Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Irving Rapper

Writers:

Howard Koch (writer)
Sonya Levien (story)

Release Date:

22 September 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Musical

Plot:

Composer George Gershwin is driven by his need to succeed. Unfortunately his drive destroys his romantic relationships with singer Julie Adams...

Plot Keywords:

Composer | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Robert Alda	...	George Gershwin
Joan Leslie	...	Julie Adams
Alexis Smith	...	Christine Gilbert
Charles Coburn	...	Max Dreyfus
Julie Bishop	...	Lee Gershwin
Albert Bassermann	...	Prof. Franck
Morris Carnovsky	...	Poppa Morris Gershwin
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Momma Rose Gershwin
Oscar Levant	...	Himself
Paul Whiteman	...	Himself
Al Jolson	...	Himself
George White	...	Himself
Hazel Scott	...	Herself
Anne Brown	...	Herself - as Bess
Herbert Rudley	...	Ira Gershwin

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Germany:16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The characters played respectively by Alexis Smith, Joan Leslie, and Albert Bassermann are fictional. There was no love triangle between Gershwin and the two women, and Gershwin's music teacher did not die the night that "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered. The scene in which Gershwin is fired by the music publisher for playing his own music is also fictional. However, most of the other characters in the film did exist, including Max Dreyfus, and Anne Brown, who played Bess in the original "Porgy and Bess" is still alive ca. early 2009.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In Max Dreyfus' office, Oscar Levant while looking at Georges' score of "Swanee" hums a perfect forth (D down to A) and says, "A diminished 9th." In the next scene Max Dreyfus also refers to the uniqueness of a diminished 9th. In Swanee there is no diminished 9th. There are enharmonic equivalents ie. a C# melody against a Db bass which sounds like a diminished 9th. It is acually a sharped major 7th. The interval of a diminished 9th ie. (C up to Dbb or C# up to Db)does not happen in Swanee. Both a diminished 9th and an enharmonic equivalent will sound like a perfect octave when played eight notes apart.

Quotes:

George Gershwin: I don't want to be just a concert pianist. I want to use the piano as a stepping stone!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Wonderland (1947)

Soundtrack:

It Ain't Necessarily So

An American original

George Gershwin was perhaps, America's greatest composer. Judging by his output of popular songs, as well as some of the serious music he left behind. George Gershwin was a man that got his inspiration by a lot of the popular and black music he heard when he was growing up and mixed it with some of the classical music that he learned as a young piano student. The result is a body of work that is not easy equaled by any of his contemporaries.

In "Rhapsody in Blue", his biographical picture, director Irving Rapper has recreated that period in the young composer's life with the help of the screen play writers, Howard Koch, Sonya Levien, and the uncredited Clifford Odets, as he takes us along to witness a account on this original music man.

We get to see the ambitious George, who could play anything on the piano his parents intended for his brother Ira to study music. It was clear from the start George was a natural who had no problem composing some of the best melodies that became standards during the 20th century and continue to delight us after so many years.

Along the way there is the story of the man who falls in love with the lovely and sophisticated Christine Gilbert, who he met in France. Julie Adams, the girl who was to become the star in many of his shows, loved George in silence. Of course, these two women are a product of the writers imagination, or a composite for the real women in his life.

We are also shown the world in which George lived. There is Prof. Frank, who taught the young man the best of the classical piano repertoire. His parents, Morris and Rose, who adored their sons. We also meet some of the men that shaped his life like Max Dreyfus, his manager, Oscar Levant, his friend and best interpreter, along with some real figures like Paul Whiteman, George White, Al Jolson, Hazel Scott, among others.

Robert Alda resembled the real George Gershwin; his take on the man rings true. Joan Leslie is Julie Adams, and Alexis Smith is Christine Gilbert, the women in George life. Charles Coburn plays Max Dreyfus. Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp are seen as the parents.

The best excuse to watch the film is the glorious music one hears in it. The movie is easy on the eye, and while it might not be accurate, it still makes for a pleasant view of this genius of some of the best American popular music of all times.