With a Song in My Heart

"With a Song in My Heart" (1952) finds director Walter Lang at the helm.

Famous singer Jane Froman is asked by the USO to entertain the troops during WWII. On her way to join the tour her plane crashes in the waters off Lisbon, Portugal. Jane, along with other passengers and crew, lives but her legs are badly injured. It looks like her tour of duty is over before it even starts. But, don't count Jane out yet!

Don Ross is Jane's husband. He started the new, young singer off on her career. Next we have Clancy who becomes Jane's nurse and right-hand woman. She will be there to nurse and encourage Jane back to health. Clancy will, also, firmly discourage her from feeling sorry for herself.

John Burn comes on the scene as the plane's injured pilot. He gets to know Jane at the Lisbon hospital they're in together. Of course, we wonder, will they fall for each other? (I wondered what Don would think if they did.)

After several operations Jane decides to take a break. It's time to start her part of the USO tour. (And take a break from doctors and hospitals.) This isn't going to be easy but Clancy will be there to keep the ball rolling and give the needed orders.

From here on we learn about USO entertainers. Things that happened to them: Jeeps stuck in mud. Soldiers waylaid by Clancy to get their jeep out of the mud. How Jane strengthened wounded soldiers and by overcoming her own problems to entertain them. What courage she showed on the USO Tours and during subsequent leg surgeries she would have to endure.

And, from beginning to end, we get to watch Susan Hayward do a dandy job of being Jane as Susan lip-syncs to the songs with the voice of Jane Froman. These recordings were made for the movie soundtrack.

Is this biographical film factual? No! But it's hard to find actual, factual, filmed biographies. Is it worth watching? Yes. If for no other reason than to see Susan Hayward and hear Jane Froman sing. I enjoyed this movie mainly because of the acting and music. Then we have Thelma Ritter who made every movie she was in special.

This cast includes: Susan Hayward as Jane Froman; Rory Calhoun as John Burn; David Wayne as Don Ross; Thelma Ritter as Clancy; Robert Wagner as the GI paratrooper; Helen Westcott as Jennifer March; Una Merkel as Sister Marie.

Saw this movie at the age of 16 and fell immediately in love with Susan Hayward. The plot seems a bit contrived now, although it is fairly faithful to Froman's physical problem and her contributions in entertaining the troops in WWII. The music is wonderful! "Get Happy" is still one of my favorite movie production numbers. By the way, it is not Hayward doing the singing, but Jane Froman herself whose voice was dubbed into the soundtrack.

Susan Hayward portrays superbly the beautiful and courageous Jane Froman in this moving biographical story of the talented singer who suffered severe physical injuries when her plane crashed on a USO tour during World War II, yet who rose to the top again through her determination and faith. Her struggle greatly influenced the morale of the war wounded, as well as an entire generation of teenagers, myself included, when this movie first appeared in 1952. Today there is a resurgence of interest in the singer and her classically trained voice, considered one of the best of her time. This movie is an excellent record of Jane Froman's own voice, as it is her voice on the soundtrack, singing 26 songs representing the finest songwriters of the day.

With A Song In My Heart is among the best of all Hollywood musicals of the 20th Century. Jane Froman's voice and life live on the the memory of all who either were fortunate enough to have known her and shared many of her performances and those who saw the movie and will never forget it. Ms. Froman's haunting contralto takes the viewer and listener back to a time when people's hearts were moved and the lyrics were remembered and hummed and sung long after they saw the movie. The story line, while glamorized somewhat for the screen, sticks pretty much to Jane Froman's real life story and Susan Hayward does a magnificent portrayal of Jane Froman. Fortunately, all of us are fortunate to know that it was Jane Froman who did the singing. A joy for all times and for all people who love The Great American Song Book. Fortunately, through the efforts of a group of people who are sponsoring a Jane Froman centennial in November, 2007, 20th Century Fox will be releasing With A Song In My Heart on DVD. It is long overdue.

This rousing tribute to singer Jane Froman succeeds at every level and why not?

With a brilliant cast led by the great Susan Hayward, how can anything else be true?

Though Froman did the singing, Hayward's dubbing and movements of Froman were outstanding. She merited a well earned Oscar nomination for best actress in 1952.

The film begins with Froman, a co-ed from Missouri U, auditioning for radio. By accident, she meets a fellow-want-to-be in showbusiness, Don Ross, wonderfully played by David Wayne, a very under-rated actor for his time. Wayne is highly believable helping Froman to the top, loving her and then after marriage, turning on her as his career wanes.

A sinking marriage is temporarily quieted by a tragic plane crash which occurs at the height of Froman's career in 1943. Only 15 of the 39 passengers aboard survived. The crash and hospitalization allowed Froman to meet and fall in love with pilot, John Byrne, competently acted by Rory Calhoun, a cowboy favorite.

Thelma Ritter is outstanding as the wisecracking nurse Clancy. Nominated for best supporting actress, Ritter certainly should have won for her ability to go from wise-cracking to a no-nonsense nurse, who tells a complaining hospitalized Froman that she stayed with her because she had guts.

The musical numbers are fantastic. Hayward, in the rendition of Get Happy, with that gorgeous red dress, is phenomenal. The Blue Moon sequence is terrific and the dancing sequence, while singing the title song, will forever be memorable to all.

The end of the film is a salute to our fighting men and nation. Our states are saluted in this grand film!