A Song To Remember (1945)

The life of composer and pianist extraordinaire Fredric Chopin (Cornel Wilde), romanticized and given the stereotypical Hollywood treatment with not much actual historical accuracy. Directed by Charles Vidor (who ironically was working on a film about Franz Liszt, SONG WITHOUT END from 1960 when he died) and in plush Technicolor with sumptuous art direction by Frank Tuttle and costumes by Walter Plunkett and Travis Banton. The film attempts to paint Chopin as a fiery Polish revolutionary forced to flee Poland to avoid prison. The film is pure unadulterated hokum. Considered a prestige picture in 1945, it barely qualifies as kitsch today. Wilde's painful expressions inexplicably got him a best actor Oscar nomination while Merle Oberon (as George Sand) is portrayed as some kind of fascist degenerate. Oberon tends to bark her lines as if she'd seen too many Joan Crawford movies. Nothing, however, can prepare one for the sheer awfulness of Paul Muni as Chopin's teacher and mentor. He takes overacting to new levels never before attempted or seen since. The man can't stop making faces or sit still, he's always twitching and moving until you're exhausted just watching the man. Nina Foch as the girl back home in Warsaw gives the film's only naturalistic performance. Chopin's music is adapted by Miklos Rozsa. With George Macready, Stephen Bekassy and George Coulouris.