Rhapsody in Blue (No Scratch. 139 Minutes. Full Length. Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith)
by Irving Rapper
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DVD Cover Information
Director: Irving RapperPrimary Contributor: Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, Charles Coburn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); Mandarin Chinese (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, Full length, Full Screen, Import, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 139 minutes
Published: 1945
Movie Reviews of Rhapsody in Blue (No Scratch. 139 Minutes. Full Length. Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith)
Movie Review: Hold your fire!
Summary: 4 Stars
The panning of this film by previous reviewers is out of proportion to its attributes, not the least of which is the quite convincing performance of Robert Alda and the casting of Oscar Levant as a musician playing himself, i.e. the pianist who, approximately ten years after the film's completion, would record the first distinguished LP of Gershwin's major concert works on Columbia--in fact, he was so close to Gershwin that he finished George's last song, "Our Love Is Hear to Stay," after a brain tumor cut short the celebrated prodigy's life at the age of 39. There are simply no Hollywood biopics that do justice by the indigenous American art of jazz or popular song, but some at least are 1. moderately entertaining, 2. include generous segments of the featured artist's music, and 3. "enhance" without falsifying the historical circumstances of the composer's life.
"Rhapsody in Blue" introduces viewers to the real "Tin Pan Alley" and to the young George who once hustled his music in W. 34th St. music houses until getting the public's and Al Jolson's attention with what would become his first popular hit song, "Swanee." Like most of the other great songwriters of the 20s and 30s, George was lured to Hollywood, where he found money but not happiness and companionship. And like the other great Jewish-American composers of American popular song (Porter and Ellington being the two notable exceptions), he would return to New York and Broadway for his defining artistic triumphs. The film ends with a sentimental but, in many respects, moving and effective performance of "Concerto in F," played by George Levant for his friend George Gershwin, who hears it on the radio before expiring.
The film does a better job with Gershwin's "serious" music, referencing "Porgy and Bess" in addition to the "Concerto" and the title song, than his prolific and distinguished pop song oeuvre. But it does include fascinating footage of not just Al Jolson but Paul Whiteman (the conductor known as the "King of Jazz" in the 1920s) and pianist-vocalist Hazel Scott (outstanding keyboardist who was married at one time to Adam Clayton Powell and who put out a trio LP with a rhythm section comprising jazz immortals Charles Mingus and Max Roach!)
Sure, the film has some corny and leaden dialogue, and neither musically nor narratively is it up to another biopic, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," a delightful B&W film that charges headlong through a dazzling cavalcade of Irving Berlin tunes. But "Rhapsody in Blue"'s shortcomings are more than compensated for by the musicians and the music. No apologies needed.
Compared to time and mind-wasters like "Patch Adams" or "Forrest Gump" the script reads like Ingmar Bergman--or Shakespeare. As for the DVD, previous reviewers are right. It's a non-professional transfer. You could do as well with a videotape and a cheap conversion program or VHS-to-DVD machine.
More Rhapsody in Blue (No Scratch. 139 Minutes. Full Length. Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith) reviews:
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