When Sir Lancelot sang, “If ever I Would Leave You” to his beloved Queen Guinevere in the movie, Camelot, he made our hearts skip a beat. With the greatest respect to writers, Lerner and Loewe, it was less the song and more Franco Nero singing it that make us weak in the knees. Check it out:
Few knew at the time (and probably wouldn’t have cared) that the impossibly handsome Nero wasn’t actually singing the song – his voice was dubbed by Gene Merlino. Theater-goers might have been surprised to learn, however, that most of Nero’s speaking parts were also dubbed as he couldn’t speak English at the time, and had to learn his dialogue phonetically. Nero was cast primarily for his good looks considered perfect for the role of Lancelot.
Before we move on, a side note for younger readers who think they’ve never heard of, let alone seen Franco Nero, in a movie. If you watched the movie, “John Wick Chapter 2,” you saw him. He played the role of Julius, the manager of the Continental Hotel in Rome.
But our post isn’t about Franco Nero, and it’s not even about the song, If Ever I Should Leave You,” though we use the song as a springboard to what could be the subtitle of this post: Who sang it better?
You see, Franco Nero wasn’t the first to sing to the song, (or lip synch it, anyway) – Robert Goulet was. The singer/actor originated the role of Sir Lancelot in the 1960 Broadway version of “Camelot,” and performed it so effectively that the show-stopping romantic ballad became his signature song. So who sang it better?
Critics would come to opine that Goulet’s powerful baritone voice was better suited for the song, and his rendition is generally considered the definitive version. As to why Goulet wasn’t asked to reprise his Broadway performance in the film version, it’s not definitively known, but there are guesses. The Broadway show opened in 1960, while the movie was made in 1967, and in those seven years, Goulet’s star power may have not have been enough land him the role. Some say that Goulet’s transition to film hadn’t been especially successful, and Jack Warner, the studio head, is said to have wanted different image for Lancelot than what was presented in the Broadway version.
No word on whether Goulet was disappointed in not having gotten the role (nor do we know if he actually wanted it). It probably helped that Julie Andrews, who originated the role of Guinevere opposite Goulet, also did not reprise her role, it having gone to Vanessa Redgrave.
By 1967, Goulet’s career had evolved beyond just the Lancelot role, anyway. He had won a Grammy Award, he had released 60 best-selling albums with Columbia Records, and he had won an Emmy for his performance in the TV adaptation of “Brigadoon” in 1966. Two years later, Goulet won a Tony Award for Best Actor in the musical, “The Happy Time,” and he had become a popular performer in Las Vegas.
And, he was the only character who had the respect of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog!
Goulet became a cultural “cult icon” as he was often associated with classic lounge singing, and occasionally parodied in popular culture. Comedian Will Ferrell often portrayed Goulet’s crooning style and lounge singer persona (albeit it in exaggerated form) and far from being offended, Goulet embraced the parody of his image and even portrayed such a character in the movie ,”Atlantic City” in 1980. Below is Will Ferrell’s “homage:”
We lost Goulet in 2007, the 73 year old performer having succumbed to pulmonary fibrosis, and since social media wasn’t “a thing” during his career, we don’t know as much about the minutiae of his life the way we do, for instance, any of the Kardashians.
We like to revisit the talent from another time so that younger readers might know of them, and we use the personality’s canine companion as a bridge. Robert Goulet’s “ferociously” faithful German Shepherd Dog, “Thor,” routinely accompanied him during his performances at the Frontier hotel in Las Vegas, and kept him company in the mobile home behind the resort between shows. We weren’t able to find photos of Goulet with Thor (or even of Thor alone), though it’s possible the pair were on this album cover.
Similar to the dog at the top that is identified as a German Shepherd Dog?
Image by Snizhana Galytska/iStockphoto