(9 of 9)
Caught in a Dream. Something more than his overnight success and riches seems to bind Lanza to Hollywood. Caught in the daydream of a small boy, he is not ready to take up the role of the mature artist, the man from whom people have come to accept—and expect—a brilliant performance. It is easier to think of himself as a prodigy borne on the shoulders of the fans; every time he opens his mouth, he wants someone to be hearing his voice incredulously for the first fracturing time.
If he has misgivings, Lanza can rationalize them by reflecting that he is making a vast public more opera-conscious than ever before. If the prophets of doom are right, and his big voice begins to slip, he may still enjoy a long movie career; MGM's expert sound technicians, who now do virtually no tampering with Lanza's voice, can work wonders with their electronic gadgets. And if the scripts seem anticlimactic after The Great Caruso, he can always look ahead to the all-fracturing day when some smart producer will star Mario Lanza, in The Great Lanza.