NIGHT SONG (1947)

Slushy but fun. As leading lady Merle Oberon puts it two-thirds of the way in, ‘Like a bad novel you can’t put down.’ Here’s what she means: Dana Andrews, blind, embittered, self-pitying pianist/composer gigs light jazz in a noisy joint with live-in pal Hoagy Carmichael when he really ought to be finishing that promising piano concerto. Enter rich society type Oberon who falls for the music and the guy. If only she could nudge him past his creative funk. I know, pretend to be a blind amateur pianist, meet-cute and lead him by the nose into entering a concerto contest you’ve just endowed out of your very own trust fund. And since you’re also the contest judge, he’s sure to win that Carnegie Hall debut (Arthur Rubinstein with Eugene Ormandy & the NYPhil!) and still have enough dough to afford that pricey eye operation. Wait, there’s more! Hie thee to NYC for the debut and introduce yourself. He used to be blind, remember! He’ll never know you were his ‘blind’ lady friend. Then watch as he falls in love with his beautiful benefactor, unaware that the ‘blind’ gal he left behind is . . . you! Director John Cromwell’s straightforward style works well in taming this overripe story, though it’s possible to imagine a melodrama specialist (John Stahl; Douglas Sirk) really taking off into the stratosphere without breaking a pact with the material. The concerto, an eight minute job by Leith Stevens (Rachmaninoff meets Gershwin*) is neatly dispatched, all much helped by Lucien Ballard’s elegant b&w cinematography. Add a splash of vinegar from Ethel Barrymore as Merle’s wise old aunt, and the film is something of a trashy triumph.

DOUBLE-BILL: *The '40s fad for ‘classy’ original quasi-classical mini-concertos started in England with Richard Addinsell’s ‘Warsaw’ Concerto in DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT/’41. And here, Stevens’ 8-minute running time, a perfect fit for a single two-sided 12" 78rpm disc.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: A sign at the Carnegie Hall box office informs that the concert is Sold Out: Standing Room Only. Oops, Carnegie Hall has no Standing Room.