The Film of Luciano Pavarotti

The peerless voice of Luciano Pavarotti may be stilled, but his gift of music is guaranteed to continue thrilling generations to come in numerous recordings. So too will his legacy as a movie star long survive his passing, as we take a moment to look back and reflect on "The Film of Luciano Pavarotti."

In his 1995 autobiography, My World, Pavarotti recalled, "I suppose my biggest mistake was my one Hollywood film." Released in 1982, "Yes, Giorgio" was some corporate entity’s bad idea to revisit romantic comedies from decades gone by. Pavarotti played an Italian opera star (surprise!) whose American tour is sidelined when he loses his voice. Enter a young, attractive female throat specialist, cue the predictable friction and, of course, the inevitable romance.

For the role of the leading lady, a number of names were considered and, for various reasons, discarded, including Candice Bergen, Goldie Hawn, Sally Field, Sigourney Weaver, and finally Kate Jackson (of TV’s "Charlie’s Angels"), who allegedly dropped out of the picture after Cher advised her, "Never, never ever do a movie where you can’t get your arms around your romantic lead." The part of the feisty throat doc eventually went to Kathryn Harrold, best known at the time as Albert Brooks’ co-star in "Modern Romance," although, according to Pavarotti’s manager Herbert Breslin (who also served as the film’s executive producer), "Somebody on the set referred to her as a ‘comedy assassin.’"

The production ended up with a budget surpassing $19 million. Produced at the same time, Steven Spielberg’s "E.T." had a budget of $10.5 million. "Yes, Giorgio" brought in $1 million at the box office. In his book The King and I, Pavarotti’s aforementioned manager, Herbert Breslin, recounted how the public seemingly "wasn’t willing to buy the idea that Pavarotti could be a romantic hero. They just said, ‘How could that pretty woman fall for that big fat guy?’"

Pavarotti himself wrote, "At the time of shooting, I was very, very heavy, at my worst, I think - and I am sure that hurt the movie with the public."

His manager found such a reaction ironic. "In real life," Breslin noted, "women were falling for that big fat guy all the time. But audiences didn’t want to see it."

As for the critics, Pavarotti would later comment, "They murdered me." Roger Ebert’s TV partner at the time, the late Gene Siskel, slammed "Yes, Giorgio" as "one of the most unintentionally hilarious films I’ve ever seen," delivering an emphatic thumbs-down. Pavarotti was nominated in the Golden Raspberry Awards for both Worst Actor and Worst New Actor, and the film was nominated for Worst Screenplay. It should be noted, however, that the song "If We Were in Love" (co-written by Academy Award-winning John Williams) was nominated for an Oascar.

"Giorgio is fake," Pavarotti wrote, "not real. They tried to make him like me, but he was not really like me." Referring to the so-called comic highlight of the movie - a messy food fight in the kitchen between the star and Kathryn Harrold - he remarked, "I love to joke around, but I would never throw food at someone."

Pavarotti’s biggest dread as an actor was a fear of appearing as a buffoon. He didn’t want to look like he was making a fool of himself, and because of that, his restrained performance probably stifled the comedic possibilities. Worth mentioning, as well, is that director Franklin J. Schaffner, the man behind such ponderous sagas as "Patton," "Nicholas and Alexandra," and "Papillon," was not noted for a flair with light-hearted romps. If anyone, either man could be labeled a "comedy assassin."

Despite his claim that "the movie was not good," his then-wife Adua recalled how "he thoroughly enjoyed his part in it and found the filmmaking process stimulating." Pavarotti confessed in his autobiography, "In some ways, the movie was fun to make," comparing the experience to a vacation. "Will I try again?" he mused. "I am not sure, but maybe. . .I know one thing for sure: I will not throw food."