Carnegie Hall

I disagree with those here who said the story that frames this showcase for classical musicians is mediocre or worse. Though it's a variation on "the Jazz Singer", I thought the script especially well written, and believably and very likably acted by Marsha Hunt. The scene where her character's adult son finally asserts his independence was so passionately acted by William Prince that I was startled. I didn't suspect that the son was, in real life, older than his "mother"; Marsha Hunt did a fine job playing an older woman.

For me, many of the classical music performances were boring, despite the talented and famous cast of musicians. Mostly this was because the un-enhanced 1947 audio did such a poor job of reproducing the music (TCM 2013 showing). I did enjoy seeing Stowkowski conduct in his graceful flamboyant manner (and I suspect that some of the footage may have been rotoscoped for one of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons, where "Leopold" is the revered symphony conductor). As a musical theater buff, it was interesting seeing Enzio Pinza, near the time when he starred in "South Pacific". He was more charismatic and energetic than in some early 1950's TV footage that was my only visual impression of him.

Marsha Hunt stars as the wife of a pianist whose son studies classical piano with hopes of playing at Carnegie Hall. She works at the performance hall and, over the years, becomes a fixture there. The story of her life, and the life of her son, is interspersed with Carnegie Hall performances of some great musicians and vocalists.

In fact, the performances are the best part of the film They are wonderful snapshots of contemporary talents. They are so great that they overshadow the dramatic narrative, but a music lover will forgive this imbalance because the final result is so rewarding.

Marsh Hunt deserves credit for her performance, which spans the years and requires her to display some real emotions, which complement the emotional content of the musical numbers. Lovers of music will find much to enjoy, whether it's the rousing performance of Jascha Heifetz or Jan Peerce's "O sole mio."

The film is a classical music field day. Some of the geat performers of the time are seen in concert-Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky's "Symphony in E Minor," Artur Rubenstein doing Chopin's "Polonaise" and "The Ritual Fire Dance" at the piano keyboard, Jascha Heifetz on the violin for Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for Violin," all performed brilliantly and making for a memorable soundtrack. It is interesting to see how this film tried to manipulate public taste with a mawkish love affair plot that carries the performances along. Opera great Lily Pons, Rise Stevens, Enzio Pinza, and Jan Peerce are featured in great arias. The performing scenes were filmed at the then newly refurbished Carnegie Hall.

"Carnegie Hall" really deserves a 20 out of 10 stars simply because it is such a brilliant record of some of the greatest musical performers from about 1890 to about 1950.

Most people reading this comment will not have had any other opportunity to see or hear in live performance such giants as Jan Peerce or Jascha Heifetz or, especially, the likes of Walter ("Good morning, my dear children") Damrosch.

It would be easy to fill several paragraphs just listing and raving about those giants, those icons of great music, including Harry James and Vaughn Monroe, but I urge you to look at each name, follow the IMDb link and then Google each to learn about them.

I must, though, mention the marvelous Marsha Hunt. For some function I don't remember, I was in her home when she was the Honorary Mayor of Sherman Oaks, around 1980, and have been an idolatrous fan ever since.

She is recognized as a fine actress, but she deserved even more. She was also a beautiful woman, and probably never looked lovelier than in "Carnegie Hall." As her character ages, she goes gray, and her step slows and she dodders just a bit, just enough.

It is, in short, a spell-binding characterization, a magnificent performance.

I try not to be envious of people with more ability (which is most people) or more luck (which is nearly everyone) but I do envy Marsha Hunt for her opportunity, in this role, to interact with such musical heroes as Ezio Pinza and Artur Rodzinski.

By the way, look for a very young Leonard Rose, who went on to well-deserved fame as one of the world's greatest cellists.

One final note: The story was by the magnificent Seena Owen, probably best known for her role in "Intolerance." Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I will: I applauded and cheered and, yes, cried at the beauty of this film, at the glory of it.

I urge, strenuously urge you not to miss this "Carnegie Hall."

Added 19 June 2015: "Carnegie Hall" is available at YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvljAjzscg

This love letter to several major classical music artists of the mid 20th century came from Edgar G. Ulmer, a director who specialized in working on low budget movies. He was known in Hollywood as "the King of PRC". Producers Releasing Corporation was a Poverty Row studio that was considered Tinsel Town's bottom rung. Most of their movies were shot in less than a week and cost around $50,000 to make. CARNEGIE HALL was not a PRC production and the budget was 5 times what Ulmer was used to working with. He had always loved classical music (which figures prominently on the soundtracks of his movies) and this project which was co-financed by some of the performers themselves gave Ulmer the opportunity to focus directly on them.

In order to make the movie appealing outside of classical music circles, Ulmer gave it a typical Hollywood back story. A young widow who works behind the scenes and lives at Carnegie Hall dreams of having her son become a classical pianist. She exposes him to all the great artists who perform there. As he grows up (the story covers a number of years), he decides that he prefers jazz to classical and that causes a rift between him and his mother and they don't see each other for several years. She remains at Carnegie Hall and becomes a fixture there while he becomes a big success on the jazz circuit. They finally reconcile when he gives a performance of a Jazz Concerto that he has written...in...Carnegie Hall!

Talented and later blacklisted actress and activist Marsha Hunt (she died in 2022 at the age of 104) portrays Nora Salerno, an Irish immigrant who literally grows up in Carnegie Hall. When her Italian pianist husband is killed in a domestic accident shortly after their son is born, she raises him to be a classical musician. As a young man, the son has a chance encounter with jazz great Vaughan Monroe which is what causes him to devote himself to jazz and to keave his mother and Carnegie Hall behind. William Prince portrays the grown-up son. Hunt must age 25 years over the course of the movie and this is done simply with theatrical make-up and a wig. The same applies to character actor Frank McHugh who portrays a Carnegie Hall doorman.

Woven throughout this family drama are numerous (they make up 75% of the movie) stellar performances by a who's who of classical musicians of the time. They include soloists Jascha Heifitz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Artur Rubinstein, singers Lilly Pons, Rise Stevens, Ezio Pinza, and conductors Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, and Artur Rodzinski. Unforgettable highlights are Pons singing the Bell Song from Leo Delibes' LAKME', Rubinstein performing Chopin and Manuel de Falla, Heifitz playing the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and Rodzinski leading the NY Philharmonic in the finale from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Unlike today, these people are not just classical musicians, they are true show business performers.

Surprisingly, CARNEGIE HALL was not a success when it was released in 1947. The outfit that produced it went bankrupt, the musicians that helped to finance it got no royalties, and it eventually became the property of a bank. It then disappeared for many years before resurfacing in the 1960s in a variety of edited versions that altered the order of the performances and in some cases, removed the back story altogether turning it into the earliest classical music video. In 2001 the fully restored 144 minute version was released by Kino International (now Kino Lorber) the way that Edgar G. Ulmer originally shot it. This version, and this version only, is the only one with a clear picture and enhanced sound...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.