Carnegie Hall
by Edgar G. Ulmer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Frank McHugh, Hans Jaray, Marsha Hunt, Martha O'Driscoll, William PrinceDirector: Edgar G. Ulmer
Brand: Kino International
Cinematographer: William Miller
Editor: Fred R. Feitshans Jr.
Producer: Boris Morros
Producer: Samuel Rheiner
Producer: William LeBaron
Writer: Karl Kamb
Writer: Seena Owen
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Black & White, Classical, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 1992
Studio: Kino Video
Product features:
- CARNEGIE HALL (DVD MOVIE)
Movie Reviews of Carnegie Hall
Movie Review: Great performers on film
Summary: 5 Stars
This text refers to the DVD release.If you're looking for another Casablanca, look elsewhere. This film really focuses on the musicians who appear in it. It's a wonderful collection of live performances by some of the greatest performers during the peak of their careers in the US in the 40s. These people made many audio recordings, but comparatively hardly any film/TV or video recordings are available. So this is your chance to watch them in action.
For me the star of the film is of course Jascha Heifetz, seen here playing the first mvt - with cuts - of the Tchaikowsky concerto with Reiner conducting the NYPSO. Artur Rubinstein plays two short pieces. Also Walter, Stokowski, Rodzinski and Reiner conduct the NYPSO. It's very interesting to watch these conductors in action and the playing, precision and discipline of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra - the orch used throughout the film - is amazing. VAImusic in the US and Denon Japan have released some concert performances on VHS and DVD with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, but I haven't come across much other video footage of any of these conductors. There are a host of other musicians as well - look at the DVD cover. Piatigorsky plays Saint-Saens "The Swan" in a strange arrangement of the piece in which he's accompanied by 8 harps. And one scene I like takes place in the NYPSO timpanist's apartment where Alexander Schneider leads a "play-through" of the Schumann piano quintet. Good fun are also the little walk-on parts Heifetz and co. get to do, although I prefer their playing of course*g*
The extras on this DVD are good - bios, track listings etc. And finally, the picture and sound quality are excellent; Kino must have found a good master reel to make this DVD version.
Summary of Carnegie Hall
CARNEGIE HALL - DVD MovieThis 1947 curio, saluting and partly filmed at the New York City cultural landmark, begins with a shot of the building's exterior. Except that the "exterior" is a photograph with a dramatic yet distinctly ersatz night sky optically sutured above it. In short, Edgar G. Ulmer, the poet of Poverty Row, is up to his usual tricks--wresting dynamic imagery out of next-to-nothing, even if Carnegie Hall represents a comparatively upscale endeavor in his expressionist/minimalist career.
The film boasts an epic running time of 136 minutes and about half an hour's worth of narrative. Silent-film actress Seena Owen is credited with the story, about an Irish immigrant (Marsha Hunt) whose mystical rapport with the Hall leads to her rise from cleaning woman to a kind of house-mother who helps musically talented kids go far. That's partly because her son (William Prince) has gone right out of her life, asserting a passion for "modern music" (i.e., Vaughn Monroe's dance band) over the classics to which she is devoted. The latter are exuberantly performed or conducted by the likes of Fritz Reiner, Leopold Stokowski, Risë Stevens, Ezio Pinza, and--most memorably--Artur Rubinstein and Jascha Heifetz, who rate the most extended and visually bravura treatment.
It's easy to kid this as virtually a one-film glossary of camp. Yet its sincerity seems genuine, and Ulmer's resourcefulness at devising angles to exalt the bond between music and musician, performer and audience, is occasionally breathtaking. (Cinematographer and effects wizard Eugen Schüfftan was a key collaborator.) The black and white is lustrous in this digital transfer from the original 35mm nitrate negative. --Richard T. Jameson
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