Night Song (1947)

Cathy Mallory, beautiful socialite who prefers classical music, is taken by friends to a back-alley dance club. There, she meets blind pianist Dan Evans, who plays in Chick Morgan's swing ... See full summary »

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Frank Fenton (screen play), Dick Irving Hyland (screen play),

Stars:

Dana Andrews, Merle Oberon, Ethel Barrymore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dana Andrews	...	Dan Evans
Merle Oberon	...	Cathy Mallory
Ethel Barrymore	...	Miss Willey
Hoagy Carmichael	...	Chick Morgan
Artur Rubinstein	...	Orchestra Conductor
Eugene Ormandy	...	Orchestra Conductor
Jacqueline White	...	Connie
Donald Curtis	...	George
Walter Reed	...	Jimmy
Jane Jones	...	Mamie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luis Alberni	...	Flower Vendor (scenes deleted)
George Chandler	...	Bartender (scenes deleted)
Hector Sarno	...	Proprietor (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Cathy Mallory, beautiful socialite who prefers classical music, is taken by friends to a back-alley dance club. There, she meets blind pianist Dan Evans, who plays in Chick Morgan's swing band but seems to be a composer of great promise. Attracted but spurned, Cathy feigns blindness herself to get past Dan's bitter facade, scheming to get him to the doctor who can restore his sight...and to Carnegie Hall. But her actions bring about several twists in their relationship...

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Plot Keywords:

blindness | pianist | socialite | classical music | composer | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1948 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Memory of Love

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Cromwell Productions, RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 2, 1948 with Merle Oberon and Hoagy Carmichael reprising their film roles.

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Connections

Featured in Let's Go to the Movies (1949)

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Soundtracks

"WHO KILLED 'ER?"
Written by Hoagy Carmichael, Fred Spielman and Janice Torre
Performed by Hoagy Carmichael

User Reviews

Night Song is my favorite film

They used to show it on Turner Classic Movies on Ethel Barrymore's birthday (when they would show all of her movies). It contains a wonderful original mini-concerto by film composer, Leith Stevens, written just for this film. I think this movie is wonderful, in part, because it really exemplifies the best sort of films that glamorize classical music and not only give the film-goer a glimpse into the life and excitement of being a musician, but a peak into the collaborative creative process, itself. Many of these films were made in the '30s, '40s and '50s. They are rarely made now; usually films about musicians, especially about classical musicians, alienate the audience from the artists rather than inspiring empathy and a desire to emulate the stars on screen. Also, such clever and moving plots in love stories are fairly rare now. Ironically, it has wonderful scenes where Hoagy Carmichael takes dictation for the blind composer but in real life, Hoagy Carmichael, one of the great jazz musicians of the 20th Century, could not read music. I wonder if the plot was inspired at all by the fate of the '20s Jazz Great, Bix Beiderbeck, who drank himself to death at a young age because he found it increasingly hard to get work in the Paul Whiteman-inspired era of big bands who played from written parts. It also has some wonderful quotable one-liners and great, even profound dialogue, I wish it were available. That a film with such a star-studded line-up should be completely out of print is astounding: Dana Andrews, Merle Oberon, Hoagy Carmichael, Ethel Barrymore, the great pianist, Arthur Rubenstein (who even has a couple of lines), the great Conductor, Eugene Ormandy, and the New York Philharmonic, as it was at its peak at the end of the '40s. There is a lot that is original in this film. For example, The scene in which Dana Andrews gives Merle Oberon a piano lesson is an amazing look at what brilliant interpretation based on musical maturity and advanced education can accomplish. Merle Oberon plays Chopin perfectly but mechanically, and then Dana Andrews plays it perfectly but brings it to life. We hear it from the kitchen along with Carmichael and Barrymore. She tells him archly that she doubts there is much he could teach her, as we hear it the first time together with them, and the second time, he tells her, matching her archness, exactly, "looks like she is improving already." One can neither rent nor buy Night Song. I wonder if it was issued on VHS. I just saw that a 16 mm copy went at auction for several hundred dollars on E-Bay. Pity.