Eins, zwei, drei, vier … drei-und-vierzig, or cuarento-y-tres, to change tongues, as it were. One of 43 reasons to thank Jonathan for his great kindness and cheer this week – or should that be cheers? Today’s post title needs no translation and it is a valid track for the playlist, since The Student Prince is an operetta as well as a film. And I know we’ve come a long way from high opera, and we’ll get back there, but first I think I need a weekend watching old Mario Lanzo films … where to start? Serenade? The Great Caruso? The Student Prince? For the First time? Maybe I’ll do all of them. He didn’t actually act in any of the films and rumours abound as to why he didn’t. For The Student Prince, it has been variously suggested that he couldn’t play the lead because he was too fat, too ill or that MGM had fired him, but retained the rights to the soundtrack that he’d already laid down. Enter Edmund Purdom. Anyway, it’s a splendid film with some splendid songs and there is a splendid recording of Drink, Drink, Drink here. Prost!