Sinfonie eterne

"Carnegie Hall" was made in 1947 and actually filmed in the newly refurbished Carnegie Hall. It's the story of a cleaner at the Hall named Nora (Marsha Hunt) who marries a pianist. He dies some time after they're married, and she's left to raise their son.

Nora exposes him, by taking him to Carnegie Hall, to all of the great music and musicians, and he studies piano. The plan is for him to grow up to be a concert pianist.

But he has other plans, and some of them include the pretty Ruth (Martha O'Driscoll), who sings with Vaughn Monroe. William Prince plays the adult son, and Frank McHugh plays an employee of the Hall who is a friend of Nora's.

This is one long movie with tons of beautiful music done by some of the great artists of the time: Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky's "Symphony in E Minor," Artur Rubenstein (whom I saw play in concert while I was in high school) doing Chopin's "Polonaise" and "The Ritual Fire Dance" at the piano keyboard, Jascha Heifetz and his nimble fingers on the violin for Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for Violin" - to name only a few.

Singers include Ezio Pinza singing parts of Don Giovanni, Rise Stevens singing "Pres des Ramparts de Sevilla" from Carmen, and Lily Pons, in an exquisite gown, doing the Bell Song from Lakme, her signature piece. Jan Peerce sings "O Solo Mio."

It's all wonderful, and a real feast for classic music lovers, but it isn't very cinematic, and the script is non-existent. It is great to have the musical performances preserved, however.

Marsha Hunt is still with us as of this writing, and she was a lovely actress, physically a cross between Jennifer Jones and Barbara Rush. She gets the usual Hollywood aging of gray hair, white powder and half a line on her face.

I suggest putting this on your DVR and fast-forwarding to the performances.

What a pleasure it is to review the 1947 "Carnegie Hall," with its wealth of legendary classical artists performing in lengthy segments. Many of these artists have rarely been photographed in such a clear manner, and it is indeed a treat to have so many in one film.

"Carnegie Hall" contains some 75 minutes of footage featuring these artists, with many works and movements uncut. How rare it is to see and hear such artists as Lily Pons and Ezio Pinza preserved for all time. These, plus many instrumental soloists and orchestras perform brilliantly in beautiful black and white photography.

Alas, surrounding these musical segments is a very tepid dramatic yarn, which often is not well blended into the musical sequences. In fact, at one point the drama seems to come to a scretching halt, to make way for the music.

Further, the camera work during the first part is rather unimaginative and static. It does get better as the film progresses and, by the end, sequences of Heifitz and Stokowski contain some fluid and interesting shots.

While it could have been better, "Carnegie Hall" is a real curio from an era which boasted true musical giants. The restored print is crisp and clear, and the sets are nicely lit, reminding one of the beauty of black and white production.

It's worth enduring the story to get to the great music and magnificent artists, all honoring that fine structure at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York. ###

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.

Enjoyed this film from the very beginning to the end with great artists performing in Carnegie Hall and a great story revolving around a woman named Nora Ryan, (Marsha Hunt) and her son named Tony Salerno, Jr., (William Prince) who wants her son to become a great concert pianist. Nora works in Carnegie Hall as a cleaning lady polishing brass rails and works hard to support her son who she loves very much. Tony grows up in Carnegie Hall and gets to meet all the famous conductors, singers and famous musicians. However, Tony wants to cut the apron strings of his mother and branches off to the modern dance bands and meets up with a very attractive gal which sort of breaks his mother's heart. If you like Classical Music and enjoy the great talents of super star talents from the past, this is the film for you. By the way, Marsha Hunt is approaching the age of 90 years and contributed a great deal of her acting ability to the Hollywood Silver Screen. Great film, don't miss it. Enjoy.

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.