Star of My Night

In this 1954 potboiler set designer Carl introduces his sculptor friend Michael Donovan to the girl he wants to marry, ballerina Eve Malone. Any astute viewer of this kind of tripe can work out the rest of the plot from there. Production values are typical of the kind of thing Kenilworth churned out at this time, and although you would never call this the most charismatic cast ever assembled, for the most part they deal acceptably with a script which wouldn't inspire more than a mechanical response. Griffith Jones in the romantic lead puts his role across with all the panache of an accountant giving an end-of-year financial report.

A rather obvious and predictable plot made acceptable by the use of top notch players (Griffith Jones, Kathleen Byron, Hugh Williams, etc.), all of who appear to dispatch their respective parts with complete credibility.

However, what got me to return to this film a few times was the fantastically wonderful music sequence, utilized both during the dance scenes and as emotional ballast for some of the more poignant moments. As a musician myself, I found that I had to hear this repeatedly to absorb it for myself.

I certainly recommend the film for the musical score, but as well for the performances by the players, which pulls through the plot and more than saves it from being hackneyed.