Carnegie Hall

As an enormous lifelong fan of classical music and opera, 'Carnegie Hall' was seen with much eagerness and no hesitation. After seeing it, the film isn't great but there are also a lot of pleasures, though perhaps one will enjoy it better if a classical music fan to recognise the music and the stars involved.

The weakest element of 'Carnegie Hall' is the story, which is pure paper thin hokum, that gets increasingly thinner, draggy and credibility straining as the film progresses. Didn't mind that it was a clichéd kind of story, there are a lot of clichéd stories in films that still work, did mind that not much interesting was done with the non-musical side of the film. Also at times feels too stretched and over-stuffed with a few scenes that go on a bit longer than needed and with too many characters.

Contrived and flimsy scripting also works against 'Carnegie Hall', and most of the acting that's not the classical music stars is not particularly great with William Prince being rather anonymous. The sole exception in this regard is Marsha Hunt, who deserved better but brings authority, poignancy, firmness and dignity to her role.

Onto the positives now. Much of 'Carnegie Hall' looks very pleasing, with some lovely noir-like lighting, atmospheric use of shadows and mostly fluid and eye-catching camera work (if admittedly a bit static in the early parts). It's competently directed, informative, inspiring and moving in the best of its parts, and absolutely nothing can be said against Hunt.

Best of all are the music and the assemblage of classical music/operatic stars. On the musical side, 'Carnegie Hall' couldn't have been more blissful, with the opportunities of seeing and hearing Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Mozart, Delibes et al. performed so brilliantly being a joy, and while this may not be good news to some to me it was lovely to have musical selections sizeable in length, these pieces are just too good to only have in snippet form so having it done the way it was here felt like the music and performers were being done justice.

With the stars, picking a favourite is impossible and you not only see them on top form but you see their personalities. The virtuosity of Artur Rubenstein in the Chopin, with those enigmatic flourishes, was a delight, and Jascha Heifetz plays Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at a tempo that has never been done that fast and what sounds impossible is done with envious nimbleness by him with the intensity enough to make fires blaze. Leopold Stokowski features interestingly, again conducting Tchaikovsky in a way seldom done before, and 'Carnegie Hall' offers a rare chance of seeing Fritz Reiner and Walter Damrosch on film.

As an opera fanatic, particularly of the "golden age of opera", it was even more of a treat seeing fairly rare glimpses of Lily Pons, Rise Stevens and Ezio Pinza in their signature roles and arias of Lakme, Carmen and Don Giovanni respectively, all three sounding glorious.

Overall impressions are when it comes to the musical side of things 'Carnegie Hall' soars majestically. In the sections where story or drama is featured more, it does falter. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The film is a classical music field day. Some of the geat performers of the time are seen in concert-Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky's "Symphony in E Minor," Artur Rubenstein doing Chopin's "Polonaise" and "The Ritual Fire Dance" at the piano keyboard, Jascha Heifetz on the violin for Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for Violin," all performed brilliantly and making for a memorable soundtrack. It is interesting to see how this film tried to manipulate public taste with a mawkish love affair plot that carries the performances along. Opera great Lily Pons, Rise Stevens, Enzio Pinza, and Jan Peerce are featured in great arias. The performing scenes were filmed at the then newly refurbished Carnegie Hall.

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.

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.

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. ###