Sinfonías del corazón

Hollywood sometimes went pretty far afield to find offbeat plots and Torch Singer is one the most offbeat you will see. It starts off soapy and ends up as a love story of sorts and in between there is some comedy and some musical numbers - something for everyone. I kept waiting for it to descend into bathos and tears but Claudette Colbert was so excellent that she singlehandedly kept the show afloat.

Ordinarily I don't care for Colbert much but I found new respect for her acting ability and was amazed to learn she sang her own songs in this picture. Other readers have rehashed the story but I just want to add a few words about the supporting cast. It was refreshing to see Ricardo Cortez in a role that was not sinister - in fact, he was kind-hearted and almost tender. I can never get enough of Lyda Roberti, who I thought had a future as a top film comedienne but died too soon. Here she's only on screen for about 15 minutes. In a night club scene you can get a glimpse of Dennis O'Keefe behind David Manners' shoulder.

This picture was headed for a sub-par rating from me as it is a very odd and contrived story, but as reported it was salvaged by Colbert's performance. Just enjoy it and don't ask too many questions.

The soap suds reach almost to the ceiling in "Torch Singer" but that's part of the fun. Claudette Colbert and the rest of the excellent cast have a grand old time as they work their way through the somewhat rusty plot. Colbert sings a couple of songs and wears some smashing gowns as she portrays a chorus girl with a heart of gold who's forced to give up her baby daughter and become a torch singer to earn a living in Depression-era New York. In no time at all she's the toast of the town, with a fancy apartment, a maid, and a boy friend who's a big radio executive. She covers up her need for her daughter by drinking, dancing and carrying on, and does it ever look like fun. But it all works out in the end, and with only minutes to spare.

Look for Lyda Roberti, the Polish bombshell in the first part of the movie as Colbert's friend and roommate. Roberti died tragically young, with only a few films to her credit, notably "The Kid From Spain " and "Million Dollar Legs," in which she played Mata Machree, The Woman No Man Can Resist. "Torch Singer" is kind of tame for a pre-Code feature but it's fun and well worth watching.

It's fun to see Colbert warbling the blues (several times) and kiddies lullabies in this well made and directed soap. Unwed and unable to manage she gives up her baby and becomes a disreputable torch singer and the hottest attraction around. Colbert goes from forlorn unwed mother to Mae-Westian blues singer in a captivating role. "Realization" puts her "back on track" to find her daughter. All this in 72 minutes! Good support from Lyda Roberti, Ricardo Cortez and David Manners. It's a shame this isn't available on video.

"I get a lot of proposals too, but marriage isn't one of them."

This is such a great vehicle for the adorable and talented Claudette Colbert, so despite this film's flaws, if you're a fan of hers, it's one to see. She plays a woman who has a child out of wedlock, making a highly sympathetic protagonist, something that clearly puts us in pre-Code territory at the beginning of the film (and speaking of adorable, the babies we see early are on are mighty cute too). Her roommate (Lyda Roberti) has to fend off workplace harassment before disappearing, leaving Colbert's character unable to pay the rent and begging for help from the wealthy family of the baby's father. She's turned away, so in her desperation, decides to give up her baby to the church who helped her with her pregnancy. She leaves her baby with this advice: "Don't ever let any man make a sucker out of you. Make them know what you're worth. Anything they get for nothing is always cheap."

The film then settles into its next act, which has her becoming a nightclub, er torch singer, starting from the bottom. The scene of her listlessly singing in front of a couple shoveling spaghetti into their mouths is priceless, but soon she's performing in much finer venues. Of course she is, she's Claudette Colbert, and for me it was a treat to hear her sing in this film. Her sleek hairstyles and the gowns from Travis Banton are stunning, and soon she draws the attention of an admirer (Ricardo Cortez). The film was firing on all cylinders at this point, as Colbert seems to toughened and flirtatious, for example, this interaction with a middle-aged businessman:

Him: "I don't stay up that late on account of my lumbago." Her: "Oh, lumbago? (sweeping her eyes over him, then looking him in the eye) I have something grand for lumbago. ... I'll fix you up."

The film then shifts when after rising to the top, she fills in as the radio voice for a children's bedtime show on a lark, and becomes a hit there too. You can see what's coming a mile away, her desire to reunite with her now 5-year-old daughter, something I had resigned myself to, but then on top of it the film piles on the child's father (David Manners), having returned from China and who says he had wired for her before leaving. I loved how Colbert's character was never punished for having premarital sex, but the film ends with the nuclear family restored in a rather nauseating and predictable climax, complete with Cortez's character bowing out gracefully (not to mention the adoptive parents).

Colbert is radiant though, and shows a lot of range, including desperation, comedy, caring for babies and children, flirtation, singing, and depressed to the point of intoxication. There were several cute kids here too, including a little black girl (Carlena Beard) who is treated with heartwarming love. There's a supporting role for a black maid as well (Mildred Washington) and the scene where she's caught dancing is amusing; it was sad to find out she died at just 28, the year this film came out.

For only a 72 minute movie Torch Singer packs quite a lot into the film with Claudette Colbert playing the starring role of an unwed mother who is forced to give up her daughter as she can't locate the baby's father David Manners and his rich family won't give her the time of day. She supports herself by becoming a nightclub singer and according to a recent biography of Claudette Colbert she actually sung her own numbers which were written by songwriting team of Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger for the film. Claudette's scenes with her child, her prospective in-laws and with the nuns running the adoption facility are heartbreaking and touching on melodrama.

A case of 'mike fright' scares off the prospective host of a children's radio program and sultry torch singer Claudette substitutes as the story lady who sings lullabies and tells fairy tales. Which gives her a day time career as well as a nighttime one as long as she can keep the secret. In the meantime the show affects her and decides to seek her child.

Claudette proves to have a nice style as a singer much as Susan Hayward did when played Lillian Roth in I'll Cry Tomorrow. And she treads on Barbara Stanwyck territory as a woman made hard by the circumstances of her life.

Ricardo Cortez who after the silent screen days ended where he played Latin lovers as a poor man's Rudolph Valentino, in sound either played smart alecks or downright heels. I was fully expecting him to be a heel in this film, but he turns out to be a nice guy as a radio executive who sympathizes with Colbert and her situation.

Lyda Roberti also makes an appearance here playing a fellow unwed mother who rooms with Colbert for a while. Her character has all too little time in Torch Singer, I wish we saw more of her.

Claudette Colbert whose career in 1933 was really beginning to take off moved a bit higher with this film. It holds up very well for today's audience.