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Till the Clouds Roll By

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Wikipedia article




'Till The Clouds Roll By' is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker. Kern was originally involved with the production, but died before it was completed. It has a large cast of well-known musical stars of the day who appear performing Kern's songs. It was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway's composers; it was followed by 'Words and Music' (Rodgers and Hart, 1948), 'Three Little Words' (Kalmar and Ruby, 1950), and 'Deep in My Heart' (Sigmund Romberg, 1954).

The film is one of the MGM musicals that entered the public domain on their 28th anniversaries because MGM did not renew their copyrights.

Plot summary



Cast



* Robert Walker as Jerome Kern

* June Allyson as Herself/Jane in 'Leave It to Jane'

* Lucille Bremer as Sally Hessler

* Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller

* Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia Hawks in 'Show Boat'/Herself

* Van Heflin as James I. Hessler

* Lena Horne as Julie LaVerne in 'Show Boat'/Herself

* Dorothy Patrick as Eva Kern

* Van Johnson as bandleader in Elite Club

* Tony Martin as Gaylord Ravenal in 'Show Boat'/Himself

* Dinah Shore as Herself

* Frank Sinatra as Himself

* Gower Champion as Specialty dancer in 'Roberta'

* Cyd Charisse as Specialty dancer in 'Roberta'

* Angela Lansbury as London specialty

* Ray McDonald as Dance Specialty in 'Oh, Boy!' and 'Leave It to Jane'

* Virginia O'Brien as Ellie Mae in 'Show Boat'/Herself

* Mary Nash as Mrs. Muller

* Joan Wells as Young Sally Hessler

* Harry Hayden as Charles Frohman

* Paul Langton as Oscar Hammerstein II

* Paul Maxey as Victor Herbert

'Cast notes'

* Esther Williams makes a cameo appearance

* Sally Forrest and Mary Hatcher make appearances as "chorus girls".

* Kathryn Grayson reprised the role of Magnolia Hawks in MGM's film adaptation of 'Show Boat', released in 1951.



File:Bruce Cowling in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Bruce Cowling

File:Dorothy Patrick in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Dorothy Patrick

File:Dinah Shore in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Dinah Shore



Production



as Julie Laverne in a mini-production of 'Show Boat', singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".

The working title for the film was "As the Clouds Roll By". Gene Kelly was originally intended to play Kern, with Gloria DeHaven, Jacqueline White, Imogen Carpenter, a stage actress, and Jeanette MacDonald in major parts. None appeared in the film.

The first 15 minutes of the film consist of a condensed adaptation of Act I of 'Show Boat', with the order of some of the songs shifted - "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is sung after "Life upon the Wicked Stage", and "Ol' Man River" was used as an Act I Finale, dissimilar to the show. "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" as sung by Lena Horne was filmed, like many of her other musical numbers in MGM films, so that it could be easily removed from the print by sensitive Southern distributors.

When the film started production in the fall of 1945, Judy Garland was signed as Broadway singer-dancer Marilyn Miller, having just returned to California after a long New York honeymoon with her new husband, director Vincente Minnelli. Soon after, Kern returned to New York towards the end of October and died in November 1945.

During the six months that it took to shoot the film, producer Arthur Freed had to come up with one director after another. Lemuel Ayers, a set designer, was originally scheduled to make his directorial debut on the film, but was replaced by Busby 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 by Henry Koster, who was also replaced after a short period by Richard Whorf. Whorf ended up receiving the onscreen directorial credit. There was a break in production from some time in January 1946 to the middle of March of that year.

The film includes two versions of "Ol' Man River" - the first sung by Caleb Peterson and an African-American chorus as part of the 'Show Boat' medley, and the second, a "crooner version" by Frank Sinatra, featured as the grand finale.

Barbette consulted on the creation of the film's circus sequence.

Songs



* "Cotton Blossom" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Where's the Mate for Me" - Tony Martin

* "Make Believe" - Kathryn Grayson/Tony Martin

* "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" - Virginia O'Brien/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus Girls

* "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" - Lena Horne

* "Ol' Man River" - Caleb Peterson/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Ka-Lu-a" - MGM Studio Orchestra

* "How'd You Like to Spoon with Me" - Angela Lansbury/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "They Didn't Believe Me" - Dinah Shore

* "Till the Clouds Roll By" - June Allyson/Ray McDonald/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Leave It to Jane" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus/June Allyson/Ray McDonald

* "Cleopatterer" - June Allyson/Ray McDonald/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Leave It to Jane" (Reprise) - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus/June Allyson/Ray McDonald

* "Look for the Silver Lining" - Judy Garland

* "Sunny" - Judy Garland/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Who?" - Judy Garland/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "One More Dance" - Lucille Bremer (Dubbed by Trudy Erwin)

* "I Won't Dance" - Van Johnson/Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin)

* "She Didn't Say Yes" - Lee and Lyn Wilde, aka "The Wilde Twins"

* "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" - Cyd Charisse/Gower Champion

* "The Last Time I Saw Paris" - Dinah Shore

* "The Land Where the Good Songs Go" - Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin)

* "Yesterdays" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

* "Long Ago (and Far Away)" - Kathryn Grayson

* "A Fine Romance" - Virginia O'Brien

* "All the Things You Are" - Tony Martin

* "Why Was I Born?" - Lena Horne

* "Ol' Man River" (Reprise/Finale) - Frank Sinatra/MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

Surviving Judy Garland song outtake

A video of an excised musical number survives from this film, although 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 musical 'Sunny'.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfutAMxA5qk Judy Garland in outtake from 'Till the Clouds Roll By' (1946); soundtrack partially missing] on YouTube

Soundtrack album



in a scene based on the musical 'Sunny'

" from 'Sunny'

" from the musical 'Sally'

The film was one of the first motion pictures to have a soundtrack album released concurrent with it arriving in theaters. The soundtrack was produced by MGM Records. It originally contained four 78-rpm records featuring various artists and songs from the film and front-cover artwork by Lennie Hayton. Later the album was released on LP.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/461/Till-the-Clouds-Roll-By/trivia.html "Trivia"] TCM.com

No official authorized version has yet been released on CD, but several unauthorized versions have (Rhino Entertainment currently owns the rights to issue an authorized CD of the soundtrack, under license from Turner Entertainment; in the past, MCA Records and Sony Music Entertainment held such rights). This is due to MGM allowing the film to fall into public domain.

Reception



Critical response

Bosley Crowther, reviewing the film for 'The New York Times', wrote:

"Why did Metro...have to cook up a thoroughly phoney yarn about the struggles of a chirpy young composer to carry the lovely songs of Jerry 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' began its review with a similar sentiment: "Why quibble about the story?" In a retrospective review, American film critic Pauline Kael commented, "This monster thing, spawned at M-G-M, was meant to be the life of Jerome Kern."

Box office

The film earned $4,748,000 in the US and Canada box office and $1,976,000 elsewhere, but because of its high cost the profit was only $732,000.[https://archive.org/stream/variety169-1948-01#page/n62/mode/1up "Top Grossers of 1947", 'Variety', 7 January 1948 p 63]

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

* 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominated

Home media



The film is one of several MGM musicals – another being 'Royal Wedding' – that entered the public domain 28 years after production because the studio did not renew the copyright registration. As such, it is one of the most widely circulated MGM musicals on home video. Warner Home Video gave it its first fully restored DVD release on April 25, 2006.

References




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