Rhapsody in Blue (1945) User Reviews (52)

Great Music

[Dave-137 · 7/10 · 31 December 2005]

This film presents many Gershwin tunes in great fashion with several great settings and great production numbers. Yes, it's unfortunate that the story line is so heavily fictionalized and even misleading. But, the sets are honest to the periods covered, several sequences are very tastefully done and fun, the show excerpts are good, and did I mention the music? As several other commentators have indicated, the music is faithfully recreated in long segments that bring you much or all of the tune.

If you come to this film to hear some wonderful Gershwin performed by some great artists staged with a lot of character and splash (my favorite set is Hazel Scott's Paris show), you won't be disappointed. The story line is simply a convenient string to tie together the thread of music.

So Many Songs Left Unsung

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 4 February 2009]

Of all our famous Tin Pan Alley composers George Gershwin alone managed to bridge that gap between the old masters of Europe and our own American musical traditions. I've always had a particular affinity for his music, maybe because he and I share the same birthday, 49 years apart though. He did so much in his life of 38 years and left so much unwritten and unsung it's impossible to comprehend all this beauty could have come from the mind of one man.

Rhapsody In Blue is no better or worse than some of the other Hollywood biographies of our composers. The idea was to make a musical picture and story is always sacrificed, especially in the accuracy department. Joan Leslie and Alexis Smith play a compilation of characters of many women involved in George Gershwin's life. It is true however that Gershwin sacrificed all for his art. He wanted to attain heights that no American composer ever did and he succeeded.

There is also the problem of contracts and copyrights in making these kind of films. Certain Gershwin standards you won't hear because either Warner Brothers didn't have the rights or Jack Warner was spending way too much money for the Gershwin songs to begin with.

Al Jolson, Paul Whiteman, and Oscar Levant all appear as themselves in this, the story of Gershwin could not be told without them. Jolson introduced Gershwin's first hit song of Swanee, he interpolated it in one of his shows which he always did. Paul Whiteman, the King of Jazz, took that crown with his concert at Aeolian Hall of Rhapsody In Blue from whence this film gets its title. It maybe the most well known instrumental piece of music by an American composer ever.

And certainly no life of Gershwin could have even been filmed without Oscar Levant whose friendship and abiding affection for George Gershwin was well known. Levant's wit was devastating, even upon himself and his friend George. But he worshiped at the altar of that music.

But a real treat for me was Anne Brown, the original Bess from Porgy and Bess singing Summertime. That alone is worth seeing this film.

Hazel Scott, singer, jazz pianist, and outspoken civil rights advocate plays a Josephine Baker type role and does several Gershwin numbers while he's in Paris. The film sadly makes no mention of Fred Astaire or Gertrude Lawrence both of whom are very important in George Gershwin's career. And it would have been nice to see Victor Moore playing Throttlebottom from Of Thee I Sing which got a one line mention about it winning a Pulitzer Prize and that was it.

Robert Alda plays the title role and he did get good reviews and to the limited extent the script gave the character, he does capture the essence of the driven Gershwin. Stardom in Hollywood would elude Alda however, he'd have to wait for Broadway and Guys And Dolls.

I was sorry to see the role of Ira Gershwin by Herbert Rudley given such a short shrift. Ira was an interesting man in his own right. He wrote lyrics with several other name composers both before and after his brother's demise. In fact he wrote with others specifically to establish his own credentials so no one would think he was just riding on brother George's coattails.

Gershwin's one man who could use a new biographical film. Maybe we can get a better idea of his life, have his songs done in proper chronological order and see him from another century's perspective.

Until then Rhapsody In Blue will give you a general idea.

An American original

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 2 January 2006]

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.

interesting life of America's Great Jazz composer

[thespian57 · 6/10 · 27 December 2005]

this biopic is pretty typical. A lot of it was of course fictionalized. The Joan Leslie Character was in fact a composite of many loves of Gershwin's life. These included the composer Kay Swift and the actress Paulette Goddard. "Swannee" was not in fact Gershwin's first published tune as implied, nor did Ira Gershwin write the words to that song as further implied. By the time "Swanee" appeared, Gershwin had already contributed to, or written the scores for several Broadway productions. And in fact, "Swanee" was not heard for the first time in Jolson's "Sinbad" but had an inauspicious debut in a New York bordello where Jolson heard it.

Ira was not the only lyricist Gershwin worked with. He also wrote songs with Buddy DeSylva who is mostly seen as a Broadway producer in this film. In fact, the one act opera "blue Monday" featured in this film was written by Gershwin with DeSylva doing the libretto. Whiteman had nothing to do with the orchestration as implied in this film. "Rhapsody in Blue" was originally scored for a much smaller jazz orchestra rather than the symphonic size orchestra seen in the movie. More over it was Ferde Grofe and NOT Paul Whiteman who did the scoring for symphonic orchestra.

Other than these snipes, one can get a glimpse into the actual personality of Oscar Levant, who appears as his normal sour self with his own dialog for good measure. ("Tell me George, if you had it to do all over again would you still fall in love with yourself?"... "An evening with George Gershwin is a George Gershwin evening.") Actually Levant and Gershwin did not meet until the 1930s..later in fact than implied in this film.

Still, "Rhapsody in Blue offers a unique glimpse into the music of one of America's most beloved composers.

Better than average movie bio pic

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 3 April 2011]

As with most Hollywood biopics (particularly back in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s), this account of the life of George Gershwin is somewhat fictionalized. As just one example, in real life he also had two sisters, who are not even mentioned in the film. And, the romantic angles here (with two women) apparently are fictionalized. But, so what. This is a surprisingly entertaining film, and a number of Gershwin's pieces are faithfully executed, including "Rhapsody In Blue". I watched this quite a long time ago and remembered it as one of the better movie biopics...plus, I rather like Gershwin's music. I think I liked this film better the second time around.

Robert Alda is fine in the lead role, as are others in supporting roles, including Charles Coburn as a mentor on the pop side of things. Particularly interesting are the many "cameo" appearances by real associates of Gershwin -- Al Jolson ("Swanee"; although so clearly too old to play a young Jolson!), George White (of the famous "Scandals"), and Paul Whiteman. Supporting players are good here -- Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, especially Albert Bassermann, Rosemary DeCamp, Oscar Levant, and Herbert Rudley (as Ira Gershwin).

At just over 2:20, it's a long movie, but that length allows so much of the Gershwin music to be played. I can't help but compare this to the Cole Porter biopic starring my favorite actor -- Cary Grant; but this is so much better a film. A good movie worth watching at least once for the acting and to revel in the music.

American Music Classic

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 9 May 2011]

Robert Alda, Charles Coburn, & Herbert Ruddley carry a major Warner brothers triumph in this production. The folks who made the film had the smarts to let the music carry the film along. It helped that the story really celebrates the Gershwins, centering on George (Alda) but featuring Coburn and Ruddley.

In a way, this might be one of the strongest biographic films made. The cast is outstanding in every way. It is a reminder that George Gershwin was a man driven to greatness so hard, that when he does have a flop, his only regret is how much time he spent failing. It does not stop him from going on to write some of the greatest music in American History and one of the very few American Operas.

While I am not sure if there are many facts of the true lives changed, the fact is this one chose the right people to play the royal family of American Composers. Warner even cast several people as themselves in the movie adding a touch of realism to the finished product. When you finish watching this, it tells you just how great the music is the Gershwins wrote, sang, and produced. Bravo

George Gershwin: American Composer

[lugonian · 9/10 · 25 July 2005]

RHAPSODY IN BLUE (Warner Brothers, 1945), directed by Irving Rapper, subtitled "The Story of George Gershwin," is a tribute to America's most original composer of the twentieth century. It's an entertaining musical biography if one could overlook its faults. Made at the time when movies of this type dominated the screen, beginning with YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) with James Cagney as actor and songwriter George M. Cohan, Warners later contributed another using a song title to personify the subject matter, Cole Porter in NIGHT AND DAY (1946) as portrayed by Cary Grant. Obviously YANKEE DOODLE DANDY is the best of the three, however, while NIGHT AND DAY offers an added plus with Technicolor, it makes RHAPSODY IN BLUE better than what it is. Unlike the two mentioned bio-pics, RHAPSODY IN BLUE is not headlined by a major name, but a newcomer named Robert Alda, who, unlike Cagney and Grant, never became a top rank star. One thing going for Alda is his resemblance to George Gershwin, and how acceptable he is in what has become his best known film role. Unfortunately, that's where the Gershwin legend ends. Hoping for another YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, Warners reused its co-stars, Joan Leslie as the fictitious girlfriend, and Rosemary DeCamp as the mother, the sort of roles they've done before. The result: the music that outscores an episodic story.

The story of George Gershwin, according to an original story by Sonya Levien, opens on the lower East side of Manhattan with brothers George and Ira Gershwin as boys (Darryl Hickman and Mickey Roth) watching men delivering a piano to their apartment. The piano was ordered for Ira to take lessons, but their mother, Rose (Rosemary DeCamp) can't help but notice George's natural talent for the piano without a single lesson. Years pass, the now adult George (Robert Alda), develops a new method in piano playing, lands a job playing songs for customers, getting himself fired for going against management by demonstrating his own songs. In time, he gets his big break when publisher Max Dreyfus (Charles Coburn) introduces Gershwin's latest composition, "Swanee," to Broadway entertainer Al Jolson, who likes the song so much that he introduces it in his next Broadway show, SINBAD. Jolson's delivery to "Swanee" elevates Gershwin into an exceptional and most original composer. Collaborating his songs with Ira (Herbert Rudley), Broadway shows featuring one hit song after another, along with George's on and off romances with Julie Adams (Joan Leslie), a singer who loves him, and Christine Gilbert (Alexis Smith), a socialite/ divorcée who knows she'll be nothing more than a backdrop to his life. In spite of fame and fortune, especially with his masterpiece, "Rhapsody in Blue," George is not a happy man, and strives to improve himself, doing everything in such quick pace as if he has some premonition of an untimely death.

The supporting players feature Julie Bishop as Lee Gershwin; Albert Basserman as Professor Frank; Morris Conovsky as Morris Gershwin; Johnny Downs as a tap-dancer; with Paul Whiteman, George White, Tom Patricola, Hazel Scott guest starring as themselves. A pity that Fred Astaire, whose best known for introducing some classic Gershwin tunes, didn't appear. The highlight of the program is Al Jolson singing "Swanee." This became Jolson's final contribution to the motion picture by which he takes part in the plot, but this would not be the last time his voice would be heard on screen. Jolson appears in two key scenes, each in his black-face trademark, first from his dressing room on the telephone and later on opening night. While age has caught up with Jolson physically, his delivery to "Swanee" proves he still has that old magic. A pity he didn't contribute more to the story. Oscar Levant, playing his usual droll self, provides some amusing moments as Gershwin's close friend, as well as his piano solos.

Of the many songs composed by George Gershwin, the ones selected for the soundtrack include: "Smiles," (not by Gershwin); "Swanee," "S' Wonderful, S' Marvelous," "Somebody Loves Me," "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," "Lady Be Good," "Blue Monday Blues" followed by "My Joe" and "Mother Mine," "Rhapsody in Blue" (conducted by Paul Whiteman); Braham's "Lullaby" (background score); Hazel Scott's piano playing and vocalization of "The Man I Love" (in French);  "Clap Yo Hands," "Fascinatin' Rhythm," "I Got Rhythm" and "Yankee Doodle Blues"; "Liza," "Bidin' My Time," "Embraceable You," "An American in Paris" (instrumental); "Cuban Rhapsody," "Our Love is Here to Stay," "Delicious," "Summertime" from PORGY AND BESS; "Concerto in F", "135th Street Blues," "Love Walked In," "Concerto in F" (reprise); and "Rhapsody in Blue"(reprise/finale).

Not historically accurate as one would like it to be, although the costumes and hair styles do fit into the time frames, RHAPSODY IN BLUE should be a delight for Gershwin fans, considering how it concentrates more on his songs than on his personal life. Running more than two hours, the narrative includes several scenes that drag on, but as long as there's enough Gershwin music to fill in the void, it shouldn't appear endless.

RHAPSODY IN BLUE, may not be the success in the tradition of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY nor Robert Alda as legendary as James Cagney, but George Gershwin's contribution to American music, jazz, blues and/or folk opera, remains legendary. RHAPSODY IN BLUE formerly available on video cassette, is shown on Turner Classic Movies. Running time: 142 minutes - "a very important piece." (***1/2)

Classic! Interesting homage to George Gershwin.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 13 March 2001]

This is a fabulous movie tracing the life and times, struggles and successes of composer George Gershwin. Fictional characters and events are used to move the story along; and the music is wonderful. This is a very easy to watch movie. A classic in black & white.

Beginning with childhood, this movie shows the closeness of the family and especially with brother Ira. Major compositions are featured: Swanee; The Cuban Overture; Somebody Loves Me; Fascinatin' Rhythm; An American in Paris and several versions of the title masterpiece, Rhapsody in Blue. Max Steiner proves his own greatness.

Robert Alda is excellent as George Gershwin and Herbert Rudley as Ira. Also in the cast are Rosemary DeCamp, Alexis Smith and Joan Leslie. Playing themselves are Paul Whiteman, Oscar Levant and Al Jolson. Levant is refreshing, comical and talented.

The music is the main attraction; this film is well worth multiple viewings.

Less a bio-pic, more a great tribute to the great Gershwin.

[David-240 · 10/10 · 31 July 1999]

Thank God the film-makers trusted in the power of Gershwin's music to allow almost complete versions of the title composition, and "An American in Paris" to be included in the film - as well as many complete songs. All the music is superbly orchestrated and the songs sung beautifully by a wide variety of artists, many of whom were really the first artists to sing them. The film is excellently directed and photographed, with musical scenes well realised visually. The montage of Gershwin wandering about Paris as we hear "An American In Paris" is excellent - and the use of lights and shadows to film the orchestra playing "Rhapsody in Blue" is magnificent - would that contemporary films of orchestras were this imaginative.

Yes I know it is largely fiction - but so what? This is a tribute, not a documentary. And Alda is fine in the lead, backed by an excellent supporting cast. I loved this film from start to finish.

Worth watching.

[jamigo4 · 28 October 2003]

The music was wonderful, I enjoyed watching the father of Alan Alda in the title role & I got one "mini surprise"! That was the solo song of a very young, enchanting Hazel Scott, accompanying herself on the piano. She was a musical prodigy on the piano from the age of 4 and the youngist student admitted to the Julliard School of Music at age 16. This was the last of her early film appearances, as she focused more on musical recordings and a TV series, until the late 50s. She also married Adam Clayton Powell Jr., noted congressman from Harlem & civil rights activist. Her 1955 album, "Relaxed Piano Moods," recorded with Charles Mingus and Max Roach was recently reissued on CD & named Album of the Month by National Public Radio.

Great Movie, but not well known.

[FranktheRabbit · 7/10 · 14 April 2001]

I just saw this film on tv and boy was it good! I first heard Gershwin on the United Airlines commercial and right away I wanted to buy a CD. Unfortunately, I bought a 6$ CD with 10 songs on it. Rhapsody in Blue was the only good one. It was so good I would listen to it over and over again for hours. But when I saw the movie I liked Gershwin even more.

In every scene they play a piece of his music. I was amazed at all the the songs he wrote and what a short life he lived. Though this movie is very sad, it is very good. I enjoyed it very much. This movie needs to be noticed more. And the scenes were they play the title song are amazing. 8/10. Watch it. You won't regret it!

A Very Good Composer Bio

[harry-76 · 8/10 · 3 March 1999]

The "Gershwin Years" were very exciting times, and the life and career of George --and his brother, Ira--are well captured in this memorable classic, "Rhapsody in Blue." Tackling this subject was a difficult one, and it manages to reveal the composer's exuberance for his art, his trials and his successes. Robert Alda is a perfect choice for George; others making fine contributions are Oscar Levant and Alexis Smith. A host of great artists, many playing themselves round out a star-studded cast. A wonderful selection of Gershwin's works are represented, some in near-complete versions. This is one of the most successful of classical composer bios ever brought to the screen. It is a cherished part of my video library, and I thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to this recreation of the life, times, and music of one of American's great composers.

Fun and exactly what I wanted from it

[rburtnick · 7/10 · 30 December 2005]

I am always moved by Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I listen to it often. I wake to it most mornings. I just happened upon This film on TCM today and it hit the spot. Oscar Levant was, well, Oscar Levant. I am sure I picked up my love of Rhapsody and my enjoyment of Levant from my dad. I have often wondered why the music affects me emotionally so strongly. I have not really followed up on my interests significantly.

The treatment in this movie got me started. I have been bouncing from site to site to read up on this movie and the artists and the music. I hadn't realized the close relationship between Levant and Gershwin. I listen to a Leonard Bernstein version. Now I am considering obtaining a few of the Gershwin performances. And Levant's. I noticed that the movie's version of Rhapsody was a bit quicker than the Bernstein. Not that I am a great student of this. I just love it. Levant keyed the title tune at the end. I will have to read further to determine who did the keyboard when Robert Alda was playing.

One interesting exchange for me was when Gershwin and Levant meet in the movie. The exchange suggests that George Gershwin is the real name. One of the sites I just visited indicate that his name was Jacob Gershvitz. Not earth shattering. Just an interesting (to me) tongue in cheek exchange. (If I understood it correctly.) Typical for Levant.

If you love Gershwin like I do you will probably tear up more than once as I did. It is almost as if I was finally given a logical story-reason for my emotional reaction.

Al Jolson rules in this pic

[danarosecrystal_journali · 5/10 · 2 July 2013]

The film is overly long, due to the length of the musical pieces, and the film is tedious. Does not compare with better biopics, such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and that one with Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. Those had humor. And the Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again, though also fictitious, are far better.

But it is a piece of history and has some real people in it, such as the GREAT AL JOLSON and I don't know who that funny dancing man is in the scene showing the first "Scandals" (maybe it is Shep Houghton, whose IMDb bio lists many appearances where he sadly wasn't even credited. He seems extremely talented and is still alive, apparently!) Hazel Scott, who appears in the film as a black singer in Paris, is not exactly playing herself, per se, since she is too young to have been a Gershwin contemporary, is SOOOOOO excellent, though. I remember her on other TV shows of the 1960s and I guess must have seen her on "Julia" as well. But she was a question on a TV game show I saw--I think it was that show "Cash Cab" so there is a trivia question for you. She ought to have a biopic of her own.

I am sick of people insulting Al Jolson! Shut up idiots! He helped make the success of many songwriters and artists, such as Gershwin and Irving Berlin. So it is OK that this song Blue Monday Blues is done with white actors in brown (blackface) makeup? and bad for Jolson to be in "burnt cork"? Get over this PC Police attitude! Jolson ends up losing his place in history because the PC police moan and groan and make themselves into sanctimonious critics of Jolson. THEY have no talent of their own. I am insulted for Jolson that in a recent documentary of Jewish Broadway musicians they cut down Jolson by referring to this scene in this film as a "now shameful" episode of entertainment history, yadda yadda how bad it is to be in blackface, ignoring Irving Berlin's past in minstrel shows. Al Jolson was excellent and not a bigot (see an interview Johnny Carson had with Eubie Blake, defending Jolson). He deserves his place in history.

A wonderful musical drama.

[kandcp · 13 February 2003]

Some might say this film is full of made up characters and that it's a little corny. If it is, so what. The brilliant music overrides everything else to provide an entertaining two plus hours. Isn't that what a movie is supposed to do. Entertain. It would be interesting to learn the type movies a critic prefers. That would give those of us who enjoyed this classic film something to judge their taste by.

Up The Swanee

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 12 November 2020]

Back in the day showtune buffs spoke knowlegably about the 'Big Five' by which they meant Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Richard Rodgers, acknowledged as the cream of Broadway composers. Berlin never did get a bio-pic but in the three years between 1945 and 1948 the other four were featured as stars of their own lives by MGM (Kern and Rodgers) and Warners (Gershwin and Porter) and whilst facts were thin on the ground in all four cases the music was to die four. The Gershwin bio, the only one of the four in black and white, appeared in 1945 and introduced Robert Alda (father of Alan) as George Gershwin. He made a decent fist of the role but had to wait five years to really make his mark on Broadway as Sky Masterson in Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls. Alexis Smith played a fictional love interest for Gershwin and would have better luck the following year as Linda (Mrs Cole) Porter in Night and Day and there is not even a mention of Kay Swift, the real life close friend of Gershwin and subject of a great crack by Oscar Levant; spotting the couple entering a restaurant Levant observed loudly 'There goes George Gershwin and the future Miss Kay Swift'. Perhaps significantly Swift's most celebrated composition was Can't We Be Friends. Because of the pettiness of the time there is no mention of Gershwin gems like A Foggy Day, They Can't Take That Away From Me, They All Laughed. Reason: They were written for Fred and Ginger who were with RKO and far be it for Warners to give a plug to a rival studio. That still leaves plenty of fine Gershwin material to draw on and we get a decent selection. Oscar Levant plays himself and dubs Alda on the piano and it's well worth seeing.

Education in Gershwin

[LeonardKniffel · 7/10 · 11 April 2020]

No doubt more fabrication than fact, this biopic with Robert Alda as the great American songwriter George Gershwin contains some 30 of the composer's greatest hits and constitutes a musical education in one of the most important chapters in the American songbook. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

Worth watching--no--worth hearing--yes...cliché-filled musical bio...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 13 April 2008]

Yes, George Gershwin wrote some wonderful music and yes, Warner Bros. does use a lot of his music almost continuously throughout the background--but this has to be a musical bio even more fabricated than NIGHT AND DAY, which purported to be the bio of Cole Porter.

All the standard Hollywood clichés are there--the girl friend (JOAN LESLIE--who never really existed) upset because another woman (who else, but ALEXIS SMITH) has stolen her true love's affection. There's even a melodramatic scene where Alexis nobly gives up her love for Gershwin because she knows she's only "the other woman" in his life.

Then there's the best friend, played by Oscar LEVANT, who did indeed know George Gershwin well, the devoted brother Ira Gershwin, and the loving parents, including teary-eyed mother ROSEMARY DeCAMP.

But while the plot is standard formula bio stuff, the kind that Warner Bros. did throughout the '40s, not much can be said for the performances which are also pretty standard, including ROBERT ALDA as Gershwin. (He's Alan's dad, you know.) Highlights are Gershwin's works performed before concert audiences, including "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Porgy and Bess". There's even a familiar face popping up now and then before stardom came--for example, MARK STEVENS (who is uncredited in the billing) as a singer.

Just as NIGHT AND DAY was a complete fabrication, so is RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Music lovers will find plenty to listen to, but don't expect to learn more about Gershwin's real life as a composer.

This is one case where the B&W photography looks drab. The studio should have gone all out for color--at least then the film would have been worth watching as well as listening to.

Rhapsody in Greatness ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 23 July 2006]

The world was robbed with the untimely passing of George Gershwin in 1937. We should not be deprived of seeing this magnificent biography of the great music writer.

Robert Alda is just superb in the title role. He received marvelous support from Joan Leslie, as well as Rosemary DeCamp and Morris Carnovsky. As his friend, Oscar Levant also did well in this film.

The music was phenomenal but how could it not be. Gershwin's writings were magnificent and had he lived longer, the world would have been a much richer place.

His scoring of "Porgy and Bess" was terrific.

Alda was so convincing as Gershwin, a man who literally had to write music as fast as he could as his destiny was an early demise. This film was greatly under-rated. It sports a magnificent cast led by Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith and others. Gershwin gave us such a list of memorable music; he was driven as it stated in the film: "Got to make time, got to make time!" A totally memorable line was stated by Alexis Smith in the film. She knew that marriage with him would not work because he had to give so much of himself to the world. Nostalgic, a wonderful testament to the life and works of the great George Gershwin.

A very mixed bag

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 29 June 2012]

It seems hard to believe that the same studio that made Yankee Doodle Dandy just a year before, Warner Brothers, could then have made this very disappointing picture. The script for YDD was sometimes hackneyed yes,, but it was still often a great film, in large part because of the brilliant direction of Michael Curtiz, one of Hollywood's great directors, someone who could do so many things so well, from The Adventures of Robin Hood and the Seahawk to Casablanca to YDD, and the electric performance of James Cagney.

Both those elements, or their equivalent, are lacking here. Irving Rapper's direction goes nowhere, and Robert Alda, in his first feature-length motion picture, proves to be a very poor actor. The supporting cast is of no help.

Part of that problem lies in the script, which is full of biopic clichés. Still, Cagney rose above similar clichés to create a truly living character in YDD. After watching this movie and Alda's performance in it, I have no sense of what Gershwin was like. Yes, I know the script has a lot of invention, and goes wide of the unromantic reality of Gershwin's real life. But so, as I recall, does the script of YDD, and still, Cagney created a living character out of the results. Alda, with evidently no real support from his director, does not.

Yet this movie is not a total failure, by any means. If the script and acting are strictly second rate, below Warner Brothers' best, some of the musical numbers are pure magic. Al Jolson was 25 years older in this picture than when he first performed Swanee on Broadway, but he still makes the number come alive with his voice in an astounding fashion, putting Joan Leslie's performance of the number a little earlier in the movie to shame. Similarly, the performance of Blue Monday Blues is pure magic. Watching Paul Whiteman conducting the first, smaller version of Rhapsody in Blue is also fascinating: there is a LOT of playing with the tempo markings, which must have been how he performed it with Gershwin back in 1924 when they premiered it at Aeolian Hall. It would have been great had they allowed Anne Brown, the original Bess, to perform some of Bess's music, but they give her Summertime, which she would not have sung in the original production of Porgy and Bess. Whiteman and Oscar Levant are interesting doing the Concerto in F, but we don't get to hear a lot of it.

It is strange to see Levant in the final scenes of the movie, when Gershwin is in his last days. If Levant was actually in the real- life equivalent of those scenes, it must have been very strange for him to re-enact the last days of the composer's life, especially the last day, when he leaves to go back to New York to perform the Concerto in F with Damrosch just hours before the composer's death.

In short, you can skip all the dialogue scenes, as they are poorly acted, poorly written, and not necessarily reliable. On the other hand, some of the musical numbers should be preserved forever, as they are both historical and remarkable.

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Some of what I wrote above was unnecessarily harsh. Yes, by far the most important parts of this movie, as in *Yankee Doodle Dandy*, are the musical numbers, especially those performed by those who were connected with the original performances.

But it is also interesting to see how this movie repeatedly tries to present Gershwin as Warner Brothers had presented Cohan the year before: as not just a great composer, but as someone who was trying to give voice to the nation. I don't think anyone today would dare to try that with a modern musician, but neither do I think Warner's was wrong in making the attempt.

On a second viewing, Robert Alda is not so bad as Gershwin. It remains true, however, that neither he nor the script ever really makes us understand what made Gershwin tick. There are strands that are introduced along those lines that could have been developed: an attempt to erase the boundaries between classical and popular music, the importance of Black music and culture in American music, etc., but they are never carried out.

This movie is way too long; it would have been better had all the scenes with Joan Leslie and Alexis Smith been cut, as beautiful as Smith is in this movie. Still, there is a lot of value here. It merits an attentive viewing.

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I watched the movie again tonight, and was struck by a few more things:

First, Alexis Smith's part - the wealthy American woman who wants some sort of romance with the American artist in Paris - must have served as the model for the very unattractive similar character in *An American in Paris* played by Nina Foch. Smith is more sympathetic. The character in AAinP really comes off as disagreeable.

Second, I was struck again by the extent to which the movie associates Gershwin's music with Black Americans. There is the excerpt from Porgy and Bess, of course, but also a lot of time spent on *Blue Monday Blues*, plus the extended scene with Hazel Scott, who gets to sing and play several Gershwin numbers. Given that this movie was made during the war, just as Black GIs were being trained - in segregated camps - to be sent overseas, I wonder what Warner Brothers was up to in this movie that attempts to portray Gershwin as the man who gave voice to Americans.

Each scene of the movie has the rhythm of Gershwin's music.

[macpherr · 8/10 · 18 March 2000]

Rhapsody in Blue, is a true black and white American classic. I bought the tape because of the title, which is one of the pieces written by George Gershwin. I had the privilege of going to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and xeroxing some of Gershwin's hand written sheet music with his own signature in it. Wow! Just like he signs his name in the movie. The movie starts with his and his brother, Ira's, childhood, when they get the piano for Ira to play. Turned out that George became the pianist and Ira the lyricist. George never married but the movie is a love story between George and singer "Julie Adams" Joan Leslie (Yankee Doodle Dandy), who truly loved him. He was also romantically involved with Alexis Smith "Christine Gilbert" (The Age of Innocence). She was a socialite painter who lived in Paris. George would have married Julie, but he somehow was married to his music and ended up never marrying Julie, due to his early death. Each scene of the movie has the rhythm of Gershwin's music and the music played is a piece which corresponds that period of his life. To my surprise Al Jolson plays himself where he sings and dances. Remember him the guy that Warner Brothers decided to star him in their first partly-talking-picture, "The Jazz Singer" in 1927. The two Gershwin's had a wonderful relationship with their parents and Ira became their parent's caretaker because George traveled a lot. I love the fact that "George Gershwin" is played by Robert Alda (Imitation of Life), a great actor and singer and also father one of my favorite actors Alan Alda (M.A.S.H., Same Time, Next Year). Talent runs in the families in the cases at hand, (the Aldas and the Gershwins) and Robert and Alan Alda they looked a lot alike. This is a must see for anybody to see, specially Gershwin fans such as myself. It has an imaginable body of their work in this movie, their music is vibrant and happy. Favorite Scenes: Gershwin's parents getting their first piano to their apartment I believe up to the sixth floor of the building where they lived. George getting fired when he meets Julie because he gives her his own work to sing. Favorite Quotes: Ira: "Good Night Mr.Music." George: "Thank you Mr. Words." George: "It is only with music that I can prove my right to live." Dad Gershwin to George: "Take time to be happy, George." This is a great old fashion movie I think that you will love it as I have.

Disappointment

[Casablanca3784 · 7/10 · 6 July 2002]

George Gershwin's music will live forever but Robert Alda's portrayal of him is a combo of cold, clammy,unemotional and tedious. The music was wonderful but the story line unconvincing and slow. One absolutely wonderful segment of this film is seeing the great Al Jolson singing "Swanee"even though he's in "blackface." Nowadays that of course would be considered racist but keep in mind that Jolson started his enormous career in Lou Dockstatter's minstrels and such minstrel shows had been part of American entertainment for generations.Times have changed but Gershiwn's music is immortal.

Sweet Music to the Ears

[MarkJGarcia · 8/10 · 17 March 2010]

Nominated for two Oscars this 1945 movie based on George Gershwin's life is enjoyable if not for its accuracy but for its music scenes and sounds. The film received Academy Award nominations in the Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) and Sound Recording categories. Although modern sources state that Joan Leslie's singing voice was dubbed by Louanne Hogan, Leslie's voice was actually dubbed by Sally Sweetland. This film marked the motion picture debuts of Broadway actors Robert Alda and Herbert Rudley. Robert Alda is the father of TV's classic hit MASH star Alan Alda. In the film, Al Jolson sings "Swanee," the song he made famous, and Anne Brown, the original "Bess," sings "Summertime" from the opera Porgy and Bess. Again, the movie was not wholly accurate but I did enjoy seeing this movie.

An epic musical feast, but not as great as a biographical drama

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 2 July 2015]

As a biopic, Rhapsody in Blue will disappoint, but musically it is an epic feast that nobody can fail to delight in.

Sure, the script is cliché-ridden and sentimental, the film is a bit too long and drags in places and those expecting accuracy or honesty here will be very short-changed, as with most music biopics of this period Rhapsody in Blue is heavily fictionalised. Herbert Rudley also felt undercast as Gershwin's brother Ira.

On the other hand, Rhapsody in Blue does look good, with the costumes and sets evoking the period accurately and beautifully and the black and white photography is lovely (though maybe the film may have fared even better in colour). It's well directed, the musical numbers are well and solidly staged and the cast mostly do not disappoint. Robert Alda is a charismatic and likable Gershwin, Alexis Smith is charming and Rosemary DeCamp is compassionate and moving. There are also fabulous supporting turns from a pianistically brilliant and very funny Oscar Levant and a fabulously soulful Al Jolson, his rendition of Swanee being the film's high point. What really makes Rhapsody in Blue worth watching is the absolutely phenomenal music, there's lots of it, which will delight die-hard Gershwin fans, and it is all very well performed (Levant and Jolson in particular standing out).

To conclude, a musical feast but could have been better if more attention was put into the biographical elements. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Mediocre film biography of the great composer Gershwin

[funkyfry · 5/10 · 30 October 2002]

Insipid version of the composer's life filled with his fantastic music. They didn't really need to add fictional love iterests (based on Kay Francis? Am I getting the name right?) to make a life like Gershwin's interesting, and the script is really cheezy. Very nice production values, though, and some musical specialties to liven things up -- Jolson singing "Swanee", Levant's versions of the Rhapsody and Concerto in F (excerpted).

In this film's world, unfortunately, the Astaires (Fred and Adele) and so many others who brought Gershwin's music into popularity, don't exist -- presumably because it would have cost WB more than it was worth to them. Thus, very important pieces of Gershwin's artistic life are left gaping open. Other things are misrepresented, like the placement of "Somebody Loves Me" much later in G's life (it was in fact written for George White's Scandals of 1924, I believe), presumably just because the songs were available or were the ones the producers wanted.

Many episodes in this complex artist's life are presented in a way that is overly sentimental, has no bearing on facts or reality, and don't even make particularly good film. But the main problem here is that people who in fact had very little bearing on Gershwin's development, like "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman and Jolson, are emphasized (simply because at this faded point in their careers, WB could afford them), while others who profoundly influenced or were affected by him are simply left out (like the previously mentioned Astaires, or Gertrude Lawrence, or DuBose Heyward, or any number of other important people simply not mentioned). This makes it seem like G lived in the teens and the early 20s, since they wouldn't pay for any of his associates from the 30s -- a very lopsided picture of the composer's life and his work that does not impress.