Deep In My Heart (1954)

The composer Sigmund Romberg (Jose Ferrer) rises from playing piano in a small cafe to the toast of Broadway! Yet another tiresome movie biography about a composer's dull life dressed up a bit with faux dramatic moments to kill time between the all star musical numbers. MGM had been down this route before with movie bios on Jerome Kern and Rodgers & Hart. I'm not a fan of Romberg's operetta style tunes but if you are, you might make it through this without wanting to do a Van Gogh on your ears. Romberg had an uneventful life so there are lots of musical numbers in an attempt to keep you interested. Only two stood out for me: Ann Miller's snappy toe tapping It and a rather erotic dance to One Alone danced by Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell. Other than that, we have Jane Powell trilling and Tony Martin bellowing. Still, they're both preferable to a hideous scene where Jose Ferrer acts out the plot of one of his shows playing all the characters! On the technical side, the Eastman color is vivid and the sets and costumes are impressive. Directed by Stanley Donen without the panache he invested in his other 1954 musical, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. The huge cast includes Merle Oberon, Gene Kelly, Walter Pidgeon, Rosemary Clooney, Helen Traubel, Howard Keel, Vic Damone, Tamara Toumanova, Joan Weldon, Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus, Paul Stewart, Isobel Elsom, Susan Luckey and Doe Avedon (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY) as Mrs. Romberg.