"A Song To Remember" + SB

Tonight's movie was "A Song To Remember" (1945), a biopic on the life of Frederic Chopin, starring Cornell Wilde, and the great Paul Muni as his piano teacher and lifelong mentor. Man, this movie was just great. We all know Chopin's music, but I - for one - did not know much about his life, other than that it was rather short. The movie begins in the family home, teacher Muni on hand, young Frederic rehearsing. From there we are given an overview of the political strife in Poland at the time, which was controlled by the Russian Czar. Cut to a decade later - handsome Cornell Wilde is now onscreen as the young adult Chopin. Wilde the actor had a Tony Curtis vibe about him (or maybe it was vice versa, as Wilde was born first). Anyway, what I mean is that he was very good looking and athletic - like Curtis - and yet he projected a sincerity and vulnerability that provided a contrast to his looks. Both actors do not come off as macho, but as humble, and this quality was appealing for the roles they were chosen to play. Cornell Wilde garnered a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal, and though he did not win, his performance was first rate.

The young adult Chopin is spirited away to Paris from Warsaw, by his teacher Muni, after landing in hot water with Russian authorities over his participation in the meetings of a subversive political group. This is the stuff I did not know. His teacher knew he had a genius on his hands and did not want to lose him. In Paris, his compositions and playing ability quickly won him the friendship of Franz Lizst, and through Lizst he was introduced to feminist novelist George Sand, who had a huge effect on his life. She is written in the script as a shrew and played as such by Merle Oberon. She convinced Chopin that harboring political causes was antithetical to his development as an artist. I must say that in many respects I agree with her stance, and SB - if you are reading - that is why I have always suggested you focus 100% on your talents and your work and ignore the "24/7 Chaos World" around you. You as an Artist are not meant to wallow in chaos, nor division. Of course, there are limits to this philosophy, such as if one's country is under attack, and so young Chopin was torn, but as he was by now far away on the island of Majorca, with George Sand who was in love with him, he acceded to her wishes. And as a result, he wrote some of the greatest piano music of all time.

However, he began to get sick, probably with tuberculosis, and as he weakened, word got back to him that some of his old political colleagues in Poland had been arrested. After years of avoiding the concert stage, because the stresses of performance were too much for him, he agreed to a tour of Europe in order to raise money for his Polish friends in prison.

It is in the last twenty minutes of the film, depicting this tour, that Cornell Wilde rises to the height of a great performance, as the sickly Chopin, though dying, gives his all in concert after concert. What a finale.

The film looks spectacular, in Technicolor with every attention to detail given to the 19th Century decor of the salons and concert halls of Paris and greater Europe. Paul Muni is probably onscreen more than Wilde, and though his performance is a bit "stagey", as if he were in a play, he really holds down the film nonetheless as an anchor, to give Wilde the chance to shine.

"A Song To Remember" was made in 1945, right at the end of WW2, a time of an enormous release of human emotion worldwide. I am of the belief that it will take perhaps another century until human beings will have a chance to accurately assess the consensus emotional effect of that war, which has been dried up and organised into mere statistics in history books. But at the time, both during the war and right after, in 1945, the movie industry was looking to bring some of that emotion home, and in this film perhaps they meant to show the heights to which humanity can ascend. The movie is about a classical composer - imagine such a film being made today. But in those days, the world had just barely escaped the abyss, and perhaps could see the best of what was on the other side.

Two big thumbs up for "A Song To Remember". ////

SB, I saw a couple of posts, both having to do with airports, or being on a plane (via your friend Joel). So, if you meant them for me to see, I am guessing you may be traveling? Or getting ready to?

Keep me posted if you want to. I am always right here.  :):)