Carnegie Hall

I saw this film when it first came out in 1947. at that time i was still learning to appreciate the great classical tradition. so this movie was an eye opener for me. i couldn't afford to go to concerts so here was an opportunity to see as well as hear some of the great icons of the classic world ie stokowski, walter, rodzinski, Rubinstein, heifetz, piatigorsky et al. yes it was a big thrill for me at the time. no less thrilling was to see Tchaikovsky himself in the opening scene, (as played by an actor of course.) the story line was purely secondary and was not to be taken seriously. this was the era ie the thirties and forties when you would occasionally hear some classical music in the movies. nelson eddy and Jeannette MacDonald for example would give some tid bits etc. it was also the time when the lives of composers such as Brahms, Schumann and Chopin were also being portrayed. a time when classical music was part of the everyday vocabulary albeit in somewhat truncated and simplified form. that now has all changed for some time and classical music is relegated to the limbos of the hoary past and is no longer part of our everyday. so this is a movie for classical music lovers or aspiring lovers of this seemingly defunct art.

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.

As an enormous lifelong fan of classical music and opera, 'Carnegie Hall' was seen with much eagerness and no hesitation. After seeing it, the film isn't great but there are also a lot of pleasures, though perhaps one will enjoy it better if a classical music fan to recognise the music and the stars involved.

The weakest element of 'Carnegie Hall' is the story, which is pure paper thin hokum, that gets increasingly thinner, draggy and credibility straining as the film progresses. Didn't mind that it was a clichéd kind of story, there are a lot of clichéd stories in films that still work, did mind that not much interesting was done with the non-musical side of the film. Also at times feels too stretched and over-stuffed with a few scenes that go on a bit longer than needed and with too many characters.

Contrived and flimsy scripting also works against 'Carnegie Hall', and most of the acting that's not the classical music stars is not particularly great with William Prince being rather anonymous. The sole exception in this regard is Marsha Hunt, who deserved better but brings authority, poignancy, firmness and dignity to her role.

Onto the positives now. Much of 'Carnegie Hall' looks very pleasing, with some lovely noir-like lighting, atmospheric use of shadows and mostly fluid and eye-catching camera work (if admittedly a bit static in the early parts). It's competently directed, informative, inspiring and moving in the best of its parts, and absolutely nothing can be said against Hunt.

Best of all are the music and the assemblage of classical music/operatic stars. On the musical side, 'Carnegie Hall' couldn't have been more blissful, with the opportunities of seeing and hearing Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Mozart, Delibes et al. performed so brilliantly being a joy, and while this may not be good news to some to me it was lovely to have musical selections sizeable in length, these pieces are just too good to only have in snippet form so having it done the way it was here felt like the music and performers were being done justice.

With the stars, picking a favourite is impossible and you not only see them on top form but you see their personalities. The virtuosity of Artur Rubenstein in the Chopin, with those enigmatic flourishes, was a delight, and Jascha Heifetz plays Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at a tempo that has never been done that fast and what sounds impossible is done with envious nimbleness by him with the intensity enough to make fires blaze. Leopold Stokowski features interestingly, again conducting Tchaikovsky in a way seldom done before, and 'Carnegie Hall' offers a rare chance of seeing Fritz Reiner and Walter Damrosch on film.

As an opera fanatic, particularly of the "golden age of opera", it was even more of a treat seeing fairly rare glimpses of Lily Pons, Rise Stevens and Ezio Pinza in their signature roles and arias of Lakme, Carmen and Don Giovanni respectively, all three sounding glorious.

Overall impressions are when it comes to the musical side of things 'Carnegie Hall' soars majestically. In the sections where story or drama is featured more, it does falter. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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."

"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