Interrupted Melody

Eleanor Parker, a much underrated actress of the 1950s, probably hit the high point of her career when she essayed the role of Marjorie Lawrence in this biographical portrait.

Marjorie Lawrence was an Australian opera star whose career was cruelly interrupted by polio in the 1930s. The film follows Lawrence from her winning a singing contest in her native Winchelsea, Australia through her career with the Metropolitan Opera and her struggle with regaining her health. Lawrence is supported every step of the way by husband Dr. Thomas King,ably played by Glenn Ford. But it's Eleanor Parker's movie all the way.

Funny for a movie about an Australian, Parker doesn't even attempt an Australian accent. This is in the MGM tradition of Clark Gable who did not attempt any British accent in Mutiny on the Bounty. It worked just as well for Parker, though I'd be curious what a native Australian might think. Lawrence was the second female opera star who became a national treasure for Australia, the first being Nellie Melba. Parker shouldered a lot of tradition in this film and did it well.

The voice used by Parker for the operatic sequences is that of Eileen Farrell of the Metropolitan Opera. The sequences are well done, but the real drama in the scenes of Lawrence battling polio.

This film coincidentally enough came out at the same time that Dr. Jonas Salk discovered his vaccine preventive for polio. I still remember as a lad getting those polio shots at my public school. No movie studio could have planned that coincidence, but MGM reaped enormous profit because of it. As for Jonas Salk, no man of medicine has ever been admired in the same way in my lifetime.

Eleanor Parker was nominated for best actress, but lost that year to Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo. Look for a young Roger Moore in the role of Parker's brother and business manager.

My favorite scene in the whole film is Parker as Lawrence entertaining the troops overseas in World War II. Especially when she sings Waltzing Matilda to her native Australian diggers. It was like the whole beating heart of the Australian continent coming alive for an instant. Absolutely inspired.

This film gets the highest possible recommendation from me.

I am a great-niece of Marjorie Lawrence. It's a very sad fact that Marjorie is best known outside of Australia. However, she was recently honored as one of 100 Australian Entertainers of the Century. It's also a bit of a shame that this movie is a Hollywood producer's interpretation of an American publisher's version of my Great-Aunt's life. The real family story is actually much more interesting. Auntie Marj never smoked a cigarette in her life - but it seems everyone smoked in the movies of the 50s. My mother and my aunt attended the world premiere here in Melbourne. I remember meeting Auntie Marj as a child in the 70s.

Like others commenting on this film, I saw "Interrupted Melody" many years ago, and it left a deep impression on me. I found when watching it again that I had retained so many of the scenes in my memory.

"Interrupted Melody" tells the story of Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence (played by Eleanor Parker), who was stricken with polio at the height of her career. The singer then has to find the courage to reclaim her will to live, her voice, and her career.

This is one of the few films, including anything of Lanza's, where entire arias and/or operatic scenes have been performed - and correctly. Singing for Ms. Parker is dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell, whose voice also acts. In the beginning, when the young Marjorie is in a vocal competition, Farrell takes her powerful chest voice out and instead carries her middle voice down to the low notes, giving the impression of a young, untrained singer. Truly inspired.

This has to be the high point of Eleanor Parker's career. I had a chance to see her nearly 30 years ago in a preview performance of "Pal Joey" - regretfully, there were many problems and she and her costar left the show before it opened. It was a shame, because Parker's Vera was wonderful. Here, she plays the young Marjorie with energy and determination, capturing the soprano's nervousness at being away from home when she goes to school in Monte Carlo. Later, she plays the perfect diva not afraid to state what she wants. Finally, she's the crippled Marjorie with no will to live, finding solace entertaining wounded soldiers who are worse off than she is. All through the film, she looks absolutely stunning, and her lipsyncing in Italian, French, and German is perfect.

The music is glorious - "Tristan und Isolde," "La Boheme," "Samson et Delilah," "Carmen," "Il Trovatore," (the fastest I've ever heard it), "Madama Butterfly," "Don Carlos," and "Gotterdammerung" - truly a feast for the ears with Eileen Farrell's magnificent singing.

Some have questioned whether or not Lawrence actually sang both mezzo and soprano roles. Lawrence did sing "Carmen," which can be sung by a dramatic soprano. Also, Lawrence probably started out as a mezzo - it was not until she trained in Paris that her upper range was extended. She sang Wagner, Strauss, Puccini, and Verdi in the big opera houses. "Samson and Delilah" was perhaps done for the film so we could see Eleanor Parker being sexy and seductive in a gauzy costume. The thing is, Lawrence's specialty was Wagner and you can't only have heavy Wagner scenes throughout a movie. The glamorous soprano did her own dancing in "Salome," and played the immolation scene in "Götterdämmerung" by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended, making her one of the few, possibly the only, soprano to do this. She also did Thais, which calls for sex and beauty - "Thais" was the inspiration for the role Susan Kane bombed in during "Citizen Kane."

Glenn Ford plays Lawrence's husband, Dr. Thomas King, and the marriage of a successful opera star and fledgling pediatrician is realistically portrayed with all its difficulties. In real life, Tom King was an osteopath and a Christian Scientist. Ford has a background role much of the time, but also some very dramatic moments and some romantic ones. His gentle, easygoing style fit the character well. A very young Roger Moore is Marjorie's manager-brother.

If you love opera, or if you love a story of courage and the power of the human spirit, this film is for you. Have a box of tissues nearby - the ending is very powerful.

Eleanor Parker is one of my favorite actresses from the '40s and '50s and does a marvelous job here, lip-synching to perfection various Wagnerian opera arias (as well as Puccini and Verdi). The storyline is somewhat similar to that of Jane Froman's career in that both were singers who, although paralyzed, continued with their singing careers and entertained servicemen as well. Glenn Ford lends solid support as the understanding, long-suffering husband who is always there when she needs his moral support. Roger Moore has a small role as her brother.

Everything moves smoothly under Curtis Bernhardt's direction. The opera segments are beautifully staged and filmed (in gorgeous technicolor, of course). Parker demonstrates her acting skills to the fullest and Eileen Farrell does a superb job on the vocal dubbing.

Well worth your time--inspirational and enjoyable even if you're not an opera lover. Filmed in wide screen technique, it loses something on video showings.

This film will always have a great significance to me because it introduced me to the beauty of opera. Marjorie Lawrence was a major soprano with the Metropolitan Opera, and her career was cut short by polio while she was still in her vocal prime. Her story is told with great sensitivity and warmth. The operatic scenes are done to perfection, with the superb soprano Eileen Farrell doing the vocals. Eleanor Parker is seen here in what must be her greatest work as an actress. Parker was a great, if somewhat under-appreciated actress, and she was a beautiful woman. Of course, it is she who dominates the movie. Glenn Ford provides excellent support as her doctor husband who guides her back to her career. When this film was released, I was ten years old, and kept going back again and again to see it over and over. I loved the music, loved the story, and will forever be indebted to it for having introduced me to the beauty of grand opera. If I had to choose a film as the most important of my life, it would have to be this one.