Tuesday, April 9, 2019

By the Gods!

Luciano Della Marra, as Radames, in AIDA (1953)

This is a film adaptation of the famous Opera. This was Luciano's only film role (a one-hit-wonder?). In this scene, he faces some sort of judgment. Is it possible to show this film today, in 2019? None of the actors sing, with voices provided by real opera singers, and the addition of many actors in 'blackface', including Sophia Loren, and I have to wonder if this production will be forever buried. The costume Luciano is wearing is interesting. I haven't seen many of these in PEPLUM films. Just variations of it. I wonder if this kind of garb has an official name. The set are spectacular (big) in this studio bound production but they're very kitschy too. I like watching this film because it's relaxing. Great music, interesting production and outdated concepts. Fascinating as a relic of a different time.


1 comment:

Scott Ochiltree said...

Aids (1953) is good fun, precisely because it is one of the most campy of all operas.