Humoresque (1946)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Clifford Odets (screenplay) and
Zachary Gold (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 December 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

TWO WHO MET AND KISSED AND NEVER SHOULD HAVE MET AGAIN! (original poster - all caps)

Plot:

A classical musician from the slums is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.

Plot Keywords:

Cuckold | Violin | Beach | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Mrs. Helen Wright
John Garfield	...	Paul Boray
Oscar Levant	...	Sid Jeffers
J. Carrol Naish	...	Papa Rudy Boray
Joan Chandler	...	Gina Romney
Tom D'Andrea	...	Phil Boray
Peggy Knudsen	...	Florence Boray
Ruth Nelson	...	Mama Esther Boray
Craig Stevens	...	Monte Loeffler
Paul Cavanagh	...	Mr. Victor Wright
Richard Gaines	...	Bauer - Paul's 1st producer
John Abbott	...	Rozner - conducts Nat.Inst.Orch.
Robert Blake	...	Paul Boray - child (as Bobby Blake)
Tommy Cook	...	Phil Boray - child
Don McGuire	...	Teddy #2 - Prop. of Teddy's Bar
Fritz Leiber	...	Famous conductor Anatole Hagerstrom
Peg La Centra	...	Pianist-singer - Teddy's Bar (as Peg LaCentra)
Nestor Paiva	...	Conducts Tchaikovsky radio rehearsal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sylvia Arslan	...	Gina as a Girl (uncredited)
Patricia Barry	...	Fritzie - Bauer's secretary (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	Moving Man (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs	...	Jeffers - toy shop proprietor (uncredited)
Eric DeLamarter	...	Orchestra Conductor (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Boray Fan (uncredited)
Angela Greene	...	Tipsy blonde at party, calls Paul boxer (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Professor (uncredited)
Jane Harker	...	Redhead snob with Sid at party (uncredited)
Ann Lawrence	...	Florence as a Girl (uncredited)
Esther Michelson	...	Mrs. Klein buys Boray's groceries (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Theater Worker (uncredited)
Don Turner	...	Man With Dog (uncredited)
Richard Walsh	...	Teddy #1 - Helen's party errand boy (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Negulesco

Writing credits
Clifford Odets		(screenplay) and
Zachary Gold		(screenplay)
Fannie Hurst		(short story "Humoresque")

Produced by
Jerry Wald	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Rudi Fehr

Art Direction by
Hugh Reticker

Set Decoration by
Clarence Steensen

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Quinn	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound (as David Forrest)
Robert B. Lee	....	sound

Special Effects by
Roy Davidson	....	special effects director
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adrian	....	wardrobe: Miss Crawford
Bernard Newman	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Isaac Stern	....	music advisor
Franz Waxman	....	conductor
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Isaac Stern	....	musician (solo violin: John Garfield ) (uncredited)
Franz Waxman	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Herschel Daugherty	....	dialogue director
James Leicester	....	montages

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

125 min | West Germany:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Australia:G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #11490) | West Germany:16 | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

John Garfield's violin "performances" are actually played by two professional violinists standing on either side of him, one to bow and one to finger. The actual music was performed by Isaac Stern.

Goofs:

Continuity: Outside the beach house owned by Helen Wright (Joan Crawford), there is an ornate lantern on top of a post by the stairs leading from the house's terrace to the beach. In early sequences, the lantern has no glass and a bare light bulb is visible. Later sequences show the lantern with its glass installed, concealing the bulb.

Quotes:

Sid Jeffers: Tell me, Mrs. Wright, does your husband interfere with your marriage?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Music of 'Humoresque' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

You Do Something to Me

The Hollywood Movie as Dream and Nightmare

In many ways, HUMORESQUE represents the Hollywood movie working in terms of both dream and nightmare. The opening section, with its deep shadows and highly stylized line delivery, has nightmarish overtones. From here, the film enters flashback, nearly always a dream-like experience for the viewer (and an important reason why many films from this period are so compelling). This film is the 'dream' of having one's wishes come true. Because it is a dream that purports to take place in a 'real world' (the Warner Bros.' version of that world), it also incorporates darker aspects of wish fulfillment. Young Paul (very well realized by Robert Blake) achieves his fantasy of becoming not only a real violinist, but a world-class one. But there are prices to be paid: his mother's frustration, a childhood girlfriend's disappointment, the self-destruction of a lonely, love-starved woman, and his own tragic realization of these costs. John Garfield's naturalistic acting contributes to one of this actor's legacy of memorable performances. There is never any doubt that this character is real. And this is an important factor, since the entire film can be viewed as Paul's dream/nightmare.

The film pivots on one brilliant sequence: as Paul performs the Lalo, with Helen (Joan Crawford), Gina (Joan Chandler) and the mother (Ruth Nelson) in attendance. We see Helen in an obvious sexual ecstasy, alone, high up in her privileged box. Her face is magnified to full-screen size as she is engulfed by the music. Meanwhile, Gina is the pained witness of this performance from below. She is unable to stand it, and must flee. Mother, on the other hand, observes it all with a troubled understanding. It could be seen as in psychological terms as the 'mother' divided into three parts, none of which can be satisfied. The only result can be tragic, or at least unfulfilled.

HUMORESQUE contains Joan Crawford's best performance. Only the next film she made, POSSESSED can equal it. Watching after MILDRED PIERCE reveals a more nuanced, intelligent kind of acting, something she learned while playing the Oscar-winning role: we can see the influence of both Zachary Scott and Garfield in the bar scenes. And the scenes with Helen's husband (Paul Cavanagh) are among the most adult, intelligently acted moments in the film. They are also a testament to the talent of director Jean Negulesco.

Besides the three-way 'mother' pull on Paul is his ambiguous relationship with Sid Jeffers (Oscar Levant), who is, in a sense, also a 'mother' figure: nurturing Paul's talents and accompanying his entire career in one way or another. The two men live together, first out of financial necessity, then out of an unspoken, mutual emotional need. Sid's attachment to Paul remains undefined throughout. Oscar Levant is a major part of the film's effect: he has the perfect style for sarcastic, but not mean, line-delivery. And the frequent humorous interjections help to prevent the film from becoming weighed down by the intense main narrative.

Music in this film adds a great deal to its dreamlike qualities. Even though little of the music, before the end, has the sensuality associated with a dream experience, the virtuoso pieces used are perfect vehicles for the 'dreamer' to act out his role as the center of this closed universe. He performs, and the other characters can only accompany (a very secondary role here) or react by applauding. In the end, a rather odd arrangement of music from TRISTAN UND ISOLDE--which culminates in the 'Liebestod' ('Love-Death')--brings the film into the realm of pure dream. Helen's self-destruction is played out against music of pure sensuality and psychic release. Only the deep waters of oblivion can provide a conclusion.

HUMORESQUE is a fine example of why Hollywood film from the classic period can have a lasting fascination and appeal.