By 1954, a biography of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg seems a bit out of place just two years before Elvis Presley took the recording industry by storm. But Hollywood wasn't giving up on operettas, at least not yet, having just filmed Romberg's "The Desert Song" (for the 4th time, if you include "The Red Shadow, a 1934 short) and "The Student Prince", as well as Rudolph Friml's "Rose Marie". As a movie biography, "Deep in My Heart" is a lot of "and then I did", but it is completely charming. A glorious opening has the MGM chorus singing the title song after a brief orchestral medley of his songs, and don't be surprised if your spine doesn't tingle a bit when the first close-up on Jose Ferrer comes up.
As other musical biographies always start, Sigmund Romberg is a hopeful composer who reluctantly writes jazzy tunes (the delightful "Leg of Mutton") to get his name bandied about by Broadway producers. They take his beautiful medley, "Softly as a Morning Sunrise", and turn it into a Folies Bergere type number for his first show, but Romberg insists that he won't be satisfied until he can have his operetta, "Maytime", produced. In the meantime, he writes for a few more reviews, but when "Maytime" is produced, he has an artistic and financial smash on his hands. The pairing of Jane Powell and Vic Damone singing "Will You Remember?" is glorious, which sets the tone for the on-stage numbers. It's ironic here that the best numbers are the ones for his operettas, "The Student Prince", "The Desert Song", and "New Moon". Jazzy numbers like "It", "I Love to Go Swimmin' With Women" are slightly disappointing, as if stating these types of songs didn't have his heart in them. In fact, "It", lively sung and danced by Ann Miller is a little offensive.
As far as the storyline goes, the music drops out completely in the middle of the film as Romberg's romance with his future wife Lillian (Doe Averdon) erupts, but fortunately, it's not gone for long. Ferrer gives a hysterical performance while describing the plot and music of his newest show "Jazz-a-Doo" to Averdon and her uppity mother (Isobel Elsom) that is reminiscent of Danny Kaye's early work. Supporting Ferrer, along with his wife, are the lovely Merle Oberon as Romberg's lyricist and book writer Dorothy Donnelly and the amazing Helen Traubel as Anna Mueller, his life-long friend who has the voice of an angel, not to mention the heart of gold to go along with it. Traubel, who made few films, is a gifted comic and steals every scene she is in.
For fans of "Funny Girl", there is a nice ironic scene of Walter Pidgeon playing J.J. Shubert in a scene with Paul Henreid as Florenz Ziegfeld. (It's too bad they couldn't get William Powell to play David Belasco or some other Broadway producer of that era.) "Mr. Magoo" and "Thurston Howell III" fans will instantly recognize Jim Backus in the role of one of Romberg's writing partners. Overall, "Deep in My Heart" is typical MGM gloss with only the outline of a story, but works tremendously because of the entertainment quotient it brings. It ranks up there with "Till the Clouds Roll By" and "Three Little Words", and outshines the fictitious Cole Porter story ("Night and Day") and the sanitized "Words and Music" (the Rodgers and Hart story).
As other musical biographies always start, Sigmund Romberg is a hopeful composer who reluctantly writes jazzy tunes (the delightful "Leg of Mutton") to get his name bandied about by Broadway producers. They take his beautiful medley, "Softly as a Morning Sunrise", and turn it into a Folies Bergere type number for his first show, but Romberg insists that he won't be satisfied until he can have his operetta, "Maytime", produced. In the meantime, he writes for a few more reviews, but when "Maytime" is produced, he has an artistic and financial smash on his hands. The pairing of Jane Powell and Vic Damone singing "Will You Remember?" is glorious, which sets the tone for the on-stage numbers. It's ironic here that the best numbers are the ones for his operettas, "The Student Prince", "The Desert Song", and "New Moon". Jazzy numbers like "It", "I Love to Go Swimmin' With Women" are slightly disappointing, as if stating these types of songs didn't have his heart in them. In fact, "It", lively sung and danced by Ann Miller is a little offensive.
As far as the storyline goes, the music drops out completely in the middle of the film as Romberg's romance with his future wife Lillian (Doe Averdon) erupts, but fortunately, it's not gone for long. Ferrer gives a hysterical performance while describing the plot and music of his newest show "Jazz-a-Doo" to Averdon and her uppity mother (Isobel Elsom) that is reminiscent of Danny Kaye's early work. Supporting Ferrer, along with his wife, are the lovely Merle Oberon as Romberg's lyricist and book writer Dorothy Donnelly and the amazing Helen Traubel as Anna Mueller, his life-long friend who has the voice of an angel, not to mention the heart of gold to go along with it. Traubel, who made few films, is a gifted comic and steals every scene she is in.
For fans of "Funny Girl", there is a nice ironic scene of Walter Pidgeon playing J.J. Shubert in a scene with Paul Henreid as Florenz Ziegfeld. (It's too bad they couldn't get William Powell to play David Belasco or some other Broadway producer of that era.) "Mr. Magoo" and "Thurston Howell III" fans will instantly recognize Jim Backus in the role of one of Romberg's writing partners. Overall, "Deep in My Heart" is typical MGM gloss with only the outline of a story, but works tremendously because of the entertainment quotient it brings. It ranks up there with "Till the Clouds Roll By" and "Three Little Words", and outshines the fictitious Cole Porter story ("Night and Day") and the sanitized "Words and Music" (the Rodgers and Hart story).