Serenade

If you like Mario Lanza, you'll love this film because he does 15 tunes and occupies about half the screen time. The James M. Cain story that inspired the film concerns a homosexual relationship between a singer and his benefactor, but SERENADE's screenplay opts for a much less controversial romance between Damon Vincenti (Lanza), who toils in a California vineyard, and wealthy Kendall Hale (Joan Fontaine), who hears him singing and makes him an opera star. Ever the manipulative dilettante, Kendall has just finished toying with a boxer and, growing bored with Damon, who is crazy about her, she deserts him for a sculptor. His heart broken, Damon blows his big chance...