Genre:
Musical
Release Date: 07/20/1998
Sound: 5.1
Run Time: 135 min
Distributor/Studio: Madacy
MGM's
Till the Clouds Roll By is the musicalized, and highly fictionalized, life story of beloved composer
Jerome Kern, who gave his blessing to the production shortly before his death in 1946. As played by a gray-templed
Robert Walker,
Kern is a likeable but none too exciting sort who expresses his emotions through his music. Constructed in the form of an extended flashback, the story proper begins at the turn of the century, as
Kern tries to peddle his ditties to disinterested Broadway producers. His efforts to interest impresario
Charles Frohman (
Harry Hayden) go nowhere because
Frohman is convinced that the only good music comes from Europe. Obligingly,
Kern moves to London, where he meets and falls in love with his future wife
Eva (
Dorothy Patrick). On the verge of securing work with
Frohman,
Kern's hopes are dashed when the producer goes down with the
Lusitania in 1915. Fortunately,
Kern has developed such powerful U.S. contacts as
Victor Herbert (
Paul Maxey) and
Oscar Hammerstein (
Paul Langton), enabling him to find success as the composer of several "intimate"
musicals for New York's
Princess Theater. The film ends where it begins, with
Kern's triumph as composer of the Broadway blockbuster
Show Boat.
Van Heflin weaves in and out of the proceedings as the obligatory best friend/severest critic, a musical arranger named
Jim Hessler (purportedly based on longtime
Kern associate
Paul Sadler). No one in 1946 really cared about the dramatic passages of
Till the Clouds Roll By; the film's biggest drawing card was its lineup of all-star
MGM talent, performing
Kern's most famous numbers.
Judy Garland (as
Marilyn Miller) sings
"Look for the Silver Lining";
Dinah Shore performs
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" before a back-projected "Gay Paree";
Kathryn Grayson does a
Rita Hayworth imitation with
"Long Ago and Far Away";
Virginia O'Brien deadpans
"A Fine Romance";
Tony Martin warbles
"All the Things You Are";
June Allyson and
Ray McDonald team up for the title number; and
Frank Sinatra, incongruously dressed in white tuxedo, runs through
"Ol' Man River." In addition, other musical contributions are made by
Van Johnson,
Angela Lansbury,
Cyd Charisse,
Gower Champion, and
Lucille Bremer (cast as
Van Heflin's daughter). The film's high point comes at the very beginning with a
Reader's Digest edition of
Show Boat, featuring
Lena Horne, as
Julie (the role she was born to play, but never did again on screen), delivering a powerhouse rendition of
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Since lapsing into public domain in 1974,
Till the Clouds Roll By has, along with
Royal Wedding, become the most readily accessible of all
MGM musicals.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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