BB.5
(out of 5)
Even the most die hard musical fans will find themselves growing tired of the endless song selections in this biopic of songwriter Jerome Kern. Kern is responsible for some of the most beautiful melodies in American stage musical history, and the best of them are featured here (‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’, ‘Can’t Help Loving Dat Man Of Mine’, etc.), but the biographical story behind them is so undeniably reduced, and what is left has been so whitewashed and cleaned up that it doesn’t seem to resemble a real person’s life story at all. Robert Walker plays Kern, with Van Heflin doing a bang-up job playing his best friend and lyricist James Hessler. MGM dragged out just about every one of its biggest stars to make cameo appearances, including Lena Horne playing Julie in Show Boat, Angela Lansbury as a London singer, Frank Sinatra singing “Old Man River” and Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller, performing two classic numbers directed by her then-husband Vincente Minnelli: ‘Who’ and ‘Look For The Silver Lining’. In the latter her burgeoning pregnancy (with Liza) was hidden by stacks of dishes in front of her, but her condition is also a little bit visible in the former number as well. Pretty boring stuff, the studio did a much better job with the same style of filmmaking with Ziegfeld Follies the previous year.
USA, 1946
Directed by Richard Whorf
Story by Guy Bolton, Story adaptation by George Wells, Screenplay by Myles Connolly, Jean Holloway
Cinematography by George J. Folsey, Harry Stradling Sr.
Produced by Arthur Freed
Music by Conrad Salinger
Production Design by Daniel B. Cathcart
Costume Design by Helen Rose, Valles
Film Editing by Albert Akst
