One of the best musicals that I have watched - but of course in this aspects opinions would be divided - that is if one is an aficionado of classical, only then it would be true.
It has seamlessly woven some great music - both instrumental and vocal into a plot. I have watched a few - where the abundance of the music has made the plot either insignificant or in fact in many case non-existent. But here it isn't so. There is a strong plot - and the central figure Nora Ryan Salerno (Marsha Hunt) had played the role very well. It is in fact very unfortunate - may be not so much for her, but definitely for the audience, that she, at the peak of her career and loveliness, was black-listed by the infamous Mccarthy regime. This movie, revolving around her, could be one of the showcases, where she looked every bit the teenager that her role demanded. In fact I would say that when she played the aged role, she didn't look that - except for the grey hair. The skin was as smooth as a teenager - and she was all of about thirty then.
The reason it lost some marks from me was due to my misogynist outlook - well I didn't like the way it ended, or the moral of it all.
The story is simple - a young Irish girl (probably orphan, but I missed that declaration) lands up in NY, and straight at the newly constructed Carnegie hall, where her aunt is a cleaning lady. While waiting for the aunt, she is spotted by Symphony Orchestra's famous conductor, Walter Johannes Damrosch, who takes her to listen to the concert, Tchaikovsky was conducting. It was love at first sight - for the music - and a lifelong (avuncular) association with Damrosch. She stayed back at the Hall, and later (probably), got the job of her aunt. On the process she fell in love with a young, brilliant but nonconformist pianist Salerno, and after marriage had a baby, Salermo Jr. The rebel streak would make Salermo get regularly fired by the Met Conductor (Damrosch) and would be back, thanks to the chemistry between Norah and the conductor. During one of these occasions, after getting fired, and fully drunk, they had an altercation, and he dies after an accident. The dream of Norah, to get her man to lead the Met was shattered, but she took up a job, improved herself, to give the best training to her baby, to live her dream. The boy, once grown falls in love with a pop-girl and walks out on the mother, shattering her dreams, going 'Pop'. The married life isn't very smooth, due to artistic ego clash between the two, and the girl comes to her mother in law for help in putting the marriage back in rail. For which there is another of her mother's platonic friend is handy, Frank McHugh (as John Donovan), who probably was in love with Norah, till she married the other, and stayed close but platonic friend. Norah's dream did come true, but not the way I wanted, so I deduct the marks here, all the deductions are for the last few minutes.
The beauty of the movie is, as I mentioned, the seamless merging of the great music with the mood of the scene. For example, when Salerno Jr takes his girl-friend Ruth to the great Ezio Pinza's room, he, with a few more girls in audience sings 'Fin ch'han dal vino' - admirably suited if we take Ruth as Zerlina and Salerno as Masetto, and the maestro as Don. And this isn't the only case. The whole movie, may be three fourth of it, is full of exquisite music, and none of them had been censored (i.e. scissored off)
Coming back to why did I reduce the mark. This had a underlying psychological angle - the obsessive determination of Norah to get her beloved (first her man, and then her son) with the baton at the Phil. I agree that this type of obsessive disorder is bad for the objects of her affection.
But she wasn't too hard on her husband, in fact whatever has happened was entirely his fault. he was pianist in an orchestra, he can't play to his wish, unmindful of the conductor, Conductor was justifiably outraged, and still he regularly took him back, thanks to Norah. There was no determination on his part to go solo, which he only talked at the end, and that too in bars, not in a regular venue. naturally any mother of an infant would be outraged at the irresponsible act of the husband, but she still wasn't. I really don't fault Norah on her behavior with husband (but she said in the end that it was).
Then with the son, yes she was insistent, but not really in villainous way. It was still motherly, though with absolute control. There is no doubt that the son will rebel, and I don't fault him, here at least he had some reason. But his treatment of the mother, when he walked out on her, for his girl, left a bad taste in the mouth. More so, as he totally cut off all connections. That though does happen in real life, but in those cases, the son becomes the villain. In this case too, the mother accepted the whole responsibility, and in fact made the daughter in law too to accept her (DIL's) guilt in their domestic quarrel. This is where I disagree, this man too was not free of guilt, may be less guilty than the father, but still. And in fact the way the mother carried on, trying to live her dream through other's children, made her a heroine (the movie did that, despite her own admission of otherwise).
And third thing that disappointed me is the son's continuing with the modern music, and the mother's falling for it. With her love with the master's that won't do. She might compromise to her fate, but she won't call it her dream came true.
It has seamlessly woven some great music - both instrumental and vocal into a plot. I have watched a few - where the abundance of the music has made the plot either insignificant or in fact in many case non-existent. But here it isn't so. There is a strong plot - and the central figure Nora Ryan Salerno (Marsha Hunt) had played the role very well. It is in fact very unfortunate - may be not so much for her, but definitely for the audience, that she, at the peak of her career and loveliness, was black-listed by the infamous Mccarthy regime. This movie, revolving around her, could be one of the showcases, where she looked every bit the teenager that her role demanded. In fact I would say that when she played the aged role, she didn't look that - except for the grey hair. The skin was as smooth as a teenager - and she was all of about thirty then.
The reason it lost some marks from me was due to my misogynist outlook - well I didn't like the way it ended, or the moral of it all.
The story is simple - a young Irish girl (probably orphan, but I missed that declaration) lands up in NY, and straight at the newly constructed Carnegie hall, where her aunt is a cleaning lady. While waiting for the aunt, she is spotted by Symphony Orchestra's famous conductor, Walter Johannes Damrosch, who takes her to listen to the concert, Tchaikovsky was conducting. It was love at first sight - for the music - and a lifelong (avuncular) association with Damrosch. She stayed back at the Hall, and later (probably), got the job of her aunt. On the process she fell in love with a young, brilliant but nonconformist pianist Salerno, and after marriage had a baby, Salermo Jr. The rebel streak would make Salermo get regularly fired by the Met Conductor (Damrosch) and would be back, thanks to the chemistry between Norah and the conductor. During one of these occasions, after getting fired, and fully drunk, they had an altercation, and he dies after an accident. The dream of Norah, to get her man to lead the Met was shattered, but she took up a job, improved herself, to give the best training to her baby, to live her dream. The boy, once grown falls in love with a pop-girl and walks out on the mother, shattering her dreams, going 'Pop'. The married life isn't very smooth, due to artistic ego clash between the two, and the girl comes to her mother in law for help in putting the marriage back in rail. For which there is another of her mother's platonic friend is handy, Frank McHugh (as John Donovan), who probably was in love with Norah, till she married the other, and stayed close but platonic friend. Norah's dream did come true, but not the way I wanted, so I deduct the marks here, all the deductions are for the last few minutes.
The beauty of the movie is, as I mentioned, the seamless merging of the great music with the mood of the scene. For example, when Salerno Jr takes his girl-friend Ruth to the great Ezio Pinza's room, he, with a few more girls in audience sings 'Fin ch'han dal vino' - admirably suited if we take Ruth as Zerlina and Salerno as Masetto, and the maestro as Don. And this isn't the only case. The whole movie, may be three fourth of it, is full of exquisite music, and none of them had been censored (i.e. scissored off)
Coming back to why did I reduce the mark. This had a underlying psychological angle - the obsessive determination of Norah to get her beloved (first her man, and then her son) with the baton at the Phil. I agree that this type of obsessive disorder is bad for the objects of her affection.
But she wasn't too hard on her husband, in fact whatever has happened was entirely his fault. he was pianist in an orchestra, he can't play to his wish, unmindful of the conductor, Conductor was justifiably outraged, and still he regularly took him back, thanks to Norah. There was no determination on his part to go solo, which he only talked at the end, and that too in bars, not in a regular venue. naturally any mother of an infant would be outraged at the irresponsible act of the husband, but she still wasn't. I really don't fault Norah on her behavior with husband (but she said in the end that it was).
Then with the son, yes she was insistent, but not really in villainous way. It was still motherly, though with absolute control. There is no doubt that the son will rebel, and I don't fault him, here at least he had some reason. But his treatment of the mother, when he walked out on her, for his girl, left a bad taste in the mouth. More so, as he totally cut off all connections. That though does happen in real life, but in those cases, the son becomes the villain. In this case too, the mother accepted the whole responsibility, and in fact made the daughter in law too to accept her (DIL's) guilt in their domestic quarrel. This is where I disagree, this man too was not free of guilt, may be less guilty than the father, but still. And in fact the way the mother carried on, trying to live her dream through other's children, made her a heroine (the movie did that, despite her own admission of otherwise).
And third thing that disappointed me is the son's continuing with the modern music, and the mother's falling for it. With her love with the master's that won't do. She might compromise to her fate, but she won't call it her dream came true.