movie Database
- Yes, Giorgio at AllMovie
- Yes, Giorgio at Box Office Mojo
- Yes, Giorgio at Rotten Tomatoes