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Borzage's romantic melodrama follows a gifted young (female) pianist torn between her egomaniacal maestro and the absurdly good young farm boy she grew up with (played by a creepy, almost psychopathically serene Bill Carter). The music is really played by Arthur Rubinstein (who was given a huge paycheck for the time, especially considering the studio, Republic pictures, whose first color film this was) and features some great - if in the end excessive - pieces by Rachmoninoff and others. The characters are ultimately uninteresting and so sadly it hardly matters who ends up with whom, though everyone tries their best. It's all very nice though ultimately forgettable. The highpoint of this rather lavish production is the beautiful technicolor cinematography, which is quite nicely captured in the print restored by UCLA that is used on the laserdisc and VHS tape editions.

The Dutch actor Philip Dorn plays a concert maestro, Leopold Goronoff, in this film. He's reputed to be one of the greatest pianists of his age....and he definitely has the ego for this...and then some! An old friend convinces Goronoff to take on a student and Myra (Catherine McLeod) is amazing. Eventually, she has her debut and Goronoff is angry because she is so good...perhaps better than him! What a putz! Despite this, Myra is in love with her mentor....and what chance does her childhood friend, George, have with her?

There are several problems with the film, though on balance the movie isn't bad. There are too many long and intense piano pieces and editing them down a bit or allowing for some lighter classical pieces would have helped the film. Additionally, Dorn's character is simply too awful to care about him and there is no reason for Myra to care about this jerk..none.. It's also very slow and the film doesn't seem to know when to end. On the plus side, McLeod is amazing on the piano, the Technicolor is amazingly good and the basic story is quite sound.

This is director/producer Frank Borzage's most lavishly opulent sound film. It's a curio of a time long since past, when romanticism was celebrated and even the most wildly unrealistic moments seemed perfectly natural within their filmic contexts. Myra (the luminous and talented Catherine McLeod) is an aspiring concert pianist who comes to study under the imperious maestro Goronov (Philip Dorn), who was an admirer of her father (Felix Bressart) many years ago when the father was a professional pianist in Europe. But the father has since retired to rural America after meeting Myra's mother and forsaking his career for her 20 years earlier. (The mother has since died, and Myra's "maternal guidance" in the film is provided by the dimunitive powerhouse Maria Ouspenskaya, here playing Goronoff's mother and "the woman behind the great man.") As Myra is molded by Goronoff (who doesn't hold women in any high regard at all and goes through them like he would pairs of underwear, but who does respect talent) into a superior pianist, Myra falls in love with her Svengali. But Goronoff refuses to admit how much Myra has come to mean to him, and when her father dies, the grief-stricken Myra must choose between the man she has loved unrequitedly and a local farmer, George (Bill Carter) who has loved her all her life. Which one will she choose?

This is a classic woman's-film dilemma, and the characters in it are more mythical "types" than the flesh-and-blood, warts-and-all characters we would expect to see today. But that's not a problem for Borzage, whose intensly romantic, lushly envisioned films have always put love on the highest pedestal. What brings this film truly to life is the nuanced, deeply felt performances by all involved. Even the seemingly serene, uncomplicated George comes to life when declaring his hidden love for Myra. No matter how surreal the story may seem (especially if you're not used to seeing and enjoying classic cinema melodramas), the actors' and the director's commitment to it is absolute, giving the film an interior life and intensity that have made it a cult favorite and guilty pleasure, especially for Borzage fans. The classic Borzage theme: that metaphysical love can (and should) conquer all is ever present, as are the typical Borzagian dichotomies (e.g., between artist and simple country folk, passionate love and companionate love, men and women, and country versus city, etc.)

Borzage had just signed a multipicture deal with the fledgling Republic studios in 1945 when production began, and it's clear the studio spared no expense with their Academy-Award winning director. Lavishly photographed in Technicolor with colossal classical sets, exquisite costumes, and extensive piano doubling by Artur Rubinstein, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU will definitely appeal to classical music lovers familiar with the backbiting world of professional music. All others need to watch not only with an open mind, but with an open heart.

Despite the somewhat contrived ending, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU is worth seeing as one of Borzage's peniultimate films, and one he was able to make his most lushly romantic. To this day, few directors can boast such an incredible command of both the visual and emotional elements of almost every film (with the possible exception of Douglas Sirk). As Rainer Fassbinder once said of Douglas Sirk, you can tell from his films that he (Sirk) "really loves people, and doesn't depise them, as we do." The same could be said of Borzage--one of the cinema's first, last, and greatest romantics.

Kudos also go to the UCLA Archives for a superb Technicolor restoration. This VHS is definitely the version to watch. Beware of old black and white TV prints..

Catherine McLeod gives a terrific star performance as the luscious center of this ambitious romance film from Frank Borzage.

McLeod plays a young pianist of promise who comes under the wing of a famous and slightly crazed pianist (Philip Dorn) whose demands are limitless. She leaves behind her father's farm and the man (William Carter) who loves her selflessly. Will she marry the mad musician or the simple farmer? More than a standard "woman's picture" or romance, this film features role reversals among the male characters with the lusty, aggressive pianist battling the effete and quiet farmer for the girl's affections. There's also this weird synergy between the girl and the pianist because they share the same passion for music while she seems to have nothing at all in common with the farmer .... except love.

McLeod gives a star-making performance and looks great, but her career never quite took off. Dorn and Carter are perfect as the men orbiting her. Co-stars include Maria Ouspenskaya, Fritz Feld, Felix Bressart, Elizabeth Patterson, Lewis Howard, Vanessa Brown, and Cora Witherspoon. And yes that's the young Andre Previn as the student Dorn dismisses.

Maybe not a masterpiece, but this film from Republic, filled with great music and filmed in lush Technicolor, shouldn't be among the forgotten.

I love Frank Borzage's films (STREET ANGEL, 7TH HEAVEN, A FAREWELL TO ARMS, DESIRE, THREE COMRADES, THE MORTAL STORM being my favorites). Borzage was a director of immense talent and sensibility, a true master in every sense. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU is his most lavishly produced film, in glorious Technicolor, and contains extremely beautiful sequences, but unfortunately falls short of being a great work. Borden Chase, the screenwriter, must be responsible for this, as he presents the character of the great Maestro Goronoff as not only arrogant, which could be easily understood, but also immature and frankly ridiculous in his womanizing, thus rendering him a type of buffoon most of the time. One can never understand the love that Myra Hassman feels for him, in spite of Catherine McLeod's fine performance. Thus, when the story reaches its first climax and Goronoff tries to steal the brilliance of his pupil first public concert (in Carnegie Hall, of all places) out of sheer jealousy, the impact of the scene is lessened. We never see the somber shades of his personality creeping in. The effect is incongruous. We cannot take this man seriously. Philip Dorn does not help, either. His acting is unnatural, a pure caricature that does not let a possible tragic dimension of his character shine through. Too bad. The ending is satisfying, at least, and we are left with the lovely image of Catherine McLeod in our memory. She was indeed a good actress and deserved to have had a more successful career.