Till the Clouds Roll By (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
MGM's 'Till the Clouds Roll By' (directed by the trifecta of Richard Whorf, Vincente Minnelli & George Sidney) is a HIGHLY fictionalized life story of revered music composer Jerome Kern, who died shortly before the film was released in 1946. As played by actor Robert Walker, Kern is a likeable but none overly exciting man who expresses his inner-most feelings & emotions through his music. Constructed in the narrative form of one large extended flashback, the story begins circa 1900, as Jerome Kern tries to impress disinterested Broadway producers with his composing talents. His hard-fought efforts to win-over impresario Charles Frohman go nowhere because Frohman is convinced that the only good music comes from Europe {well, excuuuuse me}.
Kern then moves to merry 'ole London, England where he meets & falls for his future wife Eva (Dorothy Patrick). On the verge of finally nailing down work with Charles Frohman, Kern's hopes are dashed when the producer dies in the foundering of the Lusitania in 1915. Fortunately, Kern developed such powerful contacts as Victor Herbert (Paul Maxey) & Oscar Hammerstein II (Paul Langton), enabling him to find success as the composer of several hit musicals in NY. The movie ends right where it begins, with Kern's ultimate triumph as composer of the Broadway blockbuster, Show Boat.
Van Heflin pleasantly weaves in & out of the proceedings as Jimmy Hessler, Kern's best pal/musical arranger. Now, I did enjoy plenty of stretches of this lengthy biopic. But the 'drama' in this film is practically non-existent. I just couldn't care about Jerome Kern or what was going on in his life; and that's entirely a script issue. The film's asset (and also its biggest drawing card) is the all-star line-up of MGM stars who perform Jerome Kern's most famous ditties. Judy Garland (playing Marilyn Miller) looks swell & sings "Look for the Silver Lining"; Dinah Shore performs "The Last Time I Saw Paris" before a shoddy back-projected Gay Paree; Kathryn Grayson (playing Magnolia Hawks) sings "Long Ago & Far Away"; Tony Martin (as iconic Gaylord Ravenal) croons "All the Things You Are"; Virginia O'Brien (as Ellie May Shipley) deadpans "A Fine Romance"; June Allyson & Ray McDonald team up for the big song-&-dance title number.
Frank Sinatra also pops up, ironically dressed in a white tuxedo, to belt out "Ol' Man River". He closes the film, sounds brilliant, but I'd have preferred a black man to sing that classic {but hey, this was 1940s Hollywood, what can we expect?}. Other musical stars include the immensely likeable Van Johnson, a sweet Angela Lansbury {so young!}, the always alluring Cyd Charisse, talented dancer Gower Champion, & pretty Lucille Bremer. One of the film's high points comes early when we see Lena Horne lending a poignant, quietly powerful rendition of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine" as Julie LaVerne from Show Boat; a role she was born to play, and probably should have in the 1951 film version in which her good friend Ava Gardner got the part over her.
Now, the film sure looks great -- after all, this is an MGM musical. The color cinematography is pleasing to the eye, (some) of the sets are stupendous, & the costumes are fantastic. But I just couldn't care about what was going on dramatically with the Robert Walker character. I was not engaged in the story when there wasn't an entertaining musical sequence occurring (and even some of those failed to rivet). So, given all its good & not-so-good traits, I give 'Till the Clouds Roll By' a mixed review and, I'd only recommend it to Jerome Kern diehards or those curious about the quality of MGM musicals.
Kern then moves to merry 'ole London, England where he meets & falls for his future wife Eva (Dorothy Patrick). On the verge of finally nailing down work with Charles Frohman, Kern's hopes are dashed when the producer dies in the foundering of the Lusitania in 1915. Fortunately, Kern developed such powerful contacts as Victor Herbert (Paul Maxey) & Oscar Hammerstein II (Paul Langton), enabling him to find success as the composer of several hit musicals in NY. The movie ends right where it begins, with Kern's ultimate triumph as composer of the Broadway blockbuster, Show Boat.
Van Heflin pleasantly weaves in & out of the proceedings as Jimmy Hessler, Kern's best pal/musical arranger. Now, I did enjoy plenty of stretches of this lengthy biopic. But the 'drama' in this film is practically non-existent. I just couldn't care about Jerome Kern or what was going on in his life; and that's entirely a script issue. The film's asset (and also its biggest drawing card) is the all-star line-up of MGM stars who perform Jerome Kern's most famous ditties. Judy Garland (playing Marilyn Miller) looks swell & sings "Look for the Silver Lining"; Dinah Shore performs "The Last Time I Saw Paris" before a shoddy back-projected Gay Paree; Kathryn Grayson (playing Magnolia Hawks) sings "Long Ago & Far Away"; Tony Martin (as iconic Gaylord Ravenal) croons "All the Things You Are"; Virginia O'Brien (as Ellie May Shipley) deadpans "A Fine Romance"; June Allyson & Ray McDonald team up for the big song-&-dance title number.
Frank Sinatra also pops up, ironically dressed in a white tuxedo, to belt out "Ol' Man River". He closes the film, sounds brilliant, but I'd have preferred a black man to sing that classic {but hey, this was 1940s Hollywood, what can we expect?}. Other musical stars include the immensely likeable Van Johnson, a sweet Angela Lansbury {so young!}, the always alluring Cyd Charisse, talented dancer Gower Champion, & pretty Lucille Bremer. One of the film's high points comes early when we see Lena Horne lending a poignant, quietly powerful rendition of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine" as Julie LaVerne from Show Boat; a role she was born to play, and probably should have in the 1951 film version in which her good friend Ava Gardner got the part over her.
Now, the film sure looks great -- after all, this is an MGM musical. The color cinematography is pleasing to the eye, (some) of the sets are stupendous, & the costumes are fantastic. But I just couldn't care about what was going on dramatically with the Robert Walker character. I was not engaged in the story when there wasn't an entertaining musical sequence occurring (and even some of those failed to rivet). So, given all its good & not-so-good traits, I give 'Till the Clouds Roll By' a mixed review and, I'd only recommend it to Jerome Kern diehards or those curious about the quality of MGM musicals.