Musique dans mon coeur

This has to be one of the most underrated of Rita's films, yet is up there with the best. A very short runtime of just 69 minutes, it still manages to dish up a delightful 'boy meets girl' tale - when their cabs collide, of course changing both their destinies. A simple little musical, it gives Rita just the one dance, which is not photographed all that well, but shows what will be in years to come. Any Rita fans out there, you will thoroughly enjoy this I guarantee it. I almost didn't buy it when I had the chance due to not being able to find reviews anywhere, so I feel I have to write this to save someone else from passing it up!

Rita Hayworth stars in a film that would have been better served by having Ginger Rogers in it.

Rita misses the boat and therefore an opportunity to wed wealthy boyfriend Alan Mowbray who has a contentious butler, played by the usual witty Eric Blore. In a taxi-cab mishap, she meets up with Tony Martin, who is about to be deported.

The rest of the film is devoted to hiding Tony out from immigration authorities. George Tobias plays a Russian chef whose major claim to fame was that he was honored by the tsar for his blintzes!

The gags are predictable and we can all guess what the plot shall bring. We needed Tony to be singing more. The film ends with him singing the title song. Hayworth has a one scene fling at dancing which is great but more of this was needed.

Rita Hayworth was one of the busiest women in the business in the late thirties and forties. "Music in My Heart" is one of the five releases she participated in 1940. Her ascent into the stratosphere was obvious. Unfortunately, this movie, while pleasant, didn't quite show her at her best. Paired with Tony Martin, who was borrowed for this film, paid off because both leading stars make a nice couple.

The film's weak plot can't hide its obvious faults, but the amazing cast that was assembled for this production make up for the silliness of the premise. We are asked to believe that Bob Gregory, an aspiring singer who has just made a last minute splash substituting for the star of a Broadway show, is going to be deported by Immigration. It shows how sadly dated the idea is judging by the massive influx of illegal immigrants to this country and nobody is sent home!

Tony Martin had one of the most melodious voices of his generation. He has an excellent opportunity as he sings a few songs. His rendition of "Pulcinello", and "It's a Grey World", are wonderful examples of what he could do with his voice. He also cast a fine figure opposite the leading lady.

The supporting cast does a great job in the picture. The sweet Edith Fellows, is seen as Mary, the loyal sister. Eric Blore, George Tobias and Alan Mowbray, make the film better by their contributions. Joseph Stanley directed.

It's good to see a very young Rita Hayworth (before her Columbia make-over) looking terrific and having a lot of fun along with young and handsome Tony Martin who's in excellent voice singing pleasant songs including the Oscar nominated IT'S A BLUE WORLD. They give delightful performances and work well together.

A fine supporting cast is headed by the charming, underrated Edith Fellows who assists Martin in two numbers. While Alan Mowbray, Eric Blore, George Tobias and George Humbert all do well in the kind of parts they had played many times before but which was welcomed with glee by audiences of the thirties and forties.

Rita gets a chance to dance a little but her exceptional terpsichorean talents are wasted here.

A most enjoyable way to pass an hour.

"Music in My Heart" is a light comedy and musical romance. Columbia Pictures wasn't yet among the top studios in Hollywood, but it was beginning to compete well with the Big Five in comedies, musicals, and dramas. This film came out while World War II was underway, but a full year before the U. S. would enter the war. Rita Hayworth had been in films for six years, but her star was just beginning to rise after the 1939 smash hit with Cary Grant, "Only Angels Have Wings" Sill, she had second billing here to Tony Martin who was a popular singer and actor at the time.

Both Martin (as Robert Gregory) and Hayworth (as Patricia O'Malley) sing in this picture, and while it's not billed as a comedy, the comedy carries much of the film. It has a fine supporting cast of some top comedy actors of the period -- Eric Blore, Alan Mowbray, and George Tobias. Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra add to the music. A better screenplay could have made more use of Blore and Mowbray.

The plot is fair and has a very unusual, but funny and happy ending. Martin, by the way, was a very accomplished musician on a couple of instruments as well. Here are some favorite lines from the film.

Robert Gregory, "You don't mean Charles Gardner, the millionaire publisher?" Patricia O'Malley " Uh huh." Gregory, "Say, he's got lots of money." O'Malley, "Most millionaires have."

Robert Gregory, "If you don't mind me saying so, you don't sound very much in love with him." Patricia O'Malley, "I do mind." Gregory, "Well, then, I won't say it."

Griggs (Eric Bore), "Shall we try some more bicarbonate, sir?" Charles Gardner (Alan Mowbray), "No, the bicarbonate interferes with the brandy."