Words and Music (1948) User Reviews

Musical Moments Salvage Weak, Inaccurate Story and Dialogue

[gftbiloxi · 7/10 · 13 August 2005]

To describe the 1948 WORDS AND MUSIC as a "whitewashed" version of the famous song-writing team Rogers and Hart is a gross understatement. Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) was a homosexual in an era when such was flatly unacceptable; the pressures of the closet drove him into a wildly self-destructive alcoholism that ultimately killed him. Richard Rogers (1902-1979)was Hart's polar opposite, a highly disciplined individual who had zero tolerance for Hart's extremes. Their friendship and working relation was stormy, to say the least.

Needless to say, there was no way on earth that 1940s Hollywood could approach these facts. What we get instead is the story of the brilliant but glitchy Hart (Mickey Rooney) who is disappointed in love by singer Peggy McNeil (Betty Garrett), never gets over it, and falls apart as Rogers (Tom Drake) and his wife Dorothy (Janet Leigh) look on in dismay. It's pretty much a lot of pap, but fortunately for all concerned the movie gives us a lot of music along the way.

Most of the music is the form of cameos by a wash of MGM's musical stars. Perry Como has unexpected screen presence; Lena Horne, saddled with the excessive gesticulation and odd costumes typically inflicted upon her during her Hollywood years, still manages to give truly memorable performances of "Where or When" and "The Lady Is A Tramp;" June Allyson does a charming "Thou Swell;" Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen offer a memorable version of the jazz ballet "Slaughter on 10th Avenue." Other notables include Anne Southern, Cyd Charisse, and Mel Torme.

The big noise among the cameos is Judy Garland, who was battling MGM over withheld salary at the time and finally agreed to do two numbers to even out what the studio said she owed them. The result would be the final pairing of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in a motion picture, the two performing a charming duet of "I Wish I Were In Love Again," with Rooney clearly trying to break Garland up--and often succeeding. It's tremendous fun and followed by Garland's hard-belting and equally enjoyable "Johnny One Note."

Cameos aside, the primary cast is quite good with Rooney a stand out as Hart; one wonders at what performance he might have given if the script had been a no-holds-barred account. Granted, WORDS AND MUSIC is the sort film you watch for the musical moments rather than the plot--but when all is said and done it does what it does extremely well. Recommended, but primarily for musical fans.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Now That Cole Porter Got An Uncensored Version of His Life................................

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 August 2006]

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer certainly loved those musical biography films. The Arthur Freed unit there produced films about Rodgers&Hart, Jerome Kern, and Sigmund Romberg and managed not to tell the real story about any of them. But Arthur Freed shouldn't feel too bad because over at Warner Brothers they did one for Cole Porter starring Cary Grant and hardly got that one right either.

I suppose the reason Mickey Rooney was cast as Lorenz Hart was that he was short and a bundle of energy. They gave him some big black cigars to smoke which Hart was known to do and it seemed a natural and it was as far as it went.

But back in 1948 gay was a complete taboo on the screen and society in general. You just did not talk about it. Larry Hart was gay and that was the cross society made him bear during his life in more homophobic times. Like so many others he probably felt cursed.

The Betty Garrett character here is based on Vivienne Segal who was the leading lady in many Rodgers&Hart shows. Hart in fact did propose marriage to her on many occasions. My guess is that he thought Vivienne might 'cure' him. Vivienne being the wise woman she was, said no every time.

Many years ago when I lived in Brooklyn roughly in the early Eighties, I knew a man who would have been in his late sixties then. He was a chorus boy back in the early forties and was involved with Larry Hart. What information I had about Hart came from a biography of Richard Rodgers by David Ewen written in the middle fifties. My friend's name was Frank and he told me about places like the Luxor Baths and a bar called Ralph's. They were mentioned in passing in Ewen's book, but Frank mentioned to me that the Luxor Baths was a really ritzy place for upper class gay men and Ralph's was a known gay bar that catered to the gay show business crowd. Frank carried Larry Hart all barely five feet of him, stinking drunk out of those places many nights.

What would Larry Hart think of the gay rights movement if he were alive and over 110 now? I think he'd welcome it, but probably be a little jealous that Cole Porter and Noel Coward are now such gay icons and he is not.

The film itself does not even keep any kind of chronology in the same way that these others do. The show names are barely mentioned and the songs are sung completely out of chronological order. Tom Drake is a rather bland Rodgers, probably deliberately so to keep the focus on the Hart character. Janet Leigh is given little to do, but look supportive and kind as Dorothy Feiner Rodgers. Marshall Thompson plays Herbert Fields who wrote the book on a number of Rodgers&Hart shows and it is true that he introduced the team to each other.

The musical numbers however are in Hart's own words, swell, witty and grand. Perry Como sang great, but this was his last film, he was to score his great success in that new medium that was making its debut. Ann Sothern, June Allyson, and Lena Horne all sung those Rodgers&Hart songs each in their inimitable style. This film proved to be the last teaming of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney as they sang I Wish I Were in Love Again and then Judy sang Johnny One Note as a solo.

That by the way is an example of the bad chronology here. Rodgers and Hart were in Hollywood in the first half of the Thirties and Judy herself and arrived there until the second half. She was still in vaudeville as the youngest of the Gumm Sisters then and if she were to be dueting with Larry Hart he would have been in his late thirties and Judy would have been about 12.

What is true is the reason why Rodgers and Hart broke up and the manner of his death. For whatever reason Hart was drinking and partying, he started to do that more and more and would not and then could not sit down to work. The witty and romantic lyrics stopped pouring from him. Dick Rodgers got an offer to do a show with Oscar Hammerstein, II and he took it. Larry Hart did see the opening of Oklahoma and did go out and get totally snoggered and caught pneumonia and died. His body had been substance abused and he lost his will to create. What you see in Words and Music about that is completely accurate.

Now that Cole Porter got a truer portrait of himself done by Kevin Kline though hardly in a straight biographical narrative form, maybe someone will do Larry Hart's tragic story about a man who wrote some of the most beautiful poetry of the last century.

Our Funny Valentine

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 25 August 2006]

Like most biographies of musicians or lyricists WORDS AND MUSIC is great as a showcase of the music, but a bent synopsis of the life story. It's of a piece with films as diverse as A SONG TO REMEMBER about Chopin, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY about Cohan, NIGHT AND DAY about Cole Porter, or STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER about Sousa. Except for elements about Chopin's patriotism to his native Poland and his affair with George Sand (which was twisted unfairly against Sand) A SONG TO REMEMBER was the most successful film of this bunch in chronicling a composer's career and showing some type of tension ridden story line. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY was (due to the upbeat nature of Cohan's stage career) the best of these films, but hid everything negative about the man. The Cole Porter film NIGHT AND DAY did capture the problems of Porter's physical catastrophe (the riding accident that crippled him), but it left him a total heterosexual. It was not until the more recent movie with Kevin Kline that his homosexuality was brought out.

It was a distinct negative for YANKEE DOODLE DANDY that Cohan was still alive, and vetoed any information about his first wife Ethel Leavy, and his campaign against Actor's Equity. Cole Porter was similarly alive when NIGHT AND DAY came out, but the studio would never (in the late 1940s) discuss homosexuality. Otherwise, we know Porter loved the film - he said he could not complain about a movie where he was portrayed by Cary Grant!

With WORDS AND MUSIC, concentrating as it did on Lorenz Hart (safely dead in 1948) it made nonsense about that lyricists personal demons. As mentioned on another review, Hart was fully as gay as Porter or Tschaikovsky were. For most of his life he was unhappy about this and sought a woman he could love who would make him a heterosexual. As has been pointed out, Vivienne Segall was the Broadway star he approached on several occasions to marry, and he never could get her to say yes (probably a wise move by Vivienne). Unfortunately, her last rejection was during the revival of A CONNECTICUT YANKEE in 1943, and it played a role in undermining his spirits.

The film shows June Alysson doing the "Thou Swell" number from YANKEE's original production in 1930. For the revival, Hart wrote the lyrics for his last masterly piece - Morgan Le Fay's "To Keep My Love Alive", which Ms Segall sang on opening night. Ironically, Hart died before the opening night of the revival. Broadway people in the know were aware that Vivienne may have turned down Larry, but that she came as close to loving him as was possible for a woman. When she finished her number, there was a standing ovation for her - and for the man who was not quite the man of her dreams.

This film is full of good moments, from Alysson in the above number, and Perry Como doing "Mountain Greenery" and Rooney and Garland in their last duet on film. It does not touch upon the struggles of Hart and Rodgers in getting Hollywood to take their work seriously. Fortunately their skillful use of "song - dialog" appears in several of the Paramount films of the early 1930s, most notably in the great LOVE ME TONIGHT and HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM. There use of ballet (with George Ballanchine) in ON YOUR TOES on Broadway is not noted, nor is their pushing one of the best first book musicals: PAL JOEY.

One can go on like this about what is not properly shown. It was not until a few years later that a solid dual biography about collaborators in musical theater, THE GREAT GILBERT AND SULLIVAN, turned up with Robert Morley and Maurice Evans. But in that case, both central characters were safely dead, and their personal quarrels were so well known to make a real story line, punctuated by segments from their operettas. Even so, this was not enough to change Hollywood technique - the next big musical biography was THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER with Clifton Webb, a good film but barely with any details of the subject's life and non-musical achievements.

As was mentioned on this thread in another review, Larry Hart's final, fatal binge (reminiscent of the father's death in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, by the way) was done after his attending the first night's performance of OKLAHOMA. Hart probably saw the handwriting on the wall: a new lyricist named Oscar was on the horizon to take his place - a good family man or impeccable theatrical background and success, and not a drinker!

But there is another element to it. The split between Hart and Rodgers had been growing for awhile, and Rodgers (per forma) had offered the job of lyricist in OKLAHOMA to Hart. Hart did not like the book, and begged out. He actually was approached by another composer to do the lyrics for an operetta. It was Emmerich Kalman, best known for the operetta COUNTESS MARITZA. Hart was still thinking about this offer (he had done lyrics for the movie version of THE MERRY WIDOW for MGM in 1934). Whether he and Kalman might have been as successful as Rodgers and Hammerstein were is a curious question to ponder.

Notable only for its many musical numbers.

[hrd1963 · 17 February 2003]

A sanitized account of the personal lives and professional partnership of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. Tom Drake is his usual bland self as Rogers and Mickey Rooney is characteristically over-the-top as the self-destructive, troubled Hart. (According to the film, Hart's problems stemmed from a failed romance with a singer, played here by Betty Garrett. In truth, Hart was gay but this was only part of what contributed to his complicated personality.) The film is notable only for its many musical numbers. Among the highlights: Lena Horne's masterful rendition of "Where or When" and "The Lady is a Tramp"; June Allyson and the Blackburn Twins' charming "Thou Swell"; and Judy Garland and Rooney's spirited "I Wish I Were In Love Again" as well as Garland's dynamic "Johnny One Note". The show-stopper, however, is the brilliant jazz ballet, "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue", choreographed by Gene Kelly and danced expertly by Kelly and the fabulous Vera-Ellen. It, alone, is worth the price of admission.

There are many pleasures to be had, though the musical numbers are much more convincing than the biographical elements

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 20 October 2013]

Words and Music is one of those films that is heavily flawed but is still a pleasure to watch. The failures are mainly to do with the biographical parts, with anachronistic and rather stilted dialogue, an underwritten and stodgily paced story that takes truth liberties to the extent that Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart just don't seem very interesting and the heavier dramatic elements seemed on the ham-fisted side. Unfortunately there are also casting issues too. Tom Drake is so restrained as Rodgers that he comes across as colourless, especially when compared to Mickey Rooney who chews the scenery to pieces with the subtlety of a sledgehammer that seems at odds with the rest of the film. Janet Leigh also has very little to do and her performance doesn't register as a result. The film has lovely sets and costumes though and the cinematography is very nicely done. The music is top drawer with witty lyrics and melodies that are both beautiful and catchy. The choreography brims with sharpness and nostalgia too, and several of the performers are great. Of the musical numbers, my personal highlight was Slaughter on 10th Avenue, utter class of the highest order and danced to perfection by Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen. Very close is Thou Swell, June Allyson performs it with such lively energy, and you have to love the Blackburn Twins' coyness. Blue Room benefits from Perry Como's sensitive singing and Cyd Charise is able to show her elegant dancing and long legs just as beautifully. Mel Torme's rendition of Blue Moon is incredibly touching, as is Judy Garland and Rooney's(his best moment in the film easily) reunion rendition of I Wish I Were in Love Again. Garland's Johnny One-Note charms too and Lena Horne's The Lady is a Tramp is a winner. All in all, the biographical elements don't really work but the musical numbers do and the best ones(Slaughter on 10th Avenue and Thou Swell) are outstanding. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

Mickey Rooney Takes Manhattan

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 9 July 2009]

Even when you consider how these whitewashed Hollywood musical biopic extravaganzas usually play out, "Words and Music" is embarrassingly ill-conceived. MGM might have been wiser to borrow Abbott & Costello from Universal for the roles of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers. But, the movie is beautifully produced at all times, by Arthur Freed and the studio. And, the musical numbers range from terrific to indispensable. For a song, listen to Mel Tormé doing "Blue Moon"; it's one of the most beautiful renditions of that standard, and became a Capitol hit for Mr. Tormé. For a dance, observe Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen doing "Slaughter on 10th Avenue"; it's a superbly performed and choreographed vignette, and belongs with the best of Mr. Kelly's work.

****** Words and Music (12/9/48) Norman Taurog ~ Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake, Gene Kelly

A horrendous biopic, but a solid musical

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 22 January 2023]

This technicolor musical biopic from MGM and director Norman Taurog charts the lives of songwriter Richard Rodgers (Tom Drake) and lyricist Lorenz Hart (Mickey Rooney), from their early successes, to their mid-career successes, to their late career successes. We also see their various romances, bot the successes and the failures.

This movie can be looked at in two parts: a biopic, and a musical showcase. As far as biopics go, this was horrendous, as not only does it not shed any real light on who Rodgers and Hart were, or take a serious look at their process, it portrays character traits that are completely fictitious, while ignoring others that are integral to understanding who these men were, particularly Hart. On the musical front, as usual, if you're a fan of this type of music, and these particular songwriters, then you'll most likely love it, as there are some of Hollywood's best belting out the tunes. I enjoyed the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" ballet sequence with Kelly and Vera-Ellen, even if the latter looked a bit like she was suffering from a hip disorder rather then as if she were dancing.

delightful!

[willrams · 7/10 · 17 May 2004]

Another old movie from my garage vaults; one I always loved because of the great music and so many MGM stars. The loosely based biography of both Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. They were a great pair. Rogers wrote the music and Hart did the sometimes crazy lyrics Tom Drake plays Rogers, and Mickey Rooney plays Hart. The big numbers in this were by June Allison in "Thou Swell"; Judy Garland's "Johnny One-Note"; Judy and Mickey doing "I'll Take Manhattan"; Mel Torme's "Blue Moon", and many others. I believe this film was one of Perry Como's and Mel Torme's first. The story may seem like a hodgepodge of great talent, but who cares the music is wonderful! How could anyone not love Judy Garland or June Allison? 7/10

THE BEST OF MGM'S ALL-STAR MUSICALS

[frasuer · 10/10 · 3 September 1999]

During the 1940's, MGM produced a number of All-Star musicals. The most notable being The Ziegfeld Follies, Till the Clouds Roll By, and Words and Music. The Ziegfeld film is most remembered for its comedy routines: Fanny Brice, Red Skelton, Victor Moore, and Judy Garland's satirical "The Great Lady Gives an Interview". The other two films are idealized biographies of Jerome Kern ("Clouds") and Rodgers and Hart ("Words"), of which the latter is far and away the more entertaining. The Kern film followed closely on the death of the revered composer and is too respectful for its own good. "Words and Music", on the other hand, benefits greatly from the presence of Mickey Rooney (as Larry Hart) and the always delightful Betty Garrett. But, most of all, it's the wide variety of songs that Rodgers and Hart produced that make it such a joy to watch. From June Allyson's lively "Thou Swell" (a highlight in her career) to the dramatic "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" ballet with Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen (a forerunner of the sensual ballet's that Kelly performed in "An American in Paris" and "Singing in the Rain". And of course, there's the wonderful (and final) teaming of Rooney and Judy Garland (the amusing "I Wish I Were in Love Again").

From beginning to end, this is the best of MGM. Don't miss it.

untrue musical biography of Rodgers & Hart

[jaybob · 7/10 · 1 April 2001]

Just like Till the Clouds Roll By, this is a fictional biography of the song writing team of Rodgers & Hart. the musical numbers are worth the rental

When this film was made.They could not say that Lorenz Hart---Mickey Rooney's character was gay. so they made in a remorseful drunk.

Tom Drake was a very limp Richard Rodgers.

Odd note is the scene with Mickey & Judy Garland (she played herself & the song they sang was written many many years earlier, granted most people would catch that, BUT movie buffs sure would.

I was 20 at the time.

The ending of this film, you will seem made up by Hollywood writers. Sorry to disappoint you,. I verified this right after seeing film by going to the microfisch at the New York Daily News. I was very surprised to find that what seemed like a corn ball Hollywood ending was nearly 90% true.

as unbelievable as it looks on screen, it is accurate. For those who have not seen this, I will not spoil it for you

as always

Jay Harris

History it ain't!

[jbacks3 · 3/10 · 8 July 2009]

I sometimes imagine in horror that people, hundreds of years from now, will dig up _Night and Day (1946)_ (qv) or Words and Music and mistake it for actual history. Anachronisms jump off virtually every frame of both films: here for starters, the time line jumps back and forth inexplicably (it's 1925... no 1936! Nope, try a 1927 where everyone dresses like it's 1948). MGM---for obvious reasons--- brushed aside Lorenz Hart's angst over being gay (his actual personality was the polar opposite of Rooney's portrayal), The clothes are all wrong, songs are incorrectly connected to various productions and most glaringly, Perry Como (his last film) inexplicably morphs into himself in the last few minutes. MGM was in dire straits in 1948--- Loew's was breathing down an increasingly out of touch L.B. Mayer's neck over the red ink bleeding across most of the year's releases (1948 could arguably be cited as the beginning of the studio's long slow slide into decline). This is entertaining but, aside from the short shrift given the Rodgers and Hart partnership split and innumerable snubs at marriage proposals, there isn't any real truth in it. It's a collection of good-to-great musical numbers (best: Slaughter on 10th Avenue) tied to a story that never happened. Great R&H songs though... oddly watchable.

Grossly underrated piece of cinematic glory

[meg23 · 8/10 · 8 July 2009]

For years, I read again and again that this movie would disappoint me, that it was a waste of talent, that it was badly fictionalized, et cetera. What a load of hooey! The dialog is crisp and rings true, the musical numbers are full to the brim with pep and style, and the performances are nothing short of masterful! If you like music, Broadway, and old-fashioned musical brilliance, then this is the movie for you. I hate to sound like an advertisement, but you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll sing along, you'll dance in your seat! This is movie is not to be mistaken for a masterpiece, despite all of this. It is a very standard musical for the period and for the MGM style -- but that's the best!

Ordinary Movie, Great Music

[normpoyser · 6/10 · 12 June 2013]

For MGM, this was a sadly deficient movie "biography" (Bwahahahaha) of the Richard Rogers/Lorenz Hart writing team. I don't mind so much that it was totally dishonest - that's the way things were done back then and had to be done. And usually the stories don't matter in these things - but this one was totally distracting.

The script was poor, the acting not much better, and there was little continuity. Just words (most of which never happened) which meant little between scenes from Broadway shows.

The Rogers and Hart Music selected for inclusion was fine, and the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue jazz ballet scene choreographed by, and featuring Gene Kelly was movie making at its best. But while he has his moments on the screen in some movies, Mickey Rooney playing Hart was not one of them. The rest of the featured cast was mostly the MGM "B" team - Tom Drake, Perry Como, Cyd Charisse and Ann Southern.

Even the superstars added to make this look good, were pretty much limited to the aforementioned Kelly, Judy Garland who sang 2 songs, June Allyson (who sang one song) and the amazing Lena Horne. The rest of the "playing themselves" group were has beens or never to bees.

6 for the songs. And 3 more for Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Take away 2 for the "story" and 1 for the totally miscast Mickey Rooney.

6/10 Norm

Memorable for the music (and lyrics) only.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 20 March 2013]

In 1948, you couldn't make a biography of the true story of Lorenz Hart. That couldn't be done because of a little line in the Hays code that stated basically that any reference to homosexuality could not be presented on screen. So the very heterosexual Mickey Rooney was cast as Hart, and is still presented as troubled (insecure because of his height and lack of success with women, he turns to alcohol) while Tom Drake as Richard Rodgers is presented as very happily married and successful. That's basically all that happens, and in one of the lamest excuses for a guest appearance in a musical, Judy Garland (at 26 in 1948) meets Hart in a year when she was approximately 18 or 19, just so Rooney and Garland can share a duet.

Certainly that duet ("I Wish I Were in Love Again") is magic, as is Judy's other song ("Johnny One Note"), but unlike "Till the Clouds Roll By" (where she portrayed Marilyn Miller), she isn't out of place dramatically and historically in the film. Yes, just two years before, we were all supposed to believe that Cary Grant was Cole Porter in "Night and Day", another mediocre musical biography saved only for its cast and its songs. So here, it's just a parade of Rodgers and Hart's best songs sung by MGM's top stars. You do get a full chance to see Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen perform the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" ballet from "On Your Toes", June Allyson singin' up slang with "Thou Swell" in "A Connecticut Yankee", and Lena Horne in a nightclub singing "The Lady is a Tramp". Rooney figures out a clever way to introduce us to "Manhattan" (his lyrics basically scribbled all over a menu), while Perry Como ("Mountain Greenery") and Ann Sothern ("Where's That Rainbow"?) give us some obscure songs from forgotten Rodgers and Hart shows.

Rooney does get a brief love interest with Betty Garrett's character (supposedly based upon a man in real life), the ending of which sets him up with despair. He puts too much emphasis on the energy in his performance so when his character falls all the way down to ultimate despair, it doesn't come off as true. Some of Rodgers and Hart's best songs are missing (especially some classics from their two best known shoes, "The Boys From Syracuse" and "Pal Joey") and the casting of the dramatic parts seems entirely uninspired. You'll find a lot to like musically in this film, but as a whole, the film has aged as one of MGM's great disappointments, an entirely missed opportunity.

Watch it for the musical numbers.

[movibuf1962 · 10 September 2003]

I just saw it on TCM, and a fresh viewing of it gives rise to so many ironies regarding the real Lorenz Hart. Many critics have attacked the film because it so clearly ignores the facts. But what mainstream film do *you* know from 1948 that features an openly gay protagonist? When the studio is sweetness-and-light MGM you simply have to buy the premise and move on. (Note through all of Mickey Rooney's pursuit of Betty Garrett, she keeps alluding to 'something' about him that keeps her from marrying him. Foreshadowing?) Rooney, to his credit, seems to go for pathos in his performance but just overacts the role, and winds up making Hart into some kind of wind-up toy about to explode. Later in the film when he's wallowing in loneliness (punctuated in the party sequence with the song "Blue Moon"), the drama is much better. But more than anything else, there are the exhibits of the glorious songs: "Manhattan," "Thou Swell," "Small Hotel," "With A Song In My Heart," a double-bill of Judy Garland alone and with Rooney (the song "I Wish I Were In Love Again" is a standout); "Where Or When" and "The Lady Is A Tramp" given the chanteuse treatment by Lena Horne; "Blue Room" sung by Perry Como and danced (or, more accurately, spun like a top) by hostess Cyd Charisse; and the sexy "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" finale with Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen. Entertainment at its classiest, nothing more or less.

Post WW II pickup. "Where's that Rainbow"

[haustin-1 · 7/10 · 29 September 2005]

Coming out in 1948,was this glossy MGM musical intended as a cure for the postwar blues? Considering the thinness of the story line, a quite poor commentary on Lorenz Hart's short life,maybe it was supposed to be only entertainment. I think that it was. Perhaps it was dulled somewhat by the narration by Tom Drake as Richard Rodgers more or less presenting it as a brightened up musical documentary but otherwise I found it very enjoyable; but then there's a melody about Rodger's music that is just not here in modern pop numbers. The splash of color in Ann Sothern's rendering, "Where's that Rainbow" plus the whole production values makes this fine entertainment for those who like this style; Perry Como and the chorus put on "Mountain Greenery" quite well surrounded by scenery;there is an evocative song "Blue Moon" by Mel Torme,while "Hart" sits back in wistful reminiscence of his lost love. Neither the diminutive Mickey Rooney nor Tom Drake resemble in appearance or personality the famous duo, but what of it? It wasn't supposed to be a biography (or biopic,as it is now called),but a very colorful musical. The only likeness I found was Hart's unreliability and alcoholism ; but give it a plus for well delivered "Words and Music", including most impressive of all,Lena Horne's "Lady is a Tramp". "Words and Music"; that's all it was meant to be.

One of the better musical biopics

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 21 June 2018]

Usually, musical biopics from the 1940s and 1950s aren't that great, but Words and Music isn't that bad. It's the history of the partnership between Richard Rodgers, played by Tom Drake, and Lorenz Hart, played by Mickey Rooney. It's chalk-full of over a dozen of their greatest hits, sung by a dozen different stars, so not only is it a treat for audiences to see an all-star cast together in one movie, but it's a sweet way for many singers to honor their legacy.

Most of the movie focuses on Mickey Rooney, and if his characterization was true-to-life, I feel very sorry for Larry Hart, who had a sad and lonely life. If it weren't for the lovely songs, the movie might feel like too much of a downer. But, when Mickey Rooney sings "Manhattan," Judy Garland joins him for "I Wish I Were in Love Again," and Lena Horne performs "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "Where or When," it's hard to feel sad for very long.

An extra treat is the dance number "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," from the musical On Your Toes performed on an elaborate stage set by Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen. I'm a huge fan of both, and while I've always thought Vera-Ellen was beautiful, cute, and had an incredible figure, she wasn't really known for having much sex appeal. In this dance number, she must have taken lessons from Gene, because they are absolutely smoldering together. Her costume almost shows too much, and they seem connected by an invisible string as they give audiences a particularly boundary-pushing dance. Robert Alton's choreography more than makes up for June Allyson's song-I think the person who first told her she could sing must have been deaf-"Thou Swell."

old fashion Hollywood

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 3 January 2018]

Larry Hart (Mickey Rooney) is an energetic songwriter. Herb Fields brings in Richard Rodgers to play his song and becomes his writing partner. The movie is told through Rodgers' eyes. Hart is taken with singer Peggy Lorgan McNeil. Fields gains some success and brings in his friends for a new Broadway show. Rodgers proposes to older leading actress Joyce Harmon but she turns him down.

This is a fictionalized account of the music writing duo. The real story is nowhere to be found and shouldn't be expected especially during that era. It does feel scattered following both guys. Tom Drake doesn't have quite the charisma. Rooney and Garland have a final pairing. It's old fashion including the musical performances. At least, it has the songs. It's old fashion in many different ways.

Just For The Music

[DKosty123 · 6/10 · 15 August 2017]

After watching this one, the main reasons to watch this are the musical moments. Those moments are topped by -

Lena Horne is great doing 2 numbers.

Judy Garland with and without Mickey Rooney is great in 2 numbers.

Perry Como is excellent too, though today's generation is wondering who Perry is pretty much?

As far as the story, yes it is creative fiction making Mickey Rooney act depressed when the real reason for being depressed is that the real person he is based on is gay, but that fact can not be revealed in 1948. Actually Rooney is the only person in the cast to get an acting role pretty much. Everyone else is kind of just there.

The party reveals this as you see a bunch of people hanging out until 4AM and then going home. They appear to be a bunch of aimless vagabonds who are just at the big party to be seen.

This is a great power cast, and Norman Taurog is a solid director who did some interesting work with a lot of films. Here though, it is a sequence to sequence driven film with music carrying the day and night.

This film proves entertainment can be produced with just music but a classic film needs a better script. Since Gay is taboo in 1948, that could not happen. Maybe in a guts check move, a major studio could try to do the true story in one of these from back then? No, I do not think a studio will try to do that unless they can find a way to make money. In today's films, making money is the story.

This big budget MGM film is all about making money by using a super star cast and great music to celebrate peace, but does not have the freedom to tell the true tale.

All singing, all dancing, all star cast of thousands

[morgana-31 · 10/10 · 20 February 2007]

I first saw this movie on TV in 1963. I was only 13 years old. What caused me to sit down and watch was the mention of Mel Torme in the opening credits. I had only just become favorably aware of this man's music but had never seen as much as a photo of him.

This was my first experience of 'The Musical' genre of film and I was enchanted from beginning to end. Well apart from the Mel Torme bit. I think we got more of Larry Hart looking miserable, and his mother looking out of the window (no doubt wondering when this party was going to end. It's 4am and she probably needed her beauty sleep) than we did of Mel.

I was stunned by the brilliant 'Slaughter On 10th Avenue' sequence. There was stuff like this available and yet kids my age were listening to the Beatles? What on earth was wrong with the world? And Lena Horne's out-standing performance of The Lady Is A Tramp just blew me away.

Plot? OK it was sanitized but I didn't know that at the time. Homosexuality was never mentioned back then. I just figured that anyone who would write a song like 'My Funny Valentine' would never score with the ladies.

"Your looks are laughable - unphotographable" Come on. You can't be serious?

I finally found this on DVD a few days ago and couldn't believe my luck. I had wanted to see it again ever since reading in Mel Torme's autobiography that he and Richard Rodgers had had a falling out over how to handle the vocals on 'Blue Moon'. Mel had wanted to go with the meaning of the lyrics, example 'you heard me saying a prayer... (pause) for someone I really could care for.

Rodgers had insisted that he stick with the rhyme, example you heard me saying a prayer for (pause) someone I really could care for.

Sorry, Dick, but I'm with Mel on that one.

A Must=See Musical!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 23 September 2017]

All songs by Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics). This of course is the reason for seeing the movie. Nobody should pay the least attention to the rubbishy story which though allegedly based on the lives of Rodgers and Hart, is the most unashamed piece of the blandest Hollywood hokum.

From memory, only three points in the script are true: (1) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart did collaborate on a number of Broadway shows including "On Your Toes", and the books for some of these shows were written by Herb Fields; (2) Rodgers did marry a girl named Dorothy Feiner; (3) Hart was sometimes (not "often" as the script claims) late for appointments.

Just about everything else in this musical biography is false. Not helping matters are Tom Drake's impossibly lackluster performance as Rodgers versus Mickey Rooney's outrageously hammy impersonation of Hart. Taurog's dreary direction further heightens ennui.

The musical numbers, fortunately, are something else. Colorfully photographed by Harry Stradling, vigorously staged and choreographed by Robert Alton, they nearly all have a life and vitality which brilliantly complements Hart's astringent lyrics and Rodgers' catchy melodies. Excellent orchestrations by Conrad Salinger give the music plenty of color without drowning the melodic line (a common fault in Hollywood musicals of the late 40s and early 50s). The M-G-M Studio Orchestra under the baton of Lennie Hayton is at its best.

Most impressive of all, the sound — particularly when measured against the very modest standards of M-G-M — has a remarkable range and fidelity. Admittedly the sound levels between the songs and the story don't match, but by M-G-M's normal tin-ears syndrome, this is a minor defect.

Shaggy Dog Musical

[Forn55 · 3/10 · 24 July 2011]

Oh, dear, dear, dear. What can one say about "Words and Music?" That it contains some boffo musical numbers? Sure. That it has cameo appearances by a whole galaxy of Hollywood musical stars? Check. That it keeps on going with a "and then this and this and this happened" rhythm that would make even the shaggiest of shaggy dog storytellers blush? Yup. Alas. This big, white-washed, no-expenses-spared movie musical has about as much to do with lyricist Hart's real life story as "Night and Day" had to do with that of Cole Porter. Rooney was (presumably) cast by the studio since he could sing and was a big box-office draw, but here he seems to be channelling the spirit of a chipmunk with Broadway aspirations; anyone seeing this movie would come away with the impression that Hart's fundamental problem was that he was short. Hart's alcoholism is (tastefully) glossed over; his homosexuality is never even mentioned.

However... every time the viewer is fed up with the bland dialogue, or the inability of the studio to decide just what era to set the film in, along comes one of those boffo musical numbers to lull (or club) you into dewy-eyed attentiveness. My advice is to rent this movie and fast-forward through all the "drama", pausing only to enjoy the musical numbers. You'll have a good time and it'll cut the film's running time down to a sparkling hour plus change

no story to speak of, but sizzling musical numbers

[didi-5 · 8/10 · 13 January 2009]

The high score I've given this is purely for the musical numbers - 'On Your Toes', 'There's a Small Hotel', 'Johnny One Note', 'I Wish I Were In Love Again', 'On Your Toes', 'Blue Moon', 'A Blue Room', 'Mountain Greenery', and best of all, the dance sequence to 'Slaughter on 10th Avenue'. Performers showcased in this movie include Judy Garland, Perry Como, June Allyson, Betty Garrett, Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen, who are all great.

As Rodgers and Hart themselves, Tom Drake (a bit colourless) and Mickey Rooney (a bit manic) are passable, but the story has little to do with the reality of their lives. As a biopic, then, this film is laughable. But as a musical showcase, it works well.

More Stars Than In the Heavens - But !!!!!!!

[joseph952001 · 7/10 · 24 August 2006]

M.G.M was proud to say that they had more stars than in heaven, and this may be true, but boy - did I luck out! This movie has practically everyone in it that I don't like! Don't get me wrong. This is a very good movie for a couple hours entertainment in which you don't have to wonder how Scarlett will get Rhett back, that is, if she ever could, but talented as they all are, I just don't like Mickey Rooney, Marshall Thompson has always sounded like he's got mush in his mouth, Cyd Charisse - oh those legs, and can she dance, but there's something very snobbish about her. Gene Kelly, a fine artist, always reminded me of a truck driver trying to tap dance. There's something very annoying about Janet Leigh; just wish she would have stopped her career when she did her famous shower scene. Tom Drake acts like a mortician and expecting Judy Garland to save him, but never fear Tom, Ms Judy and her nervous-norvice psychotic bug-eyed performing is later in the movie with Mickey Rooney who should have been cast as a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. I will admit that I like Perry Como, ex-barber turned singer, and the wonderful and talent Vera Ellen is not showed off for her extraordinary talent as she was in Three Little Words with Fred Astaire. Lena Horne - oh please - don't get me started on her. I was in the armed forces with Ethel Waters nephew, and he and his Autie had nothing very nice to say about Ms Horne in which she blew her horn to much with her wide-eyed psychotic look on her face while singing! I'd rather hear her sing on recordings. Then there's gravel voiced June Allyson who cried more than Doris Day did in her movies, and that's a lot of crying. I could go on, and on, and on, but you will see Alyne McLerie in the "In a Mountain Greenery" song that Perry Como sings, and she would later play with Doris Day in Calamity Jane. Gee was so talented. Ended up later on W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati playing the owner of the stations wife. What a talent she was. She made "The Desert Song" with Kathryn Grayson, and "Calamity Jane" with Doris Day and then just sort of disappeared until W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati, but at that time, musicals were starting to fade out the picture. This movie is very entertaining, but sadly I don't like most of the stars in this film but I can appreciate it for what it is. I can take this movie about every two years to watch, and I still cringe watching it!

Inaccurate tacky late 40's musical

[barrymn1 · 1/10 · 26 June 2012]

This and WB's "Night And Day" are classic examples of how the major studios could distort 1920's and 1930's musical history to what they think was appropriate fact for 1940's audiences.

There's hardly any accurate about this account of Rodgers and Hart's career.

Everyone's dressed in 1947 clothing, even though much of it takes place in the 1920's. MGM was incapable of showing the way things really were (only Minneli's "Meet Me In St Louis" was close to being visually correct.) To top it off, let me be one of the apparent few to consider Mickey Rooney's way-over-the-top typical performance and extremely modest voice. I just don't understand how he became such a huge star.