Humoresque (1946)

A classical musician from the slums is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Clifford Odets (screenplay), Zachary Gold (screenplay)

Stars:

Joan Crawford, John Garfield, Oscar Levant

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Crawford	...	Helen Wright
John Garfield	...	Paul Boray
Oscar Levant	...	Sid Jeffers
J. Carrol Naish	...	Rudy Boray
Joan Chandler	...	Gina
Tom D'Andrea	...	Phil Boray
Peggy Knudsen	...	Florence Boray
Ruth Nelson	...	Esther Boray
Craig Stevens	...	Monte Loeffler
Paul Cavanagh	...	Victor Wright
Richard Gaines	...	Frederick Bauer
John Abbott	...	Rozner
Robert Blake	...	Paul Boray as a Child (as Bobby Blake)
Tommy Cook	...	Phil Boray as a Child
Don McGuire	...	Eddie

Storyline

Paul Boray comes from a working class background. He has been interested in the violin since he was a child, which his father disliked since he felt it a waste of money, but which his mother supported. Into his adult life, Paul wants to become a concert violinist, and although he shows talent, he does not have the right connections to make it into the concert performance world, much like his longtime friend, virtuoso pianist Sid Jeffers, and cellist Gina, both who, like Paul, train with the National Institute Orchestra. Gina and Paul have a connection with each other, Gina who confesses her love for him. While performing at a party with Sid, Paul meets Helen and Victor Wright, their hosts. Victor is a perceptive but self-admittedly weak man, while his wife Helen is strong minded but insecure which manifests itself as neurosis. She constantly tries to forget about her unhappy life by excessive alcohol consumption. Helen becomes Paul's benefactress, which ultimately results in a ...

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Plot Keywords:

manipulative mother | manipulative woman | bare chested male | possessive mother | possessive girlfriend | 

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Taglines:

TWO WHO MET AND KISSED AND NEVER SHOULD HAVE MET AGAIN! (original poster - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

De amor también se muere

Filming Locations:

Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,164,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,281,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,118,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Garfield's violin "performances" are actually played by two professional violinists standing on either side of him, one to bow and one to finger. The actual music was performed by Isaac Stern. In Stern's autobiography, "My First 79 Years" (New York: Knopf, 1999; page 51), when the movie shows closeups of the hands alone playing the violin (without Garfield in the frame), those are Stern's hands. Somewhere, there must be a bootleg medium shot of the 3 actors combining body parts to give the impression that Garfield is actually playing. It would be most interesting to see.

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Goofs

Don McGuire plays Teddy, the proprietor of Teddy's Bar, although his character is listed in the closing credits as Eddie.

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Quotes

Paul Boray: All my life I... I wanted to do the right thing, but it never worked out. I'm outside always looking in. Feeling all the time I'm far away from home, and where home is I don't know. I... I... I can't get back to the simple happy kid I used to be.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are presented on the turning pages of the sheet music for the composition "Humoresque".

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Connections

Featured in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998)

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Soundtracks

Embraceable You
(uncredited)
From the Broadway musical "Girl Crazy"
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Music by George Gershwin
Copyright 1930 New World Music Corp.
Performed by Peg La Centra

User Reviews

The sound of music.....

...was what Borzage's silent version terribly lacked .When the musician plays "humoresque" this music piece which shows that you can laugh at life ,but with a tear behind it ,we would like to hear the sound of his violin !

With Jean Negulesco's movie,there's not such a problem;music is everywhere and is throughly enjoyable:my favorite moment is the artist's sensational rendition of Georges Bizet's "Carmen" . John Garfield -who never made,to my knowledge ,a single mediocre movie - and his violin make the film a winner.For the story is ,all things considered ,rather conventional.Joan Crawford's character ,the average viewer has already seen it a hundred times or more and it takes all the actress's talent to make it endearing.

Like Borzage's more obscure version (1920) ,it's based on a Fannie Hurst novel.But the screenplays are so different Negulesco's work is hardly a remake;whereas Borzage devoted almost half of his movie to the hero's childhood in the ghetto ,where he meets the love of his life (Gina who is almost reduced to a walk on in the talkie),only five minutes are given over (as a flashback) to the boy's birthday present.Gone are the mother's prayers -here the mother is a lucid person,not so nice,ready for everything to save her boy's career- which made everything possible.But the biggest difference is the presence of Helen Wright,totally absent in the first version.In a way,she stands in for WW1:after all,this is a war the hero is waging ,not only to gain critical acclaim but also to fight against a doomed passion.

Try to see the two films one after the other.