Post by kijii on Dec 8, 2017 6:30:41 GMT
Musical biographies of the 1940's are far from being factual representations of the lives of the composers featured. "Till The Clouds Roll By" had little to do with the life of Jerome Kern, as did "Rhapsody In Blue" did for Gershwin or "Night and Day" for Cole Porter. The flimsy stories holding the songs together were horrible, but the music was the thing.
Cole Porter's life did get a better retelling in "De-Lovely" but the music was sacrificed. The version of "Begin the Beguine" is unrecognizable, but Porter's life is more realistic., but very depressing. I think telling the story of Larry Hart would be interesting, but of little interest to anyone these days.
What's interesting is that I have been working on my viewing gaps for Vincente Minnelli movies. I will be seeing Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) later since it on my DVR disc right now.
What was fun to see Cabin in the Sky (1943) again. What a lot of fun that is!!
As part of my Vincente Minnelli project, I also recently saw Kismet (1955) and The Pirate (1948) for the first time from beginning to end.
Another Minnellli movie which is not mentioned enough is Yolanda and the Thief (1945).
It is a beautiful musical fantasy. www.imdb.com/title/tt0038262/reviews-31
But, Minnelli, like most directors, laid a few eggs too. This one for example.
What a mess THIS is.......with almost all the actors playing against type in plot-stupid movie.
