À Noite Sonhamos

A Song to Remember looks bad now not because it is 54 years old but because it is bad and, notwithstanding its blockbuster reputation, it was bad in 1945. The story is a falsification of Fredric Chopin's life. The miscasting of muscular Cornel Wilde as the consumptive composer is a travesty. And the over-acting of Paul Muni, uncontrolled by the director, is an insult to the intelligence and good taste of the spectator; besides, too much footage is dedicated to him. The magic is, of course, the music, the way Jose Iturbi plays it, and the magnificent color and art direction. But the writing, the direction and the acting are all abominable.

Knowing that this was Liberace's favorite film should give you an idea of what this film is like--in fact, his trademark candleabra on the piano was taken from one of the most memorable moments in the film.

This was a high profile production for Columbia in 1945, with lots of money thrown at the sets and costumes, and actually filming in color (remember, Columbia was still a second-rank studio during World War II--usually only spending major money on its Rita Hayworth films). Consequently, this biography of Chopin is beautiful to look at--but a bit overboard at the same time. It's certainly not minimalist!

As if competing with the lavishness of the design, the acting (particularly by Paul Muni) is waaaay over the top, and the storyline refashions Chopin's life into a very heavy melodrama. The dramatics are so ham-handed that the Harvard Lampoon in 1945 gave the film an award for the "ketchup on the keys" sequence. Possibly the most interesting aspect of the film (other than its campiness) is how this costume biography is inflected with aspects of 40s film noir. Merle Oberon as author George Sand is the film's femme fatale, potentially drawing Chopin down the wrong creative path. And, since the film was made while World War II was still being fought, the film has to make allusions to patriotic duty (especially since Chopin was Polish, and World War II officially broke out when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939).

So--you have tons of visual excess, some sumptious renditions of Chopin pieces, and a weird discussion of gender relations and wartime responsibilities. All in all, it's a wild piece of gorgeous junk.

"A Song to Remember" is supposed to be the life of Chopin but in fact, very little in it is historically accurate. It's still a beautiful, emotional, and sumptuous movie, filled with the heavenly music of Chopin played by Jose Iturbi.

"A Song to Remember" helped to popularize Chopin's romantic, passionate music and launched Cornel Wilde's star into the heavens. Though he's never done much for me personally, he cuts a dashing figure as Chopin. The Chopin of Columbia Pictures is a strong patriot of Poland who, under the influence of the controlling George Sand, becomes a self-involved artist. Sand believed (here anyway) that the artist needed to serve himself alone and not others. Thus, she cut him off from his teacher and friend, Professor Elsnore, who wants Chopin to finish his magnificent Polonaise, a freedom cry for his beloved Poland, which is being suppressed by the Russians. Under Sand's control, Chopin turns out little ditties instead.

There really was a Professor Elsnore, but he did not teach Chopin piano, rather, music theory and composition. The role is played effectively by Paul Muni, who works to protect the change in Chopin's personality and apathy toward politics to his family and friends. Merle Oberon is stunning as a cold George Sand. Nina Foch plays Chopin's Polish girlfriend Constantia (and in reality, Constantia did exist).

Well, what is true and what isn't? Chopin was a child prodigy, he did meet George Sand at a party which was also attended by Franz Liszt, the bad weather in Mallorca nearly killed him, and in fact, after that time, he was never fully healthy again. He broke with George Sand two years before he died. She is the one who tried to get back together. His burial isn't covered in the film, but Chopin is buried in Paris. At his request, his heart was removed and buried in Poland.

One of the scenes in "A Song to Remember" has a place in history, though not perhaps in Chopin's, but that of another famous pianist. During a party, it is announced that Franz Liszt will play. The room is plunged into darkness. As the audience listens, George Sand walks over to the piano and places a candleabra on top of it to reveal that it is not Liszt at all, but Chopin. It is said that because of that scene, Liberace never played piano without his own famous candelabra.

For a movie that's about the life of Fredric Chopin the guy who's playing Chopin gets third billing in the film. Cornel Wilde had to settle for third place behind Paul Muni and Merle Oberon. But he's the one that came away with the Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

We're lucky this film got made at all. Paul Muni was a great actor, but sometimes could be very difficult. While he was at Columbia where this film turned out to be the second of three he did there, he formed a friendship with Glenn Ford. But in 1943 Ford went into the Marines and didn't return to Hollywood until 1946. Cornel Wilde who had enlisted earlier got out earlier and when the Chopin project was ready to roll he was assigned the part.

Which disappointed Muni and he made no secret of it to Wilde. Wilde who had admired Muni as an actor and looked forward to working with him was miffed to say the least.

Harry Cohn in his infinite wisdom also banned Bella Muni from the set of A Song to Remember. Muni did EVERYTHING with his wife and she really was his best critic. At Warner Brothers they put up with her. If she said a take was no good, Muni had them do it over. Worked for Emile Zola and Louis Pasteur. But Cohn banned her. As a result Muni was criticized for overacting his role of Joseph Elzner, Chopin's teacher and mentor. It's not his finest hour on the screen, though I love to see him in anything.

Muni also had his supportive side. Nina Foch who played Chopin's sister speaks of Muni's kindness and encouragement to her to stretch herself as an artist.

No acting involved for Merle Oberon as novelist George Sand. The male trousers of George Sand fit Oberon quite well. So does the character. Oberon and Sand were both known to get around in their day.

In real life Fredric Chopin had no conflict between his art and his politics. Though Poland was not a nation for about 130 years, the people in the various countries that occupied Polish soil never forgot they were a nation and would be one again. On instructions after his death, Chopin's body was buried in his adopted city of Paris, but his heart was removed and buried in Poland.

Chopin composed some of the best music that was ever heard on this planet. Jose Iturbi played the various Chopin melodies that will live on until this planet's sun does a supernova.

Cornel Wilde was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Ray Milland's drunk act in The Lost Weekend. A Song to Remember was nominated in several categories, Best Story, Best Sound, Best Color Cinematography, Best Costumes, Best Musical Scoring. But didn't take home the big prize for anything.

Overlooking some of the historical inaccuracies and Paul Muni's overacting, A Song To Remember is a film to remember.

I love the music of Chopin. That is why I was eager to see this 1945 classic about his life. After seeing it, I enjoyed the film so much that it spurred me to seek out some biographical information on his life. After having done so, I realized that the story in the film bore very little resemblance to the truth and I was greatly disappointed. It was just another example of extremely entertaining Hollywood drivel.

As a work of fiction, the film was nicely done. The story was enchanting and it painted Chopin as a very noble patriot, playing himself to death in concerts to earn money to support the Polish revolution, though I found no support for that in anything I read. Cornel Wilde was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, which was excellent indeed, but he was incongruously cast. Wilde is handsome and athletic looking and Chopin was plain and frail. Paul Muni, though charming in the role of Professor Elsner, was much too eccentric and ebulliently peculiar to be very believable. The best performance by far was given by Merle Oberon as the cold and iron willed George Sand, whose love affair with Chopin turned into a tyrannical attempt to shelter him from the world.

The best part of this film was the music of Chopin himself, played brilliantly by Jose Iturbi. The music alone was worth enduring the Hollywood prevarication. I also enjoyed the 19th Century costumes.

I rated this film a 7/10. If it were a fictional account of some person who never existed, I probably would have rated it a 9/10, because it was very enjoyable. However, such liberties were taken with the truth that I had to deduct a couple of points in protest. If you are a classic film buff or a classical music lover, it is definitely worth seeing.