Tonight We Sing *** (1953, David Wayne, Anne Bancroft, Ezio Pinza) – Classic Movie Review 13,441

Mitchell Leisen’s 1953 musical film Tonight We Sing is a biopic of celebrated impresario Sol Hurok based on his 1946 autobiography, and stars David Wayne, Anne Bancroft and Ezio Pinza, Roberta Peters, Tamara Toumanova and Isaac Stern.

Director Mitchell Leisen’s 1953 Technicolor musical film Tonight We Sing is a biopic of celebrated impresario Sol Hurok based on the 1946 autobiographical book Impresario by Hurok himself and Ruth Goode, and stars David Wayne, Anne Bancroft and Ezio Pinza, along with Roberta Peters, Tamara Toumanova, Isaac Stern, Mikhail Rasumny, and Steven Geray.

This cobbled-together, vaporous musical biopic of impresario Sol Hurok (David Wayne) is mainly an excuse for the impressive music performances, notably by Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza as Russian basso Feodor Chaliapin, American coloratura soprano Roberta Peters as Elsa Valdine, and celebrated American violinist Isaac Stern as Belgian virtuoso violinist Eugene Ysaye [Eugène Ysaÿe], plus dancer Tamara Toumanova as the great Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova.

The young Anne Bancroft adds a dash of class even in an unrewarding, under-written role as Sol Hurok’s long-suffering wife Emma, while Tamara Toumanova especially pleases in her role as Pavlova, performing in three ballet scenes in the film.

Tonight We Sing features performances of works from the classical composers Chopin, Gounod, Kreisler, Leoncavallo, Mussorgsky, Puccini, Rubinstein, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Verdi and Wieniawski.

And there are musical extracts with arias, duets and staged scenes from the operas Faust (by Gounod), Boris Godunov [Borís Goudonov] (by Mussorgsky), Madama Butterfly (by Puccini), The Carnival of the Animals (by Saint-Saëns) and La Traviata (by Verdi).

They are impressively performed. But, even so, the film is perhaps most valuable simply for the iconic appearances of its legendary names.

The screenplay by Harry Kurnitz and George Oppenheimer, is from a book by Sol Hurok himself and Ruth Goode.

Ruth Goode, who helped Sol Hurok write his 1946 autobiography Impresario, once served as Hurok’s press agent. The film credits Hurok as technical advisor, a regular practice with this kind of biopic.

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

Strictly Dishonorable (1951) was MGM’s second film with Ezio Pinza, but released first, and flopped, recording a loss of $664,000. After Mr Imperium (1951) also bombed, MGM cancelled Ezio Pinza’s contract. Pinza went on to make only one more film, Tonight We Sing (1953), this time for 20th Century Fox. He had previously appeared as himself in the 1947 film Carnegie Hall.

Ezio Pinza (May 18, 1892 – May 9, 1957) enjoyed 22 seasons at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and 20 seasons from 1927 to 1948 at the San Francisco Opera, He also sang to great acclaim at La Scala, Milan, and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

The cast

The cast are David Wayne as Sol Hurok, Ezio Pinza as Feodor Chaliapin, Roberta Peters as Elsa Valdine, Anne Bancroft as Emma Hurok, Tamara Toumanova as Anna Pavlova, Isaac Stern as Eugène Ysaÿe, Byron Palmer as Gregory Lawrence (singing voice of tenor Jan Peerce). Oskar Karlweis as Benjamin Golder, Mikhail Rasumny as Nicolai, Steven Geray as Prager, Walter Woolf King as Gritti, Lela Bliss as Mrs Granek, Harry Hayden as Mr Granek, Oscar Beregi as Dr Markoff, Isabel Withers as Emma’s maid, Dudley Dickerson as Porter, George E Stone as Impresario, Byron Palmer as Gregory Lawrence, Raymond Largay as Charles Dillingham, Eda Reiss Merin as Benjamin’s daughter, Oscar Karlweis as Benjamin Golder, Serge Perrault as Allbrecht, John Meek as Sol Hurok age 10, and Russell Cantor as Eddie Golder.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,441

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