Of the three Chopin biopics- this, 2002's Desire of Love and 1991's Impromptu- Impromptu, for all its flaws is the best of the three, being the best-looking, the best-acted and having the best balance between humour, intelligence and pathos. A Song to Remember has some glaring problems and also some unforgettably good things, not as good as Impromptu but better than the tedious, disjointed and soap-opera-ish Desire of Love.
A Song to Remember's weaknesses are, in comparison to its plaudits, not a great many, but sadly the weaknesses are rather big. The biggest flaw was Paul Muni (a usually fine actor) as Elsner, who even for a purposefully eccentric role is far too wildly over-the-top that the character (who is also used far too much that you wonder whether he is the central character and not Chopin) came over as an annoying cartoon rather than a real character, and it is very distracting sad to say. Merle Oberon fares a little better, because she is a little more emotive and subtle in performance and actually seems like she was trying to connect with the character and the subject matter, that said she is also miscast, being rather too haughty, too attractive, too feminine and too fiery as Sand. A large part of the problem though is the very unsympathetic and somewhat nymphomaniac-like way that Sand is written in, so it is a big problem when the viewer is questioning what does Chopin see in this woman rather than being moved by their romance.
Some of the script is also rather weak. Some of it is intelligent, witty and poignant but too many parts flow awkwardly, are saccharinely flowery ("You can make miracles of music in Majorca" is a particular clunker) and cause some unintentional humour in over-egged parts like the confrontation between Chopin, Sand and Elsner. It also too often only scratches the surface with what happened with not enough depth going on, Chopin and Sand's relationship is actually really fascinating, more so than it has been portrayed to be so far, but it's explored superficially here (Impromptu's portrayal of it fares the closest and best realised of the Chopin biopics, and even then it had its rushed and underplayed parts especially in the early stages). If there more of them on screen together (they were like supporting characters), much less of Muni (whose numerous scenes drag the film down and are not that interesting really), more intimacy in the chemistry and if Sand was written in a more dimensional way it would have worked better.
However, A Song to Remember is particularly worth watching for the music, both Miklos Rosza's beautifully complimenting score and how the great man's music is featured. Chopin's music is some of the hauntingly beautiful and soul-searching of any composer to exist, and even when truncated the beauty, emotion and power is not once lost. This is thanks to pianist José Iturbi, who dubs for Cornel Wilde brilliantly with piano playing that's lyrical, achingly beautiful, fiery and seductive, wonderful music and equally wonderful playing should transport one to another world and Iturbi playing Chopin certainly does. Once more, the music is recorded well and quite rightly takes centre stage when it should do, instead of being just background music. The whole film looks great too, with gorgeous Technicolor photography, evocative costumes and opulent production design. Charles Vidor does direct with engagement and captures the spirit of the times well, while the story (though with some draggy spots and a case of the basic events being there, though with some glaring inaccuracies and changes in chronology, but not in enough detail) still fascinates and still entertains and moves if not to its full potential.
The meeting between Chopin and Liszt is pure magic, and the final seventeen minutes are truly unforgettable, even if the film doesn't always engage completely up to then from then on it's edge-of-your-seat stuff. Cornel Wilde, despite being as mentioned by other reviews being wrong physically (tall, handsome and muscular rather than frail, plain and consumptive) still comes off credibly as Chopin and certainly shows the most emotion, dramatic engagement and subtlety of all the three leads, charmingly and affectingly low-key and not as stiff as feared. His fingering is also convincing that you are convinced that it is him playing. Stephen Bekassy is also strong casting as Liszt.
In conclusion, interesting and decent but could have been much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox
A Song to Remember's weaknesses are, in comparison to its plaudits, not a great many, but sadly the weaknesses are rather big. The biggest flaw was Paul Muni (a usually fine actor) as Elsner, who even for a purposefully eccentric role is far too wildly over-the-top that the character (who is also used far too much that you wonder whether he is the central character and not Chopin) came over as an annoying cartoon rather than a real character, and it is very distracting sad to say. Merle Oberon fares a little better, because she is a little more emotive and subtle in performance and actually seems like she was trying to connect with the character and the subject matter, that said she is also miscast, being rather too haughty, too attractive, too feminine and too fiery as Sand. A large part of the problem though is the very unsympathetic and somewhat nymphomaniac-like way that Sand is written in, so it is a big problem when the viewer is questioning what does Chopin see in this woman rather than being moved by their romance.
Some of the script is also rather weak. Some of it is intelligent, witty and poignant but too many parts flow awkwardly, are saccharinely flowery ("You can make miracles of music in Majorca" is a particular clunker) and cause some unintentional humour in over-egged parts like the confrontation between Chopin, Sand and Elsner. It also too often only scratches the surface with what happened with not enough depth going on, Chopin and Sand's relationship is actually really fascinating, more so than it has been portrayed to be so far, but it's explored superficially here (Impromptu's portrayal of it fares the closest and best realised of the Chopin biopics, and even then it had its rushed and underplayed parts especially in the early stages). If there more of them on screen together (they were like supporting characters), much less of Muni (whose numerous scenes drag the film down and are not that interesting really), more intimacy in the chemistry and if Sand was written in a more dimensional way it would have worked better.
However, A Song to Remember is particularly worth watching for the music, both Miklos Rosza's beautifully complimenting score and how the great man's music is featured. Chopin's music is some of the hauntingly beautiful and soul-searching of any composer to exist, and even when truncated the beauty, emotion and power is not once lost. This is thanks to pianist José Iturbi, who dubs for Cornel Wilde brilliantly with piano playing that's lyrical, achingly beautiful, fiery and seductive, wonderful music and equally wonderful playing should transport one to another world and Iturbi playing Chopin certainly does. Once more, the music is recorded well and quite rightly takes centre stage when it should do, instead of being just background music. The whole film looks great too, with gorgeous Technicolor photography, evocative costumes and opulent production design. Charles Vidor does direct with engagement and captures the spirit of the times well, while the story (though with some draggy spots and a case of the basic events being there, though with some glaring inaccuracies and changes in chronology, but not in enough detail) still fascinates and still entertains and moves if not to its full potential.
The meeting between Chopin and Liszt is pure magic, and the final seventeen minutes are truly unforgettable, even if the film doesn't always engage completely up to then from then on it's edge-of-your-seat stuff. Cornel Wilde, despite being as mentioned by other reviews being wrong physically (tall, handsome and muscular rather than frail, plain and consumptive) still comes off credibly as Chopin and certainly shows the most emotion, dramatic engagement and subtlety of all the three leads, charmingly and affectingly low-key and not as stiff as feared. His fingering is also convincing that you are convinced that it is him playing. Stephen Bekassy is also strong casting as Liszt.
In conclusion, interesting and decent but could have been much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox