For the First Time

For the First Time is tenor star Mario Lanza's final film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1959. Filmed on location in 1958 in Capri, Salzburg, Berlin and at the Rome Opera House, the film told the sentimental story of an operatic tenor who finds love for the first time with a young German woman, who happens to be deaf. The film was directed by Rudolph Mate, and featured Kurt Kasznar and Zsa Zsa Gabor in supporting roles. Critics singled out Lanza's singing of "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci and the Death Scene from Otello for special praise, with Howard Thompson of The New York Times calling it the tenor's "most disarming vehicle in years."