Blu-ray Review Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Irving Rapper’s Rhapsody in Blue offers the magnificent music of George Gershwin in a first-rate production with some sadly typical narrative inclusions.



Rhapsody in Blue (1945)



Released: 22 Sep 1945
Rated: Approved
Runtime: 135 min




Director: Irving Rapper
Genre: Biography, Drama, Musical



Cast: Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith
Writer(s): Sonya Levien, Howard Koch, Elliot Paul



Plot: George Gershwin is a driven composer whose need to succeed destroys his relationship with singer Julie Adams and socialite Christine Gilbert.



IMDB rating: 7.0
MetaScore: 55





Disc Information



Studio: Warner Brothers
Distributed By: Warner Archive
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC



Aspect Ratio:...

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[roxy1927]

I find that Gershwin's music is far better show cased in American in Paris. From when I was a boy I found these Warner's biopics a slog except of course for the great Yankee Doodle Dandy. My mother had a crush on Robert Alda who she saw in the original cast of Guys and Dolls. Fortunately we have his great performance on the obc. I saw Morris Carnovsky as King Lear in Connecticut.
Anne Brown's Summertime is wonderful.

 

[Konstantinos]

Wow! 10 minute overture? Is this the longest overture on film?

 

[The-Cinema-Upstairs]

Wow! 10 minute overture? Is this the longest overture on film?

It's awesome; beautifully arranged!!

 

[richardburton84]

Wow! 10 minute overture? Is this the longest overture on film?

As far as it being one individual piece of music, I believe so. The closest thing I can think of that matches it is Duel in the Sun, which begins with a nine-and-a-half minute “Prelude,” followed by a two-minute “Overture” with narration establishing the context of the story.

 

[Ray Faiola]

There is MUCH to celebrate about this release. In addition to several minutes of footage that was cut for the general release (including an expanded performance of "Summertime"), the picture and sound are leagues ahead of the previously available general release print. The soundtrack especially is incredibly dynamic. The clarinet solo on both the Aeolian Hall and reprise of "Rhapsody in Blue" has a richness that totally floored me. The "Cuban Overture" and "Concerto in F" are both out-of-this-world renderings. And damn if Jolson didn't sound like he was in the Decca studios. As for the film, it has some genuine emotional moments. My favorite scene is where Professor Franck lectures George on the starving composers of yesteryear, accompanied on the soundtrack by Max Steiner's arrangements of Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven, and then segueing to a hopeful arrangement of "Swanee". Steiner was a master at music adaptation and this is one of his pearls. And for trivia, there's a cameo by Rouben Mamoulian commenting on Gershwin's operatic version of PORGY. This is a home run for Warners.

 

[John Skoda]

Warner Bros. had a sound that was different from any of the other studios. To this day you can listen to an older movie for five minutes and know whether it's a Warners movie or not just from the sound. Modern engineers try to "correct" for that sound, but they shouldn't, it's beautiful--full-bodied, sharp, and detailed.

I got chills during the "Rhapsody in Blue" concert sequence.

 

[Filmgazer]

There is MUCH to celebrate about this release. In addition to several minutes of footage that was cut for the general release (including an expanded performance of "Summertime"), the picture and sound are leagues ahead of the previously available general release print. The soundtrack especially is incredibly dynamic. The clarinet solo on both the Aeolian Hall and reprise of "Rhapsody in Blue" has a richness that totally floored me. The "Cuban Overture" and "Concerto in F" are both out-of-this-world renderings. And damn if Jolson didn't sound like he was in the Decca studios. As for the film, it has some genuine emotional moments. My favorite scene is where Professor Franck lectures George on the starving composers of yesteryear, accompanied on the soundtrack by Max Steiner's arrangements of Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven, and then segueing to a hopeful arrangement of "Swanee". Steiner was a master at music adaptation and this is one of his pearls. And for trivia, there's a cameo by Rouben Mamoulian commenting on Gershwin's operatic version of PORGY. This is a home run for Warners.

Some of the dynamism in the soundtrack of "Rhapsody in Blue" might well be credited to Warner's great orchestral arranger Ray Heindorf. He gave the Warner Bros. music department a distinctive sound.

 

[Ray Faiola]

Some of the dynamism in the soundtrack of "Rhapsody in Blue" might well be credited to Warner's great orchestral arranger Ray Heindorf. He gave the Warner Bros. music department a distinctive sound.

Well, that is always a given. I was heralding the depth of the quality of the soundtrack as reproduced on the blu-ray.

As for Heindorf, I'll never forget when John McGlinn re-recorded a CD-full of numbers from the Warners Busby Berkeley film. McGlinn used Heindorf's brilliant original arrangements and did so with outstanding results. And in the accompanying booklet by Miles Kreuger there was no mention of Heindorf (other than his credit as orchestrator) and all the kudos went to Busby Berkeley. Heindorf was indeed a giant, both as an orchestrator, an arranger, and as musical director (administrator) of the studio.

 

[Filmgazer]

I have that very CD of John McGlinn that you mentioned. It's a beauty and effectively recreates the full-bodied vibrancy of the Ray Heindorf's original arrangements for those Busby Berkeley musicals.

And I'm so glad that you praised the robust soundtrack from the Blu-ray. I received it a few days ago, but have yet to watch it. Really looking forward to it!

 

[Matt Hough]

There is an extended edition of The Extras video podcast out now with George going into great detail about the restoration and reconstruction of this film. Most interesting and worth finding on YouTube.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

It’s a good one. Gets into a lot of detail on what was done to bring the film to disc. Both a reconstruction and a restoration.

 

[Douglas R]

I’d never seen Rhapsody in Blue before but I thoroughly enjoyed this. Fabulous musical performances and despite a very lengthy running time, the film held my interest throughout.