The Great Caruso The Great Caruso The Great Caruso is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and starring Mario Lanza as the great operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. It was directed by Richard Thorpe, and produced by Joe Pasternak, with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer, from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green, and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg. Costume design was by Helen Rose and Gile Steele. The film is a highly fictionalized biography of the life of Caruso. The film also features a large number of Metropolitan Opera stars, notably sopranos Teresa
Enrico Caruso was preserved in a glass sarcophagus at Del Pianto Cemetery in Naples for mourners to view. In 1929, Dorothy Caruso had his remains sealed permanently in an ornate stone tomb. Caruso's 25-year career, stretching from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances at the New York Metropolitan Opera before he died at the age of 48. Thanks in part to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous personalities of his day and his fame has endured to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Beyond records, Caruso's name became