Prelude to Fame

Hey I'm a sucker for these mid-20th century British films. This is a good one especially the last half of the film. The film starts out a little slow in the beginning, especially if you're not a classical music fan (as I'm really not), but keep watching, don't give up on it. It builds to a nice crescendo in the end. The boy (Guido) really does an impressive acting job, as does the lady who is there guiding Guido's career musical path. Not to say that the film doesn't have an issue. The producers of the film obviously enjoyed classical music (an perhaps spent a little more time on the music than some may like) but this music was very popular during the time period when the movie was released. if you like British films made in the 1950s, give this one a look. It's not a long movie at just 87 minutes and I think well worth watching.

Ty You really need to be into classical music to get any enjoyment from this film.The sight of a young boy earnestly conducting a symphony orchestra becomes by turns funny and tiresome.If they had cut out the concert scenes it might have given the story more of a chance to come through.As it is it is overwhelmed by the music.No wonder the boy was suicidal.

Guido is just an average little boy whose father jokingly says has the musical ear of a goat, but the truth is in fact the opposite, as Guido's friend Nick's father finds out. Guido actually has an astonishing musical ear, and when neighbour Signora Bondini finds out, she insists that the boy be taken to Naples and taught musical properly. Guido ends up realising her dream and becomes an astounding success, and the world's youngest conductor, but at great toll on his personal life. The signora's intentions start of well enough, but before long it is obvious to all but her that she is pushing the little boy too far, and the consequences could be dreadful..

Not a bad movie, though there are far too many scenes of just the boy conducting his orchestra. OK, so he's a genius, but do we really need about a half hour of just the music? ;-)

Based on a story by Adolphus Huxley (who is probably best known for the novel "Brave New World"), Prelude to Fame is marvelously presented. The plot concerns a child prodigy and a manipulative rich woman who, under the guise of sponsoring the boy, attempts to control his life for her own glory. To say more would be spoiling the story. While the story does tend to get a bit heavy-handed at times, it's still well-done.

The acting is superb, including the surprising 13-year-old Jeremy Spenser, who plays the prodigy child with the mastery of a mature actor. Spenser is surrounded by some of the best British talent of that era: Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, Rosalie Crutchley, and the marvelously-cast character actor John Slater as Dr. Lorenzo.

The music is excellently done, as it should be with the longtime British film music director Muir Mathieson at the helm. Among other works, we hear bits and pieces of Beethoven's Eroica and Mendelssohn's Italian Symphonies, the full overture to the opera "Oberon" by Carl Maria von Weber, and at the end of the film, excerpts from Borodin's "Prince Igor", part of which ("Gliding Dance of the Maidens") was used for the song "Strangers in Paradise", which debuted in "Kismet" in 1953 and was highly popular in the mid 50s.

This is a fine movie, which isn't shown often on television anymore, but you can find it on Netflix. If you're a fan of classical music and/or of mid 20th-century British films, you should give this one a look.