This star-studded film begins with the words "....based on the life of Jerome Kern" appearing on the screen. "Based on" is a code phrase which, to Hollywood, means "...has VERY little to do with the life of..."! I've seen lots of based on films--and each one left me wanting to know the REAL life of the subject of the film! And, considering that Kern himself felt his life was too boring for a movie, MGM decided to 'spice it up' a bit.
What this film really is, is not so much a biography of Kern but a cavalcade of MGM talent performing his songs with a very tenuous plot holding them all together. While folks back in 1946 might have loved this, I found the number of songs to be a bit overwhelming and it needed more story. In fact, though it looked nice, I think the film was dreadfully dull. I would have hated to have paid to see this in the theaters back in 1946. I only give it a score as high as 4 because the musical numbers, while unnecessary at times, were well done. If you do watch, pay attention to Frank Sinatra singing "Old Man River"--he totally botches it and he's so, so wrong for the song.
What this film really is, is not so much a biography of Kern but a cavalcade of MGM talent performing his songs with a very tenuous plot holding them all together. While folks back in 1946 might have loved this, I found the number of songs to be a bit overwhelming and it needed more story. In fact, though it looked nice, I think the film was dreadfully dull. I would have hated to have paid to see this in the theaters back in 1946. I only give it a score as high as 4 because the musical numbers, while unnecessary at times, were well done. If you do watch, pay attention to Frank Sinatra singing "Old Man River"--he totally botches it and he's so, so wrong for the song.