Rhapsody In Blue [Blu-ray]

Director: Irving Rapper Irving Rapper

Overview

There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! That music! Director Irving Rapper had wanted Tyrone Power to play Gershwin, but Power was still serving in the Marines, so Rapper had to settle for Robert Alda--who isn't bad at all, just a trifle over-enthusiastic. The film traces Gershwin's rise from a "song plugger" for a Manhattan music publishing company to the heights of international fame and fortune. Gershwin's first big hit is "Swanee," introduced on Broadway by Al Jolson (who plays himself, making his first film appearance in six years). In collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira (well played by Herbert Rudley), George pens hit after hit in show after show. Impresario Charles Coburn is happy with this, but George's kindly old music teacher Albert Basserman wants his prize pupil to aspire to something more artistic. Gershwin responds with "Rhapsody in Blue", which debuts at Aeolian Hall in 1924 under the baton of bandleader Paul Whiteman (also playing himself). As his fame and workload grows, George finds he has no time at all for romance; the two (fictional) ladies in his life, both of whom eventually realize that they'll always have to play second fiddle to Gershwin's muse, are musical comedy star Joan Leslie and socialite Alexis Smith. Gershwin continues to compose such masterpieces as "An American in Paris", "Cuban Overture", "Concerto in F" and the 1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess. He will not allow himself to rest on his laurels, ruthlessly pushing himself to top all his previous accomplishments. Finally, the strain proves too great: George Gershwin dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1937, at the age of 39. Featured in the cast as themselves (in addition to those already mentioned) are Gershwin's lifelong friend Oscar Levant, producer George White, and Broadway performers Tom Patricola and Hazel Scott. Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp play George's parents, while Julie Bishop is cast as Ira's wife Lee, who is saddled with the film's silliest line: "Ira, promise me that you'll never become a genius." Alternately hokey and inspired, Rhapsody in Blue has weathered the years as one of Hollywood's most solid biopics. And, as a bonus, we are treated to a virtually complete performance (running a full reel) of the title composition.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/27/2025
UPC:	0840418326473
Original Release:	1945
Language:	English
Time:	2:19:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Alda	George Gershwin
Joan Leslie	Julie Adams
Alexis Smith	Christine Gilbert
Oscar Levant	Himself
Charles Coburn	May Dreyfus
Julie Bishop	Lee Gershwin
Al Jolson	Himself
Albert Basserman	Prof. Frank
Morris Carnovsky	Poppa Gershwin
Rosemary DeCamp	Momma Gershwin
Anne Brown	Bess
Herbert Rudley	Ira Gershwin
John B. Hughes	Commentator
Mickey Roth	George Gershwin as a Boy
Darryl Hickman	Ira Gershwin as a Boy
Charles Halton	Mr. Kast
Andrew Tombes	Mr. Milton
Gregory Golubeff	Mr. Katzman
Walter Soderling	Mr. Muscatel
Eddie Marr	Buddy De Sylva
Theodore von Eltz	Foley
Bill Kennedy	Herbert Stone
Robert Shayne	Christine's Escort
Oscar Lorraine	Ravel
Johnny Downs	Dancer
Ernest Golm	Otto Kahn
Martin Noble	Jascha Heifetz
Hugo Kirchhoffer	Walter Damrosch
Will Wright	Rachmaninoff
Ivan Lebedeff	Guest in Nightclub
George Riley	Comic
Virginia Sale	Cashier
Yola D'Avril	Prima Donna
Claire DuBrey	Receptionist
Christian Rub	Swedish Janitor
Odette Myrtil	Mme. De Breteuil
Rob Johnson	Sport,Sport
Jay Novello	Orchestra Leader
William Gillespie	Porgy
Mark Stevens	Singer
George White	Himself
Hazel Scott	Herself
Tom Patricola	Himself
Paul Whiteman	Themselves
Ira Gershwin	Herbert Rudley
Eddie Cantor	Actor
Frank Reicher	Actor
Harry Seymour	Piano Player

Technical Credits

Howard Koch

Elliot Paul

Irving Rapper	Director
Howard Koch	Screenwriter
Elliot Paul	Screenwriter
Jesse Lasky	Producer
Ray Davidson	Special Effects
Willard Vanenger	Special Effects