RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1945)

Rule-of-thumb on Hollywood bio-pics, Great American Songbook division: the better the composer, the worse the film.  Passable tunesmiths Kalmar & Ruby delight in THREE LITTLE WORDS/’50 and Sigmund Romberg’s lush corn thrives on the vaudeville polish of Stanley Donen’s DEEP IN MY HEART/’54.  Conversely, musical luminaries Cole Porter & Jerome Kern dealt stinkers in ‘46, NIGHT AND DAY and TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY.  (Porter slammed again with IT’S DE-LOVELY/’04.*)  Might this big George Gershwin bio be the exception that proves the rule?  Not quite.  But, just as his composing life was divided between Pop & Classical (both great, of course), so too this film, good on family matters & that split career track (reasonably factual by Hollywood bio standards, too), and bad on the fictional romantic crap with loyal B’way wren Joan Leslie vs Alexis Smith’s chilly American-in-Paris sophisticate.  Happily, the musical side of things is very good throughout with real-life pal Oscar Levant on piano as himself and dubbing for bland, debuting Robert Alda (Alan’s pop) as Gershwin.  Plus half a set from jazz stylist Hazel Scott; a witty balletic montage to accompany ‘An American in Paris’; and a chance to see original Bess Anne Brown sing ‘Summertime’ from PORGY AND BESS on a recreation of the original stage set.*  All told, nearly an hour of music; good stuff, most with LeRoy Prinz calling the shots, upstaging Irving Rapper’s handling of the drama.  And while no one was able to finesse the sad ending, Warners’ effects department sends us all the way up to heaven via matte shots, angles & nifty optical printing tricks.

DOUBLE-BILL: Clifford Odets’ rejected first-script for RHAPSODY got repurposed as HUMORESQUE/’46 with John Garfield & Joan Crawford picking up the relationship between Alda & Smith.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Irving Berlin, the song writer with the most dramatic personal story, wouldn’t let anyone touch it.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Brown doesn’t sing the ‘Summertime’ reprise she had on stage as Bess, but does its first statement in the opera, as written for Clara.  ALSO: BlackFace Warning!!  It comes when Al Jolson (who else?) intros ‘Swanee.’  Note that someone @ Warners ordered Jolie to tone down his traditional ‘darky’ makeup; no ‘nappy’ hairpiece and a less exaggerated white mouth.  The times were a’changin’ . . . just not enough.