A thin biography of singer Jane Froman is used as an excuse to string together a bunch of songs performed in their entirety by Susan Hayward lip syncing to Froman herself. The result is one of those Technicolor trifles from the 1950s that nevertheless is the first Susan Hayward movie I've seen that made me understand the appeal she had and has to so many people.
Movies like "With a Song in My Heart" have little to recommend them to modern-day audiences unless you happen to be a fan of the actress who stars in it or the person who the movie is about. But when viewed as representative of the culture the movie sprang from, films like this become fascinating examinations of gender dynamics. A film class comprised of Susan Hayward melodramas could be the springboard for all types of interesting conversations.
Jane Froman was a woman whose hugely successful career was nearly sidelined by an injury incurred when a passenger plane was shot down during WWII. That is an interesting story to tell. So does this movie tell that story? Sort of. We see her singing a lot, and we see her get shot down and recovering. But the film is mostly about which of two men she's going to pick, because this was the 1950s and God forbid we think a woman's life could be of interest in its own right without being told through the context of some man or other. There's about a 30 second monologue Hayward delivers at one point that suggests she's in danger of falling prey to bitterness and despair because of her medical condition, but Thelma Ritter, as Froman's nurse and sidekick, gives her a what for as only Ritter could do, tells her she's a spoiled brat, and that's the end of that. Everything after is peachy.
This movie is all about Hayward imitating Froman's performances, and that is when it's at its best. By the end, even the film has forgotten the two lunkheads fighting over her, as if it ran out of energy trying to, you know, give the actors dialogue and all, and just decides to spend the rest of its time giving us rousing musical numbers.
And those numbers actually are rousing. Hayward commands the screen and does a bang up job, and I found myself thinking, "Ok, THIS is why Susan Hayward was so popular."
"With a Song in My Heart" brought greedy composer Alfred Newman his fifth of nine career Oscars for its musical scoring. The film was also nominated for Best Actress (Hayward), Best Supporting Actress (Ritter), Best Costume Design, Color (for Charles LeMaire's endless parade of ruffled and frilled dresses), and Best Sound Recording.
Grade: B+
Movies like "With a Song in My Heart" have little to recommend them to modern-day audiences unless you happen to be a fan of the actress who stars in it or the person who the movie is about. But when viewed as representative of the culture the movie sprang from, films like this become fascinating examinations of gender dynamics. A film class comprised of Susan Hayward melodramas could be the springboard for all types of interesting conversations.
Jane Froman was a woman whose hugely successful career was nearly sidelined by an injury incurred when a passenger plane was shot down during WWII. That is an interesting story to tell. So does this movie tell that story? Sort of. We see her singing a lot, and we see her get shot down and recovering. But the film is mostly about which of two men she's going to pick, because this was the 1950s and God forbid we think a woman's life could be of interest in its own right without being told through the context of some man or other. There's about a 30 second monologue Hayward delivers at one point that suggests she's in danger of falling prey to bitterness and despair because of her medical condition, but Thelma Ritter, as Froman's nurse and sidekick, gives her a what for as only Ritter could do, tells her she's a spoiled brat, and that's the end of that. Everything after is peachy.
This movie is all about Hayward imitating Froman's performances, and that is when it's at its best. By the end, even the film has forgotten the two lunkheads fighting over her, as if it ran out of energy trying to, you know, give the actors dialogue and all, and just decides to spend the rest of its time giving us rousing musical numbers.
And those numbers actually are rousing. Hayward commands the screen and does a bang up job, and I found myself thinking, "Ok, THIS is why Susan Hayward was so popular."
"With a Song in My Heart" brought greedy composer Alfred Newman his fifth of nine career Oscars for its musical scoring. The film was also nominated for Best Actress (Hayward), Best Supporting Actress (Ritter), Best Costume Design, Color (for Charles LeMaire's endless parade of ruffled and frilled dresses), and Best Sound Recording.
Grade: B+