That Midnight Kiss (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Sep 23, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Norman TaurogRelease Date(s)
1949 (August 26, 2025)Studio(s)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
MGM cornered the market on Technicolor musicals, with the best musical performers of the era under contract, among them Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. In 1949, MGM presented a hot new tenor, Mario Lanza, in his first motion picture, That Midnight Kiss.
Soprano Prudence Budell (Kathryn Grayson) is back in her hometown of Philadelphia after five years of operatic training in the best European music schools. Her wealthy grandmother, arts patron Abigail Trent Budell (Ethel Barrymore), is sponsoring a new opera company under the direction of Jose Iturbi (playing himself), in hopes that the maestro will find Prudence worthy to headline an opera.
For box office insurance, the company engages famous tenor Guido Russino Betelli (Thomas Gomez) to star as her character’s love interest. Betelli is middle-aged, corpulent, self-important, and inconsiderate. During rehearsals, Prudence can’t bring herself to look at him. She apologizes but still can’t get into the mood of the opera’s story with an overstuffed leading man who ostentatiously clears his throat while she sings and looks old enough to be her father.
When Prudence chances upon Italian-American truck driver Johnny Donnetti (Mario Lanza) singing opera, she’s transfixed by his brilliant tenor and handsome looks, and persuades Iturbi to give him an audition. There’s instant chemistry between Prudence and Johnny and, in keeping with the Hollywood cliche, they fall in love. Iturbi is so impressed with Johnny’s and fed up with Betelli’s boorish behavior that he intends to boot Betelli and hire the newcomer in his place.
Prudence excitedly visits Johnny at work to tell him the good news. She meets the trucking company’s secretary, Mary (Marjorie Reynolds), and she’s led to believe Johnny’s in love with her. Misunderstandings ensue for a while but everything gets straightened out in time for the lush, colorful finale. The conflicts are easily resolved and provide just enough drama to balance the musical numbers.
The plot of That Midnight Kiss is wafer thin and the film is notable today only as the launching pad for the Hollywood career of Mario Lanza. It’s a perfect showcase for him. The camera registers his bright personality and good looks. His singing is beautiful. Grayson is the star but it’s Lanza you remember, with his glorious tenor and boy-next-door charm.
Comedy is provided by Keenan Wynn as Johnny’s protective work buddy Artie, Jules Munshin as a put-upon opera company employee, Thomas Gomez as blustery Betelli, and J. Carroll Naish as Johnny’s jovial father, a restaurateur eager to give forth with his own operatic excerpts at the drop of a hat. Arthur Treacher is largely wasted as a butler but makes the most of his few well-timed, withering lines. Ethel Barrymore looks regal as an old-money Philadelphia philanthropist, and Jose Iturbi looks stern and all business as the maestro mounting the opera.
The music is mostly classic opera and includes Lanza singing Celeste Aida, Donizetti’s Una Furtive Lagrima and Mama Mia Che Vo Sape from Cavalleria Rusticana. Grayson performs the Caro Nome aria from Rigoletto. Iturbi plays piano solos and joins with his concert pianist sister Amparo Iturbi in a rendition of Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. There’s also a nod to popular music with Grayson and Lanza’s duet on the beautiful Jerome Kern tune They Didn’t Believe Me, and an original song, Love Is Music, the big finale number.
Mario Lanza began studying to become a professional singer when he was 16. He appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947 and was signed by Louis B. Mayer to a seven-year contract. After That Midnight Kiss, he starred in The Toast of New Orleans, singing the hit song Be My Love. In 1951 he played his musical idol in The Great Caruso, which produced another hit song, The Loveliest Night of the Year. He enjoyed stardom for ten years, but overeating and alcohol abuse damaged his health and he died of a heart attack in 1959 at the age of 38.
That Midnight Kiss was shot by director of photography Robert Surtees on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The Blu-ray is a new 4K restoration sourced from the original Technicolor camera negative. In keeping with its high quality, the Warner Archive Collection has presented a pristine quality Blu-ray. Details are well delineated, such as the embroidery and buttons on Mario Lanza’s uniform, the trucking office, backstage items, patterns, and appliqués on Kathryn Grayson’s gowns, the Donnetti restaurant, and lavish production design in the big finale. Complexions are well rendered, with Grayson looking especially lovely in her close-ups. There are no imperfections to impair enjoyment. The color palette is rich, tending toward bright hues. Vibrant greens, reds, blues, and yellows give the film a storybook look. Black levels are deep and velvety. Rear projection is used when Johnny is driving his truck. High key lighting is incorporated for the film’s finale, when the stage is filled with dazzling costumes, beautiful chorus girls, and lush scenery.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. J. Carroll Naish’s Italian accent is believable but Thomas Gomez’s isn’t. Gomez tends to shout most of his dialogue to convey Betelli’s huge ego, and this becomes tiresome pretty quickly. The musical numbers sound rich, thanks to the MGM orchestra. It’s a shame that the soundtrack isn’t available in stereo, especially when music dominates the film.
Bonus material on the Blu-ray release from Warner Archive include the following:
- Musical Outtake: One Love of Mine (2:40)
- Senor Droopy (8:22)
- Heavenly Puss (7:51)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:39)
One Love of Mine – This duet is performed, in full costume, by Mario Lanza and Kathryn Grayson.
Senor Droopy – In this Technicolor MGM film from 1949, directed by Tex Avery, a bullfight contest between Droopy and the Wolf is staged at the Chili Bowl in Mexico. The winner will receive anything he wants, and both want a date with the Mexican actress Maria Elena “Lina” Romay, pictured on the cover of a magazine they’re holding. The bullfight involves plenty of sight gags as Droopy repeatedly regards the bull more as a nuisance than a danger.
Heavenly Puss – Directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, this 1949 Technicolor MGM cartoon stars Tom & Jerry. Running around after Jerry with frequent slapstick gags, Tom is killed when a piano falls on him. A golden staircase appears and Tom’s soul leaves his body and climbs up. The gatekeeper of Heaven, however, won’t admit him unless he gets Jerry to sign a “Certificate of Forgiveness.” If he fails, he will be banished to Hell, where Devil Spike awaits. Tom is given only one hour to get the document signed.
That Midnight Kiss fails to balance operatic performances sufficiently with more contemporary songs, perhaps rendering the film too “high brow” for the general public. Audiences flocked, however, to see and hear the new vocal phenomenon of Mario Lanza, despite the flimsy plot. The film seems to state that, if you have good voice and the right contacts, you’re a shoo-in as star. Nothing can be further from reality, but it’s an MGM musical, so you know that Johnny’s path to the top is assured.
- Dennis Seuling