A Song to Remember (1945)
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68% of users liked it
(366 ratings)
One of the most successful filmed biographies of the 1940s, A Song to Remember alleges to be the true story of Polish composer Frederick Chopin. Actually, it has about as much relation to truth as a Heckle and Jeckle cartoon, but with such gorgeous creatures as Cornel Wilde and Merle Oberon in the… More One of the most successful filmed biographies of the 1940s, A Song to Remember alleges to be the true story of Polish composer Frederick Chopin. Actually, it has about as much relation to truth as a Heckle and Jeckle cartoon, but with such gorgeous creatures as Cornel Wilde and Merle Oberon in the leads, who cared? Though Wilde, as Chopin, is the nominal lead, top billing goes to Paul Muni, hamming his way through the role of Chopin's mentor Professor Joseph Elsner. Reportedly, Muni developed his characterization long before shooting started, refusing to allow the performances of the other actors to alter his interpretation in the slightest. This may explain why Muni seems to be acting in a vacuum, frequently completely out of rhythm with the film and its characters. Otherwise, Cornel Wilde does a nice job as the tempestuous Chopin, whose patriotic fervency frequently takes priority over his music. Merle Oberon plays novelist George Sand, who despite her preference for male clothing proves to be "all woman" during her torrid, decade-long affair with Chopin. The film's money scene--the one that everyone talked about, keeping the picture "alive" long after its original release--occurs towards the end, when the tubercular Chopin begins hemorrhaging as he performs his Polonaise for the first time (Jose Iturbi is heard on the soundtrack, "doubling" for Wilde's ivory-tickling). Sumptuously photographed in Technicolor by Tony Gaudio and Allen M. Davey, A Song to Remember was the usually penurious Columbia Pictures' top production of 1945. Fifteen years later, the studio hoped to make lightning strike twice with its Franz Liszt biopic Song Without End, but the magic just wasn't there. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Charles Vidor
- Written By
- Sidney Buchman, Ernst Marischka
- Genres
- Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1945 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The music is fine, but the story is not.
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Steve Crum, Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers
The melodrama is pretty forced, but the music is superb.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Indefensible as either art or history, Charles Vidor's Chopin biopic is the absolute textbook definition of kitsch.
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Cast
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Paul Muni
as Professor Joseph Elsner
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Merle Oberon
as George Sand
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Cornel Wilde
as Frederic Chopin
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Stephen Bekassy
as Franz Liszt
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George Coulouris
as Louis Pleyel
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Nina Foch
as Constantia
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Sig Arno
as Henri Dupont
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Howard Freeman
as Kalbrenner
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George Macready
as Alfred DeMusset
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Claire Du Brey
as Mme. Mercier
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Frank Puglia
as M. Jollet
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Fern Emmett
as Mme. Lambert
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Sybil Merritt
as Isabelle Chopin
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Eugene Borden
as Duc of Orleans
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William Challee
as Titus
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Peter Cusanelli
as Balzac
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Norma Drury
as Duchess of Orleans
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Gregory Gaye
as Young Russian
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John George
as Servant
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Fay Helm
as Mme. Chopin
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Charles La Torre
as Postman
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Cosmo Sardo
as Lackeys
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Maurice R. Tauzin
as Chopin age 10
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Ivan Triesault
as M. Chopin
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Michael Visaroff
as Russian Governor
- Charles Wagenheim
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Ian Wolfe
as Pleyel's Clerk
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Darren McGavin
as Man
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Walter Bonn
as Major Domo
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Dawn Bender
as Isabelle Chopin
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Zoya Karabanova
as Countess
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Alfred Paix
as Headwaiter
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Paul Zaremba
as Waiter
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Henry Sharp
as Russian Count
