Till the Clouds Roll By

MGM, 1946
Starring Robert Walker, Van Heflin, Lucile Bremer, and Judy Garland
Directed by Richard Whorf (with Vincent Minnelli, among others, uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, Dorothy Fields, and others

This is the first of four biographies of beloved composers of the first half of the 20th century that MGM released between 1946 and 1954. Jerome Kern is best known today for writing the music for Show Boat and several jazz and pop standards, but he also wrote everything from spectaculars to operettas to intimate romantic comedies with music. Can an all-star cast bring Kern's story and songs to life, or will the be more than a few clouds raining on this huge production? Let's find out...

The Story: We begin in 1927, with the debut of Kern's most famous musical, Show Boat. After a 20-minute mini-version, Kern tells his life story in flashback to an interested cab driver.  Kern seeks out Hessler (Heflin), a music arranger and lyricist, in the early 1900's to help him touch up a song he's working on. Kern and Hessler become close friends; Kern's considered by Hessler's daughter Sally (Joan Wells) to be an uncle. Hessler's off to England to work on a "big, important" symphony he keeps trying to write. Kern follows, in the hope of impressing American producer Charles Frohman (Harry Hayden) with his work. Not only does he catch Frohman's eye with one of his numbers, but he falls in love with Eva (Dorothy Patrick), an English beauty he meets when he works on a song in her father's tavern.

Kern reluctantly returns to the US to see his first song in a major musical, the ballad "They Didn't Believe Me" from The Girl From Utah. He does eventually marry Eva and mostly goes from success to success after that, especially after World War I makes home-grown talent and stories more attractive on Broadway. His most popular hit was the smash vehicle for beloved stage star Marilyn Miller (Garland) Sally. Sally Hessler (Lucile Bremer as an adult) is now old enough for the stage, but when she throws a fit because Miller gets a big song instead of her in the show Sunny, she runs away. Kern spends years looking for her. It's not until he finally scouts her out dancing in a nightclub that he's able to join Oscar Hammerstein (Paul Langdon) in creating the music for Show Boat and many other films and shows in the 1930's and early 40's.

The Song and Dance: The movie starts strong, with the twenty-minute version of Show Boat that seems to be something of a warm-up for MGM's early-50's remake. Cheery Walker and gruff Heflin are so warm and funny together, they make the first half a pleasure to watch. The scene where Kern meets Eva after walking into her house and playing her piano is awkwardly adorable. (It's also one of the few events in the film based after real-life. Evidently, Kern really did meet Eva when he walked into her father's tavern and started practicing his music.)

Favorite Number: The musical numbers are really the thing here, and are probably the only reason to see this. Lena Horne's touching "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" makes you regret that MGM passed her up for the 1951 Show Boat. Virginia O'Brian gets to perform two of my favorite comic Kern songs, "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" and in the finale, "A Fine Romance." Dinah Shore delivers gorgeous performances of two of Kern's best ballads, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "They Didn't Believe Me." Britisher Angela Lansbury brings a bit of the real England to "How'd Ya Like to Spoon Wit' Me?" June Allyson headlines the hilarious "Cleopatterer" and the spirited title song. Garland gives a us glimpse of Marilyn Miller's actual performance style in the scarves-and-boys routine "Who?"

For all the memorable chorus numbers, my favorite song is the duet "I Won't Dance" for Bremer and Van Johnson, who bring down the house with their energetic and delightful routine. No wonder Kern thought Sally was in good hands.

Trivia: This was begun in 1945, with Kern's input. After he died in November of that year, it was delayed several months and dedicated to him.

Till the Clouds Roll By is in the public domain. Cheap copies can still be found fairly easily on DVD and video.

Though it did relatively well in 1946, it still barely made a profit due to the long production and high cost.

What I Don't Like: The second half is where things flag. No amount of manufactured drama between Sally and Marilyn Miller can cover up the fact that Kern was pretty much went from hit to hit for most of the rest of his life. This is where you start to understand why many critics in the 40's complained about this feeling phony and overly sentimental. Walker, as warm and laid-back as he is with Heflin, is really too laid-back to suggest a driven musician. The movie may almost be too big, with too many stars and huge chorus numbers overwhelming the thin story. The finale, despite some good performances, is just too much - and ending with a skinny young Sinatra comes off as silly rather than reverent.

The Big Finale: The numbers and stars alone make this worth checking out for fans of the big MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's.

Home Media: Avoid all those public domain discs that litter eBay and Amazon. The one you want to look for is MGM's official DVD, released in 2006.

DVD