Mr Imperium ** (1951, Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan, Cedric Hardwicke. Debbie Reynolds) – Classic Movie Review 13,439

MGM’s lavish, lighter-than-air 1951 Technicolor romantic musical drama film Mr Imperium stars Lana Turner and Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza.

Co-writer/ director Don Hartman’s lighter-than-air 1951 MGM Technicolor musical romance drama film Mr Imperium, oddly enough tells the story of Mr Imperium — played by the impressive Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza. He is a European blue-blood in exile, who 12 years later in Palm Springs tries to rekindle the embers of lost love with a Hollywood film star, Fredda Barlo (Lana Turner).

The story is negligible, and the film is afflicted by the MGM studio’s nervous cutting and insistence on obsessive rewriting, which has done the exact opposite of the intended improvement.

Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892 – May 9, 1957).

But Pinza’s voice is some compensation and so is the gorgeous Turner, plus the enjoyable performances of Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan, Cedric Hardwicke and a young Debbie Reynolds on her way up at MGM. Trudy Erwin provides Turner’s singing voice.

Also in the cast are Ann Codee, Chick Chandler, Cliff Clark, Mae Clarke, Mitchell Lewis, Tony Marlo, Allan Ray, Dick Simmons, Giacomo Spadoni, Bobby Troup, Joseph Vitale, Arthur Walsh and Wilson Wood.

Don Hartman writes the screenplay with Edwin H Knopf based on the latter’s play.

The score is composed by Bronisław Kaper.

In the UK the title was changed to You Belong to My Heart.

Even the lavish production, Technicolor and Lana Turner couldn’t save it, and it was relegated to playing as a support feature. The film was a box-office bomb, with a loss of $1,399,000, nearly as much as its $1,530,000 budget, and MGM cancelled Ezio Pinza’s contract. MGM’s second film with Ezio Pinza, Strictly Dishonorable, was released first, and also flopped.

The film entered the public domain in the US in 1979 because MGM failed to renew the copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.

Lana Turner as Fredda Barlo.

The cast

The cast are Lana Turner as Fredda Barlo, Ezio Pinza as Mr Imperium, Marjorie Main as Mrs Cabot, Barry Sullivan as Paul Hunter, Cedric Hardwicke as Bernand, Debbie Reynolds as Gwen, Ann Codee as Anna Pelan, Chick Chandler, Cliff Clark, Mae Clarke, Mitchell Lewis, Tony Marlo, Allan Ray, Dick Simmons, Giacomo Spadoni, Bobby Troup, Joseph Vitale, Arthur Walsh, Wilson Wood, and The Guadalajara Trio.

Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892 – May 9, 1957).

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,439

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