Humoresque (1946)

A gifted violinist (John Garfield) is struggling to make his career happen. When he is invited to perform at a cocktail party, he catches the eye of his hostess (Joan Crawford). Stuck in a loveless marriage, she sets her sights on the young man, first as his patroness then as his lover. Based on the short story by Fannie Hurst (IMITATION OF LIFE) and directed by Jean Negulesco (THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN). This mawkish soap opera is better than it has any right to be. Clifford Odets who wrote GOLDEN BOY about a gifted violinist from the wrong part of town and his rise to fame which included a romance with an older woman does the screenplay honors here and uses the same template. As the jaded older woman, Crawford is surprisingly good for most of the film and it is one of her least affected performances, that is until the end when she goes all Crawford on us during her big speech on the telephone and her demise on the beach with Richard Wagner roaring on the soundtrack. Enjoyable kitsch that just missed being a seriously good movie. With Oscar Levant (who has the movie's best lines), J. Carrol Naish, Ruth Nelson, Paul Cavanagh, Peggy Knudsen, Craig Stevens and Joan Chandler.