Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Whorf

Writers:

Guy Bolton (story), George Wells (story),

Stars:

June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, Van Heflin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
June Allyson	...	Jane Witherspoon (segment "Leave It to Jane") / Lou Ellen Carter (segment "Oh, Boy!")
Lucille Bremer	...	Sally Hessler
Judy Garland	...	Marilyn Miller
Kathryn Grayson	...	Magnolia Hawks (segment "Show Boat") / Herself
Van Heflin	...	James I. Hessler
Lena Horne	...	Julie LaVerne (segment "Show Boat") / Herself
Van Johnson	...	Bandleader in Elite Club
Tony Martin	...	Gaylord Ravenal (segment "Show Boat") / Himself
Dinah Shore	...	Una Trance (segment "The Girl from Utah") / Herself
Frank Sinatra	...	Frank Sinatra
Robert Walker	...	Jerome Kern
Gower Champion	...	Dance Specialty (segment "Roberta")
Cyd Charisse	...	Dance Specialty (segment 'Roberta')
Harry Hayden	...	Charles Frohman
Paul Langton	...	Oscar Hammerstein II

Storyline

Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: 'Showboat' .

---

Plot Keywords:

stage | producer | daughter | lusitania | singer | 

---

Taglines:

The mammoth musical of Jerome Kern's dramatic life story!

---

Genres:

Biography | Musical

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 January 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Silver Lining

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,841,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$6,724,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Deleted from the film were the following Jerome Kern songs: "D'Ye Love Me?" (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto A. Harbach), sung by Judy Garland, footage available on the 2008 DVD from Warner Home Video (although the song's prologue, which shows Judy interacting with mimes John and Renee Arnaut, is missing the soundtrack) -- "Bill" (lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse), the first chorus sung by Lena Horne, audio available on the 1996 Rhino CD, "Lena Horne at M-G-M: Ain't It the Truth" -- "I've Told Every Little Star" (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II), sung by Kathryn Grayson, segueing into "The Song Is You" (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II), sung by Kathryn Grayson and Johnny Johnston, footage of this medley available on the 2008 DVD from Warner Home Video -- "Dearly Beloved" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer), sung partially by Johnny Johnston -- and "The Way You Look Tonight" (lyrics by Dorothy Fields), sung partially by Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin).

---

Goofs

After the Una Trance number, the cover shot of the audience applauding clearly shows one audience member in an aisle seat wearing an Army uniform of World War II vintage, even though the scene was set years before that. It indicates that was taken from stock footage.

---

Quotes

Victor Herbert: [congratulating Jerome Kern on his composing ability] My boy, you've got a song to sing.

---

Connections

Referenced in Forecast (1945)

---

Soundtracks

"How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Edward Laska
Music by Jerome Kern
Sung and danced by Angela Lansbury and Chorus

User Reviews

Fictional Biography of Jerome Kern

Back in the day when Hollywood was doing biographical pictures of some of our most famous popular composers, it was generally acknowledged that they were nothing more than an excuse to string musical numbers together. Till the Clouds Roll By is the best example of that tradition.

Jerome Kern wrote some of the best music ever heard in the world. But he was a pretty dull fellow in real life. He married the love of his life, had one daughter and was never linked with any of the famous stars he wrote for.

He actually did have two incidents in real life that would have made great screen drama. He had a heart attack that almost took him in 1938 where he was actually dead for several minutes. Kern always claimed after that any music he did write was due to heavenly intervention.

When he did die in 1945, he collapsed on the street near Carnegie Hall in late 1945. He was back in New York after several years in Hollywood to negotiate with Rodgers&Hammerstein who were going to produce a musical about Annie Oakley. Of course we know who got that assignment eventually.

His wallet must have fallen from his pocket and gotten lifted because Kern remained unidentified for a few days and was in a charity ward at a NYC hospital when he died. Kern in fact died while production plans were being made for Till the Clouds Roll By. Still those two true incidents would have made great cinema.

The film opens with a montage of melodies from Show Boat, his greatest musical success. In fact that whole sequence could have been released as a short subject. The rest of the film is Kern in taxi giving a fictional flashback of his life up to Show Boat which premiered in 1927. We fast forward through the next several years when in fact he wrote his best music for stage and then the screen. And there is a musical finale.

Curiously enough MGM had two guys on their lot at the time who actually had sung Kern songs on the screen, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, and neither of them got in this film. Kathryn Grayson later did full adaptations of Show Boat and Roberta, but hadn't sung anything of Kern's up to that point. The only one in the cast actually performing a song he actually was identified with was Tony Martin. He sang Make Believe with Grayson during the Show Boat sequence, but also had made a hit record of one of Kern's best songs All the Things You Are which came out in 1939. Martin sang it beautifully during the finale.

You certainly can't complain about the vocalizing here though. With such additional folks as Lena Horne, Van Johnson, June Allyson, and Judy Garland contributing their talents who could complain.

Caleb Peterson who is a black baritone sang Ol Man River in the Show Boat sequence. During the finale, it's sung by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra sings it great, but given the song's identification with Paul Robeson it should have been done by him. Of course Mr. Robeson was having blacklist problems then. Still and all the white suited Sinatra was out of place to say the least.

If you're a fan of Jerome Kern as I am, just put the plot out of your head. Sit back and listen to the music.