Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), 7- Color

Biography of songwriter, Broadway pioneer, Jerome Kern. Unable to find immediate success in the USA, Kern sought recognition abroad. He journeyed to England where his dreams of success became real and where he met his future wife Eva.
2h 12min | Biography, Musical | 5 December 1946 | Color
Directors: Richard Whorf, Vincente Minnelli (JG segments), George Sidney (H'wood finale).
Stars: Robert Walker, Van Heflin, Lucille Bremer.
Robert Alton ... direction and staging of musical numbers
Hermes Pan ... choreographer (uncredited)
Charles Walters ... choreographer (uncredited)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039035/

In the Tap! Appendix for June Allyson, Ray McDonald. There's not much tap dancing in this film, and I don't think either of their numbers qualifies.

Songs performed, all Music by Jerome Kern, various lyricists. (39 chapters with menu).

• ch1. The Siren's Song, Sung by MGM Chorus in Opening Credits
• Show Boat, Broadway Premiere Sequence: Performed by MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• ch2. Cotton Blossom, Performed by MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• ch2. Where's The Mate For Me?, Sung by Tony Martin
• ch3. Make Believe, Sung by Kathryn Grayson and Tony Martin
• ch4. Life Upon The Wicked Stage, Sung by Virginia O'Brien and Women's Chorus
• ch5. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, Sung by Lena Horne
• ch6. Ol' Man River, Sung by Caleb Peterson, Frieda Shaw's Ethiopian Chorus, and Chorus
• ch8. Ka-lu-a, Performed by the MGM Studio Orchestra
• ch11. How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?, Sung and danced by Angela Lansbury and Chorus
• ch14. They Didn't Believe Me, Sung by Dorothy Patrick (dubbed by Ruth Clark) and also played by Robert Walker at the piano;
• ch16. They Didn't Believe Me, sung by Dinah Shore
• ch19. Till The Clouds Roll By, Sung and danced by Ray McDonald with June Allyson and Chorus
• ch21. Cleopatterer, Sung and danced by June Allyson with Ray McDonald and Chorus
• ch21. Leave It to Jane, Sung and danced by June Allyson with Ray McDonald and Chorus
• ch22. Look for the Silver Lining, Sung by Judy Garland
• ch26. Who?, Sung by Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin), and later sung by Judy Garland and Chorus
• ch25. Sunny, Sung by MGM Chorus, with Judy Garland and stunt double
• ch30. One More Dance, Sung by Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin) and Chorus
• ch31. I Won't Dance, Sung and danced by Van Johnson and Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin)
• stage montage:
• ch34. briefly: She Didn't Say 'Yes', Sung by Lyn Wilde and Lee Wilde (as The Wilde Twins
• ch34. briefly: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Danced by Cyd Charisse and Gower Champion and sung by MGM Chorus
• ch35. The Last Time I Saw Paris, Sung by Dinah Shore
• H'wood montage
• ch36. The Land Where the Good Songs Go, Sung by Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin) and Chorus
• ch36. Yesterdays, Sung by the MGM Chorus
• ch37. Long Ago (and Far Away), Sung by Kathryn Grayson
• ch37. A Fine Romance, Sung by Virginia O'Brien
• ch37. All the Things You Are, Sung by Tony Martin
• ch38. Why Was I Born?, Sung by Lena Horne
• ch39. Ol' Man River, Sung by Frank Sinatra and Chorus
• Outtakes:
• Music in the Air, sung by Kathryn Grayson
• D'Ya Love Me, sung by Judy Garland

Previously rated 6 on 2014-03-26, and I can understand that. The featurette that exposes the biographical story as mostly fiction (there was no Van Heflin character in Kern's life, and therefore no daughter either) does not help. RW as a milquetoast is an enormous waste (cue up Strangers on a Train ('51), please). And I don't like LB, so that's a double whammy.

In the final scene, the camera pulls back to reveal the orchestra and chorus we've been watching for 4 chapters is on a floating stage. 1) It's weird, and 2) I'm distracted wondering how they did the effect (matte painting with camera pan?) Not a good way to end: pulling me out of the movie to wonder how that last moment is done.

A benefit of watching films in sequence: The opening 5 scenes of the Show Boat montage, with Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia, but Tony Martin as Gaylord and Lena Horne as Julie, makes me realize this is a half-decade before MGM puts Show Boat ('51) on film, with Howard Keel as Gaylord and Ava Gardner as Julie (dubbed, not by LH). TM would have made a good Gaylord, and LH was actually too dark to pass as white (as Julie does); I wonder if she would have submitted to pale makeup, had the studio been willing. (Keel's first film is in '48. Also fascinating: the '36 Show Boat was done by Universal, not MGM.)

I would have liked the dance with Cyd Charisse and Gower Champion to last much longer; they made a good pair. I don't think they ever dance together on film again. (The only possibility is Words and Music ('48). She's in the Soundtracks; he is not, but he is in the cast as specialty dancer.)

I would have been happier with a Ziegfeld Follies ('45) style pure revue, with longer performances of the songs (many are just snippets), instead of a fictional biopic with unappealing leads. (I'm sure I won't have the same complaint about Night and Day ('46) with Cary Grant as Cole Porter. With CG, I won't care how fictional the story is.)

But as a collection of JK songs, staged prettily, I have to recommend it.

MGM, dir. Whorf, Minnelli, Sidney; 7-