| Till the Clouds Roll By | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Whorf uncredited:
|
| Screenplay by | Myles Connolly Jean Holloway George Wells (adaptation) Uncredited:[2] Fred Finklehoffe John Lee Mahin Lemuel Ayers Hans Willheim |
| Story by | Guy Bolton |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | George J. Folsey Harry Stradling |
| Edited by | Albert Akst |
| Music by | Music: Jerome Kern Lyrics:[3]
|
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 132 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,316,000[4] |
| Box office | $6,724,000[4] |
Till the Clouds Roll By is a 1946 AmericanTechnicolor musical film produced byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composerJerome Kern, portrayed byRobert Walker. Kern was involved with the production, but died before its completion. It was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers.[1]
The film is one of the MGM musicals that entered thepublic domain when MGM failed to renew its copyright.[5]
Kern attends the opening night ofShow Boat in 1927, the landmark musical that secured his popularity. Following several of the show's most notable songs, Kern departs to reminisce about his early days as a young songwriter.
Kern recounts meeting Jim Hessler, a musical mentor, and Hessler's young daughter Sally. Kern and the Hesslers grow close, and he later visits them in London. Taking Sally to the fair inspires Kern to conceive a stage production for one of his songs. At theLondon Gaieties revue, Kern's song garners the attention of theatrical producerCharles Frohman.
When Kern happens to meet Eva Leale, it's love at first sight, but the courtship is cut short. He must abruptly sail back to New York to adaptThe Girl from Utah for its Broadway debut. Following the show's success, Kern narrowly misses sailing back to London on the ill-fatedRMSLusitania.
The 1917 opening night ofOh, Boy! includes the musical number "Till the Clouds Roll By". The composer proposes to Eva and returns to New York to continue his string of theatrical successes, includingLeave It to Jane. His 1920 musicalSally, starringMarilyn Miller, popularized the song "Look for the Silver Lining".
Now grown up, Sally Hessler asks her Uncle Jerry to help her get a stage role. He writes the song"Who?" for her to have a part in the 1925 musicalSunny. After the show's producers give the song to star Marilyn Miller, Sally leaves in protest. At the opening night ofSunny, Kern learns that Sally has run off, leaving her father despondent.
All attempts to locate Sally fail and Jim Hessler dies, leaving a mourning Kern unable to work.Oscar Hammerstein visits the Kerns to share a copy of the1926 novelShow Boat. The same night, Kern learns that Sally will be performing at a club in Memphis, Tennessee. He leaves to find her and they make amends; he then spends the night listening to the sounds of the Mississippi River.
Having recounted his life story so far, Kern feels his career has likely come to a conclusion withShow Boat. On the contrary, he continues to write hit shows, includingThe Cat and the Fiddle (1931) andRoberta (1933). While visiting a sound stage at MGM, Kern is delighted to discover that the studio has cast Sally to perform in a new film featuring his songs.
The film concludes with highlights of Kern's Hollywood career, including songs fromSwing Time (1936),Cover Girl (1944), andBroadway Rhythm (1944); the montage ends with songs fromSweet Adeline andShow Boat.
Cast notes
The working title for the film was "As the Clouds Roll By".[2]Gene Kelly was intended to play Kern, withGloria DeHaven,Jacqueline White,Imogen Carpenter, andJeanette MacDonald in major parts. None appeared in the film.[2]
When the film started production in the fall of 1945,Judy Garland was signed as Broadway singer-dancerMarilyn Miller, having just returned to California after a long New York honeymoon with her new husband, directorVincente Minnelli.[1] Soon after, Kern returned to New York toward the end of October and died in November 1945.
During the six months that it took to shoot the film, producerArthur Freed had to find one director after another.Lemuel Ayers, a set designer, was scheduled to make his directorial debut on the film, but was replaced byBusby Berkeley late in August 1945. Meanwhile, Minnelli – who, it was rumored at the time, would be taking over the direction of the film – was shooting Garland's sequences even before the beginning of principal photography as she was pregnant and expected to give birth in March 1946; her shooting was completed on November 8, 1945. By the time full shooting began in the middle of December, Berkeley had been replaced byHenry Koster, who then was replaced after a short period byRichard Whorf. Whorf received the onscreen directorial credit.[1][2] There was a break in production from some time in January 1946 to the middle of March of the same year.[2]
The film includes two versions of "Ol' Man River": the first sung by Caleb Peterson and an African-American chorus as part of theShow Boat medley, and the second, a "crooner version" byFrank Sinatra, featured as the grand finale.
Barbette consulted on the creation of the film's circus sequence.[6]
A video of an excised musical number survives from this film, but part of the soundtrack has been lost. Judy Garland, as Marilyn Miller, sings "D'Ya Love Me?" to two clowns in a circus setting, representing a scene from the Broadway musicalSunny.[7] The clowns are played by Swedish clowns Jean and Rene Arnaut, known as the Arnaut Brothers. Although uncredited, they appear in the edited movie in the walk-around at the start of theSunny circus.
The film was one of the early movies to have a soundtrack album released concurrently with it arriving in theaters. The soundtrack was produced by MGM Records, originally released as four 78-rpm records featuring various artists and songs from the film and cover artwork byLennie Hayton. The album was released on LP.[8] No official authorized version has yet been released on CD, but several unauthorized versions have appeared on the market.Rhino Entertainment currently owns the rights to issue an authorized CD of the soundtrack under license fromTurner Entertainment; in the past,MCA Records andSony Music Entertainment held such rights.[citation needed]
Bosley Crowther, reviewing the film forThe New York Times, wrote:[9]
"Why didMetro...have to cook up a thoroughly phoney yarn about the struggles of a chirpy young composer to carry the lovely songs ofJerry Kern? And why did it have to do it in such a hackneyed and sentimental way as to grate on the sensibilities of even the most affectionately disposed?"
Variety differed, opening its satisfactory notice with "Why quibble about the story?" and likening the film to another such venture, Cary Grant'sNight and Day.[10] In a retrospective review, American film criticPauline Kael wrote, "This monster thing, spawned at M-G-M, was meant to be the life of Jerome Kern."[11]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,100% of 6 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[12]
The film earned $4,748,000 in the U.S. and Canada box offices and $1,976,000 in other markets, but because of its high cost, the profit was $732,000.[4][13]
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
The film is one of several MGM musicals – another beingRoyal Wedding – thatentered the public domain 28 years after production because the studio did not renew the copyright registration.[5] As such, it is one of the more widely circulated MGM musicals on home video.Warner Home Video gave it its first fully restored DVD release on April 25, 2006.
Till The Clouds Roll By was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers: It was followed byWords and Music aboutRodgers and Hart in 1948,Three Little Words aboutKalmar and Ruby in 1950, andDeep in My Heart aboutSigmund Romberg in 1954.[1]
