So far as their fans were concerned,
Mario Lanza and
Kathryn Grayson could have stood up against a blank wall and sung uninterruptedly for 96 minutes in
Toast of New Orleans. MGM, however, adhered to the policy that all movies must have plots. This one finds Lanza playing Pepe Abellard Duvalle, a shrimp fisherman from Louisiana's bayou country, while Grayson plays Suzette Micheline, a famed opera singer. After he witnesses an impromptu duet between Pepe and Suzette at an outdoor restaurant, Suzette's manager Jacques Riboudeaux (
David Niven) decides to groom Pepe for singing stardom. In so doing, Jacques has put the kibosh on his own romance with Suzette, but that's why he gets third billing.
Toast of New Orleans is a typical
Joe Pasternak production, all bright smiles, lilting songs and happy people in Living Technicolor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide