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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Screenwriting
Mario Lanza biopic?
I've just watched a fascinating TV documentary about an Australian TV features director who's thrown up his job and (apparently) sunk a good deal of his own money into trying to mount a biopic of Mario Lanza. The script - by the guy's son, his first screenplay ("but I've wanted to write one ever since I was a kid") - centres on an old and pretty much discredited theory, that Lanza was murdered by the Mafia. These two have spent something like ten years trying to get the project off the ground, and have finally reached the stage of having hired a director, Simon Langton from the UK (lots of TV miniseries under his belt and clearly knows what he's talking about), and recording a (rather good) operatic tenor and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a selection of Lanza hits, presumably for their eventual actor to mime to.
The tone of the documentary was very neutral, but there were more than a few hints that the whole thing was never going to get off the ground (the director was shown being carefully diplomatic about the script - "Maybe it could do with just a bit more work"). I just wondered if anyone here had come across this (the title is apparently simply "Lanza") and knows anything about it?
Bert
www.bertcoules.co.uk
The tone of the documentary was very neutral, but there were more than a few hints that the whole thing was never going to get off the ground (the director was shown being carefully diplomatic about the script - "Maybe it could do with just a bit more work"). I just wondered if anyone here had come across this (the title is apparently simply "Lanza") and knows anything about it?
Bert
www.bertcoules.co.uk
Top answer
[nq:1]I've just watched a fascinating TV documentary about an Australian TV features director who's thrown up his job and (apparently) ... [/nq] Is this anything to do with it? html Barton Fink got written very quickly, in about three weeks.
- [nq:1]I've just watched a fascinating TV documentary about an Australian TV features director who's thrown up his job and (apparently) ...
- [/nq] Is this anything to do with it?
- html Barton Fink got written very quickly, in about three weeks.
- I don't know what that means.
- Joel Coen
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27 Answers
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[nq:1]I've just watched a fascinating TV documentary about an Australian TV features director who's thrown up his job and (apparently) ... just wondered if anyone here had come across this (the title is apparently simply "Lanza") and knows anything about it?[/nq]
Is this anything to do with it?
http://
Is this anything to do with it?
http://
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[nq:1]Is this anything to do with it? http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/lanza.html[/nq]
That is the very documentary. I hadn't realised it was nearly six years old; it doesn't look as though the feature is any further advanced, does it?
Bert
www.bertcoules.co.uk
That is the very documentary. I hadn't realised it was nearly six years old; it doesn't look as though the feature is any further advanced, does it?
Bert
www.bertcoules.co.uk
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[nq:2]Is this anything to do with it? http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/lanza.html[/nq]
[nq:1]That is the very documentary. I hadn't realised it was nearly six years old; it doesn't look as though the feature is any further advanced, does it? Bert www.bertcoules.co.uk[/nq]
Well, at $250.00 U.S.
[nq:1]That is the very documentary. I hadn't realised it was nearly six years old; it doesn't look as though the feature is any further advanced, does it? Bert www.bertcoules.co.uk[/nq]
Well, at $250.00 U.S.
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[nq:1]Well, at $250.00 U.S. to buy a copy, and $85.00 a pop to rent it, I doubt very much they're going to have a runaway hit on their hands. Looks like it's "in the can" and very likely to stay there![/nq]
I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, with the planned feature film which is its subject. The documentar
I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, with the planned feature film which is its subject. The documentar
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[nq:2]Well, at $250.00 U.S. to buy a copy, and $85.00 ... it's "in the can" and very likely to stay there![/nq]
[nq:1]I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, ... alas, doesn't seem to have got any further advanced than it was six years ago when the documentary was made.[/nq]
I just can't see any major intere
[nq:1]I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, ... alas, doesn't seem to have got any further advanced than it was six years ago when the documentary was made.[/nq]
I just can't see any major intere
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[nq:1]I just can't see any major interest in a bio of Lanza, even if he was rubbed out by the mob.[/nq]
I think his core story is interesting of itself - a natural talent whose burning ambitions in one area (the opera stage) were shoved aside rather against his will when he was discovered by Meyer and whisked off to Hollywood, where he proceeded to slowly destroy himself while at the same time
I think his core story is interesting of itself - a natural talent whose burning ambitions in one area (the opera stage) were shoved aside rather against his will when he was discovered by Meyer and whisked off to Hollywood, where he proceeded to slowly destroy himself while at the same time
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[nq:2]I just can't see any major interest in a bio of Lanza, even if he was rubbed out by the mob.[/nq]
[nq:1]I think his core story is interesting of itself - a natural talent whose burning ambitions in one area (the ... and foremost, real-life aspect a long way behind. That might get over the problem that Lanza isn't particularly well-known today.[/nq]
My gut instinct?
Not really.
[nq:1]I think his core story is interesting of itself - a natural talent whose burning ambitions in one area (the ... and foremost, real-life aspect a long way behind. That might get over the problem that Lanza isn't particularly well-known today.[/nq]
My gut instinct?
Not really.
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Haven't seen it nor know nothing about it - I see you're in the UK... was this on UK TV Documentary or the Biography Channel or something? I really should check those channels more often... Too often am I drawn to Film Four or BBC Four..
If you're a fan, you must see a biopic of Enrico Caruso STARRING Mario Lanza - film is from 1951
If you're a fan, you must see a biopic of Enrico Caruso STARRING Mario Lanza - film is from 1951
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[nq:2]Well, at $250.00 U.S. to buy a copy, and $85.00 ... it's "in the can" and very likely to stay there![/nq]
[nq:1]I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, ... seem to have got any further advanced than it was six years ago when the documentary was made. Bert www.bertcoules.co.uk[/nq]
Perhaps that explains
[nq:1]I think you're confusing the documentary, which is indeed in the can and which indeed retails for those exorbitant prices, ... seem to have got any further advanced than it was six years ago when the documentary was made. Bert www.bertcoules.co.uk[/nq]
Perhaps that explains
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[nq:2]I think his core story is interesting of itself - ... get over the problem that Lanza isn't particularly well-known today.[/nq]
[nq:1]My gut instinct? Not really. I'm not saying your take is inaccurate, just that there is something very uncommercial about ... just not fashionable or ripe for a revival of interest. Plus, there are more interesting bios waiting to be made.[/nq]
There w
[nq:1]My gut instinct? Not really. I'm not saying your take is inaccurate, just that there is something very uncommercial about ... just not fashionable or ripe for a revival of interest. Plus, there are more interesting bios waiting to be made.[/nq]
There w
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