I really like Douglass Montgomery. He has an appealing boyishness in most of his roles. He came from the prestigious Theatre Guild and MGM were happy to snap him up - but his name had to be changed to Kent Douglass (they already had a Robert Montgomery) and they also wanted to dye his hair - but decided not to. So he was very pleased when Universal offered a contract - and let him use his real name. Montgomery was also more ambitious than his roles showed and he was particularly keen on an ambitious effort by the smaller Mascot studio - the life of Stephen Foster, called "Harmony Lane". It seemed in the mid thirties every studio was "classics crazy", even the smaller ones - Monogram had already filmed "Jane Eyre" with Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive and it was their most prestigious film to date. Like the other versions to come, Mascot stuck with the romanticized version of Foster's sad life - but much of the basic elements were true.
Eager young Stephen Foster (Montgomery) wants to have the world singing his songs - he owes a debt to an old black preacher ("Old Black Joe") who always believed in him (Clarence Muse) and he starts with "Oh, Susannah!". As usual in these biopics, apart from the preacher, his true love Susan (Evelyn Venable) is the only one who has faith in his songs, his music master (Joseph Cawthorn) is waiting for him to produce a great symphony. When he is forced to go to Cincinnati, to work with his brother, "Oh, Susannah!" takes off and it seems the whole world is singing it!! He does go to Cincinnati and, in no time at all, his ring is returned by the fickle Susan, who marries another (Lloyd Hughes, who only a few years before had been a leading man). She had been told by the artful Jane (Adrienne Ames, who else?) that Stephen has been carousing and drinking and with Susan now out of the picture, Jane steps in to capture the man she has always wanted. But he soon finds out she is grasping and mercenary and she looks down her nose at minstrels, which is how Stephen makes his money. When he introduces "Old Folks at Home" at the Christy Minstrel Concert, she walks out in disgust. Christy (William Frawley) introduces the song as his own composition but friends in the audience (Susan included) recognise the song as Stephen's own.
Even though Foster's story is highly dramatic, the movie opts for story over songs. Onlya few of the songs are heard in their entirety - certainly not the haunting "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" (probably because in real life he wrote it for his wife Jane). When Stephen realises that Jane is at the bottom of all his unhappiness he leaves and in his effort to earn enough money to send home to his little daughter, Marion, (Cora Sue Collins) he works himself into a breakdown and eventual dissipation as the fad for minstrel songs becomes old hat. He does have one last song in him, the very beautiful "Beautiful Dreamer" which, along with the countless others he wrote, proves to be a lasting legacy to him.
The very under-rated Montgomery rose above the banal script as he went from starry-eyed youth to a drunken pauper. Sensible, matter of fact Evelyn Venable always impressed and she was just perfect as Stephen's first love.
Eager young Stephen Foster (Montgomery) wants to have the world singing his songs - he owes a debt to an old black preacher ("Old Black Joe") who always believed in him (Clarence Muse) and he starts with "Oh, Susannah!". As usual in these biopics, apart from the preacher, his true love Susan (Evelyn Venable) is the only one who has faith in his songs, his music master (Joseph Cawthorn) is waiting for him to produce a great symphony. When he is forced to go to Cincinnati, to work with his brother, "Oh, Susannah!" takes off and it seems the whole world is singing it!! He does go to Cincinnati and, in no time at all, his ring is returned by the fickle Susan, who marries another (Lloyd Hughes, who only a few years before had been a leading man). She had been told by the artful Jane (Adrienne Ames, who else?) that Stephen has been carousing and drinking and with Susan now out of the picture, Jane steps in to capture the man she has always wanted. But he soon finds out she is grasping and mercenary and she looks down her nose at minstrels, which is how Stephen makes his money. When he introduces "Old Folks at Home" at the Christy Minstrel Concert, she walks out in disgust. Christy (William Frawley) introduces the song as his own composition but friends in the audience (Susan included) recognise the song as Stephen's own.
Even though Foster's story is highly dramatic, the movie opts for story over songs. Onlya few of the songs are heard in their entirety - certainly not the haunting "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" (probably because in real life he wrote it for his wife Jane). When Stephen realises that Jane is at the bottom of all his unhappiness he leaves and in his effort to earn enough money to send home to his little daughter, Marion, (Cora Sue Collins) he works himself into a breakdown and eventual dissipation as the fad for minstrel songs becomes old hat. He does have one last song in him, the very beautiful "Beautiful Dreamer" which, along with the countless others he wrote, proves to be a lasting legacy to him.
The very under-rated Montgomery rose above the banal script as he went from starry-eyed youth to a drunken pauper. Sensible, matter of fact Evelyn Venable always impressed and she was just perfect as Stephen's first love.