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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Guy Bolton (story)
Ben Feiner Jr. (adaptation)
more
Release Date:
31 December 1948 (USA) more
Tagline:
The BIGGEST musical! more
Plot:
Fictionalized story of the songwriting partnership of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Musical Moments Salvage Weak, Inaccurate Story and Dialogue more (25 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| June Allyson | ... | Alisande La Carteloise (in "A Connecticut Yankee") | |
| Perry Como | ... | Eddie Lorrison Anders / Himself | |
| Judy Garland | ... | Herself | |
| Lena Horne | ... | Herself | |
| Gene Kelly | ... | Himself | |
| Mickey Rooney | ... | Lorenz Hart | |
| Ann Sothern | ... | Joyce Harmon | |
| Tom Drake | ... | Richard Rodgers | |
| Cyd Charisse | ... | Margo Grant | |
| Betty Garrett | ... | Peggy Lorgan McNeil | |
| Janet Leigh | ... | Dorothy Feiner Rodgers | |
| Marshall Thompson | ... | Herbert Fields | |
| Mel Tormé | ... | Himself | |
| Vera-Ellen | ... | Herself | |
| Jeanette Nolan | ... | Mrs. Hart |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Judy Garland's two songs "I Wish I Were in Love Again" and "Johnny One Note" are sung at the same party, but they were filmed several weeks apart from each other. You can tell based on the longer length of her hair in the second number and the thicker, belt-less waistline (from a slight weight gain, perhaps) in the dress she is wearing. more
Goofs:
Continuity: At the Hollywood party at Hart's home, he and Judy are singing a duet. Her dress is cinched with a belt in that scene, however, when she sings a solo just after that, the dress is beltless and her waist is a bit wider. Her hair is also longer than the previous scene. more
Quotes:
Richard Rodgers: That was really black Sunday for me. Shut out twice. Once because I was too young, once because I was too old. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Music and Lyrics (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Blue Room more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (25 total)
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| Three Little Words | Singin' in the Rain | Deep in My Heart | Gypsy | Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer |
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To describe the 1948 WORDS AND MUSIC as a "whitewashed" version of the famous song-writing team Rogers and Hart is a gross understatement. Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) was a homosexual in an era when such was flatly unacceptable; the pressures of the closet drove him into a wildly self-destructive alcoholism that ultimately killed him. Richard Rogers (1902-1979)was Hart's polar opposite, a highly disciplined individual who had zero tolerance for Hart's extremes. Their friendship and working relation was stormy, to say the least.
Needless to say, there was no way on earth that 1940s Hollywood could approach these facts. What we get instead is the story of the brilliant but glitchy Hart (Mickey Rooney) who is disappointed in love by singer Peggy McNeil (Betty Garrett), never gets over it, and falls apart as Rogers (Tom Drake) and his wife Dorothy (Janet Leigh) look on in dismay. It's pretty much a lot of pap, but fortunately for all concerned the movie gives us a lot of music along the way.
Most of the music is the form of cameos by a wash of MGM's musical stars. Perry Como has unexpected screen presence; Lena Horne, saddled with the excessive gesticulation and odd costumes typically inflicted upon her during her Hollywood years, still manages to give truly memorable performances of "Where or When" and "The Lady Is A Tramp;" June Allyson does a charming "Thou Swell;" Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen offer a memorable version of the jazz ballet "Slaughter on 10th Avenue." Other notables include Anne Southern, Cyd Charisse, and Mel Torme.
The big noise among the cameos is Judy Garland, who was battling MGM over withheld salary at the time and finally agreed to do two numbers to even out what the studio said she owed them. The result would be the final pairing of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in a motion picture, the two performing a charming duet of "I Wish I Were In Love Again," with Rooney clearly trying to break Garland up--and often succeeding. It's tremendous fun and followed by Garland's hard-belting and equally enjoyable "Johnny One Note."
Cameos aside, the primary cast is quite good with Rooney a stand out as Hart; one wonders at what performance he might have given if the script had been a no-holds-barred account. Granted, WORDS AND MUSIC is the sort film you watch for the musical moments rather than the plot--but when all is said and done it does what it does extremely well. Recommended, but primarily for musical fans.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer