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By
NICK ZEGARAC
In the annals of film
musicals, MGM's Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) is
a colossus; a seamless melding of the studio's
formidable roster of diverse musical talents
(including Judy Garland, Van Johnson, Angela
Lansbury, Lucille Bremer, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn
Grayson and Lena Horne) and epically mounted
production numbers that rival the best that have
ever been produced for film. The story behind
these melodic vignettes is largely forgettable; a
highly fictionalized and sanitized account of
Broadway composer Jerome Kern's (Robert Walker)
life and times. Reportedly, Kern discouraged
screen scenarists Guy Bolton and George Wells in
drawing inspiration from his own life – presumably
because it lacked narrative intensity. The
reconstitution by Bolton and Wells however, does
not fair much better. But the strength of the film
remains its execution of musical songs and dances
– some of which have become an integral part of
Americana.
The show opens with a lengthy prologue of
standards from Kern's most successful play –
Showboat: featuring Kathryn Grayson and Tony
Martin singing ‘Make Believe,' Virginia O'Brien
doing her usual deadpan in ‘Life Upon The Wicked
Stage' and Lena Horne, delivering a positively
sultry interpretation of ‘Can't Help Lovin' Dat
Man of Mine.'
From here, the story regresses to the youthful
days of Kern's consternation and his chronic
inability to gain outside interest in his scores.
He meets musical arranger, James I. Hessler (Van
Heflin) who works diligently to launch Kern's
career. The early songs may be somewhat lesser
known, but MGM's art department gives each and
every one of them a glorious visual
interpretation. Angela Lansbury is seen cooing
‘How'd You Like To Spoon With Me' atop a swing,
Dinah Shore warbles ‘They Didn't Believe Me' under
a stylized magnolia tree, and a non-singing June
Allyson and Ray MacDonald perform the brilliant
pas deux with a chorine of boys and girls touting
pink and blue umbrellas to the tune of the title
track.
But the most glorious and ambitiously staged
sequences in the film are those reserved for Judy
Garland's cameo – cast as the sympathetic star of
early stage, Marilyn Miller. Her first is ‘Look
For The Silver Lining' surrounded by stacks of
dirty dishes to hide the fact that Garland was
pregnant with Liza during the shoot. The second of
Garland's cameos is a tour de force in staging.
It begins with an elaborate circus venue where
Garland performs stunt work atop a galloping pony
surrounded by cavorting elephants, trapeze artists
and even a ballerina while a chorus of men warble
Kern's ‘Sunny.' From here the scene effortlessly
dissolves to one of Garland atop an escalator
surrounded by elegant men in top hats and tails.
She sings the exuberant ‘Who?' the number
unfolding into an elaborate dance routine straight
out of the Ziegfeld Follies.
The final noteworthy number in the film is the
compendium of Kern standards that closes the show,
staged atop towering white art deco pedestals and
sung by every cameo performer except Garland. Lena
Horne delivers ‘Why Was I Born,' Tony Martin/You
Are The Promise of Springtime, and Kathryn
Grayson/Long Ago and Far Away. All are topped by
Sinatra's electric rendering of ‘Ol Man River' –
so vibrantly jazzy in his Brooklyn crooner's style
that it provides the perfect cap of an otherwise
monumental motion picture achievement.
After having to contend with numerous public
domain copies of this film on DVD (none up to par
where quality is concerned) Warner Home Video's
transfer on Till The Clouds Roll By is much
welcomed – easily eclipsing all others. For the
most part, colors are bold, vibrant and full
saturated – thanks primarily to a major
restoration effort undertaken in the early 1990s
for the long overdue and highly anticipated
laserdisc release of this film.
Occasionally, there is a slight soft quality to
the image that is in keeping with mis-registration
of the original 3-strip Technicolor negative. The
shortcomings inherent in the laserdisc
presentation have been imported on the DVD but
they are negligible. The audio is mono but very
nicely cleaned up and represented herein. Extras
included audio only tracks and the film's
theatrical trailer. |
