A Song to Remember (1945) User Reviews

Entertaining by inaccurate

[FlickJunkie-2 · 7/10 · 19 November 2000]

I love the music of Chopin. That is why I was eager to see this 1945 classic about his life. After seeing it, I enjoyed the film so much that it spurred me to seek out some biographical information on his life. After having done so, I realized that the story in the film bore very little resemblance to the truth and I was greatly disappointed. It was just another example of extremely entertaining Hollywood drivel.

As a work of fiction, the film was nicely done. The story was enchanting and it painted Chopin as a very noble patriot, playing himself to death in concerts to earn money to support the Polish revolution, though I found no support for that in anything I read. Cornel Wilde was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, which was excellent indeed, but he was incongruously cast. Wilde is handsome and athletic looking and Chopin was plain and frail. Paul Muni, though charming in the role of Professor Elsner, was much too eccentric and ebulliently peculiar to be very believable. The best performance by far was given by Merle Oberon as the cold and iron willed George Sand, whose love affair with Chopin turned into a tyrannical attempt to shelter him from the world.

The best part of this film was the music of Chopin himself, played brilliantly by Jose Iturbi. The music alone was worth enduring the Hollywood prevarication. I also enjoyed the 19th Century costumes.

I rated this film a 7/10. If it were a fictional account of some person who never existed, I probably would have rated it a 9/10, because it was very enjoyable. However, such liberties were taken with the truth that I had to deduct a couple of points in protest. If you are a classic film buff or a classical music lover, it is definitely worth seeing.

A handsome Technicolor extravaganza...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 6 October 2002]

For students of music, 'A Song to Remember' is to criticize, since it greatly romanticizes the life of Chopin and adds many fictional tissues...

However, criticism on that level must be tempered with the understanding that in 1945 this film did a deal to interest a wide public in Chopin's music... With the music adapted by Miklos Rozsa and performed by José Iturbi, there is much to enjoy and admire...

According to Sidney Buchman's screenplay, Chopin is a political idealist who devotes much of his career to adopt the cause of his native Poland in its struggle to throw off czarist oppression... As a young man Chopin (Cornel Wilde) sides with the revolutionaries, to the concern of his sagacious teacher and mentor Joseph Elsner (Paul Muni). When Chopin goes to Paris to win fame and money to support his political friends, Elsner accompanies him, to guide and protect him...

In the halls of a music publisher, Chopin makes the acquaintance of Franz Liszt (Stephen Bekassy), who is already an admirer of the young Pole's compositions... Liszt befriends him, promotes his career, and introduces him to the elegant and romantic novelist Georges Sand (Merle Oberon). The tempestuous couple fall in love and Chopin, against Elsner's advice, goes with her on a journey to Majorca, where his health is undermined...

The facts are that Chopin was never an active Polish revolutionary and pursued a career without political motivation... He went to Paris alone, and his affair with Georges Sand lasted eight years, until he left her after a quarrel...

Elsner did not accompany Chopin to Paris from Poland, nor did he ever engage in a duel of wits with George Sand for control of Chopin's life and aims...

Constantia, the character played by Nina Foch, never went to Paris to plead with Chopin to help his fellow Poles in their struggle against Czarist rule... Elsner and Sand never reflected, nor influenced Chopin's musical style to the degree implied in the film, and it would be a mistake to accept the movie impression of Sand as a nymphomaniac who betrayed Musset, destroyed Chopin, and changed her philosophy and politics to suit the views of each successive lover... When Sand thought she had found something approaching perfection in a man, she lived with him for years... She remained impervious to Musset's skeptical views and Chopin's aristocratic prejudices...

However, Charles Vidor's film is a handsome Technicolor extravaganza, directed with all the sweep and emotional vitality for which he was characterized... The film showcases a highly mannered Paul Muni; an effusive and intense Merle Oberon (a petite, exotic-looking and strikingly beautiful brunette, wearing gorgeous gowns, walking with grand éclat) and an elegantly tormented Cornel Wilde...

Having taken due note of all this, it is only fair to state that if one is willing to surrender to the gorgeous romanticism of the doings, and if one approaches 'A Song to Remember' as a fictional tale about a 19th century composer who wrote exquisite concertos, penetrating solo pieces, who loved the eccentric George Sand, who wanted to help his fellow Poles in the effort, who proved ungrateful to his mentor, then one is faced with electrifying scenes, courtesy of Merle Oberon who was never more forceful in her tense confrontation scenes with Muni for Wilde's attention and acknowledgment... Paul Muni's performance exuded a poetic kind-heartedness with quiet realism...

When the indifferent but determined Chopin decides to embark on the concert tour that will raise money for "the cause," Oberon seems very exciting in her trenchant speech about the bitterness and sorrow of her past that had hardened her to defy the world with her individualism...

Fine characterizations are contributed by Stephen Bekassy as Franz Lisz, George Coulouris as music publisher Louis Pleyel, and George Macready as Alfred De Musset, one of the more conspicuous lovers of Sand...

If taken as an essentially fictional work, 'A Song to Remember' is hilarious classical musical biopic which was unexpectedly popular...

You just have to forget it's a bio

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 27 July 2005]

"A Song to Remember" is supposed to be the life of Chopin but in fact, very little in it is historically accurate. It's still a beautiful, emotional, and sumptuous movie, filled with the heavenly music of Chopin played by Jose Iturbi.

"A Song to Remember" helped to popularize Chopin's romantic, passionate music and launched Cornel Wilde's star into the heavens. Though he's never done much for me personally, he cuts a dashing figure as Chopin. The Chopin of Columbia Pictures is a strong patriot of Poland who, under the influence of the controlling George Sand, becomes a self-involved artist. Sand believed (here anyway) that the artist needed to serve himself alone and not others. Thus, she cut him off from his teacher and friend, Professor Elsnore, who wants Chopin to finish his magnificent Polonaise, a freedom cry for his beloved Poland, which is being suppressed by the Russians. Under Sand's control, Chopin turns out little ditties instead.

There really was a Professor Elsnore, but he did not teach Chopin piano, rather, music theory and composition. The role is played effectively by Paul Muni, who works to protect the change in Chopin's personality and apathy toward politics to his family and friends. Merle Oberon is stunning as a cold George Sand. Nina Foch plays Chopin's Polish girlfriend Constantia (and in reality, Constantia did exist).

Well, what is true and what isn't? Chopin was a child prodigy, he did meet George Sand at a party which was also attended by Franz Liszt, the bad weather in Mallorca nearly killed him, and in fact, after that time, he was never fully healthy again. He broke with George Sand two years before he died. She is the one who tried to get back together. His burial isn't covered in the film, but Chopin is buried in Paris. At his request, his heart was removed and buried in Poland.

One of the scenes in "A Song to Remember" has a place in history, though not perhaps in Chopin's, but that of another famous pianist. During a party, it is announced that Franz Liszt will play. The room is plunged into darkness. As the audience listens, George Sand walks over to the piano and places a candleabra on top of it to reveal that it is not Liszt at all, but Chopin. It is said that because of that scene, Liberace never played piano without his own famous candelabra.

A Film To Remember

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 12 March 2008]

For a movie that's about the life of Fredric Chopin the guy who's playing Chopin gets third billing in the film. Cornel Wilde had to settle for third place behind Paul Muni and Merle Oberon. But he's the one that came away with the Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

We're lucky this film got made at all. Paul Muni was a great actor, but sometimes could be very difficult. While he was at Columbia where this film turned out to be the second of three he did there, he formed a friendship with Glenn Ford. But in 1943 Ford went into the Marines and didn't return to Hollywood until 1946. Cornel Wilde who had enlisted earlier got out earlier and when the Chopin project was ready to roll he was assigned the part.

Which disappointed Muni and he made no secret of it to Wilde. Wilde who had admired Muni as an actor and looked forward to working with him was miffed to say the least.

Harry Cohn in his infinite wisdom also banned Bella Muni from the set of A Song to Remember. Muni did EVERYTHING with his wife and she really was his best critic. At Warner Brothers they put up with her. If she said a take was no good, Muni had them do it over. Worked for Emile Zola and Louis Pasteur. But Cohn banned her. As a result Muni was criticized for overacting his role of Joseph Elzner, Chopin's teacher and mentor. It's not his finest hour on the screen, though I love to see him in anything.

Muni also had his supportive side. Nina Foch who played Chopin's sister speaks of Muni's kindness and encouragement to her to stretch herself as an artist.

No acting involved for Merle Oberon as novelist George Sand. The male trousers of George Sand fit Oberon quite well. So does the character. Oberon and Sand were both known to get around in their day.

In real life Fredric Chopin had no conflict between his art and his politics. Though Poland was not a nation for about 130 years, the people in the various countries that occupied Polish soil never forgot they were a nation and would be one again. On instructions after his death, Chopin's body was buried in his adopted city of Paris, but his heart was removed and buried in Poland.

Chopin composed some of the best music that was ever heard on this planet. Jose Iturbi played the various Chopin melodies that will live on until this planet's sun does a supernova.

Cornel Wilde was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Ray Milland's drunk act in The Lost Weekend. A Song to Remember was nominated in several categories, Best Story, Best Sound, Best Color Cinematography, Best Costumes, Best Musical Scoring. But didn't take home the big prize for anything.

Overlooking some of the historical inaccuracies and Paul Muni's overacting, A Song To Remember is a film to remember.

The First Celebrity Super Couple?

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 13 July 2006]

There is a trick about movies concerning great or even good composers. Few of them have lives that (outside of musicologists or curious people) are worth talking about. Also, as their music is the reason for their greatness, the music is going to dominate the film - any activity on screen is going to be less interesting (unless the composer's life is interesting) than what they created for their audiences and posterity.

Which composers have popped up on screen? Beethoven in several films (best, possibly, by Gary Oldman in 1994's IMMORTAL BELOVED). Chopin in the film about to be discussed here. His pal, Franz Liszt (Dirk Bogarde) in SONG WITHOUT END. Johann Brahms and Robert Schuman (Robert Walker Sr. and Paul Henried) in SONG OF LOVE. Wagner in the television series of that name (by Richard Burton), and Verdi in the television series of that name (by Ronald Pickup). Douglas Montgomery (MELODY LANE) and Don Ameche (SWANEE RIVER) both essayed Stephen Foster. Clifton Webb was John Philip Sousa in STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER. Walter Connelly was the title composer in THE GREAT VICTOR HERBERT. Jimmy Cagney (and Joel Grey) were George M. Cohan (in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and GEORGE M.). Robert Alda was George Gershwin in RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Tom Drake and Mickey Rooney were Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in WORDS AND MUSIC. Robert Morley and Maurice Evans were the title characters in THE STORY OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN. Richard Chamberlain was Pyotr Ilytsch Tschaikowski in THE MUSIC LOVERS. Fernand Gravet was Johann Strauss Jr. in THE GREAT WALTZ.

But few of them were really exciting people. Webb's performance as Sousa was good, but the biographical material of the story was passably interesting (but no more - the music carried the film). Chamberlain's film was more interesting because of Tschaikowski's homosexuality. Cagney's breeziness and the theater background of the story of Cohan made that film a permanently popular one. Foster's tragic failure to succeed as our first professional composer (and his alcoholism) did give some grip to his biography, but sappy construction and writing hurt the Ameche film (especially that profoundly stupid conclusion).

Chopin was "blessed" in several ways biographically. He was a patriot, and part of the film is devoted to his support for the Poles fighting for their freedom from Russia. He did have a long time affair with George Sands, France's leading female novelist in the 19th Century. And he struggled with increasing ill health due to his tuberculosis. He only lived forty years, and oddly enough his birth and death dates almost correspond to his American contemporary Edgar Allan Poe, who was also plagued by ill health through much of his life.

Cornell Wilde had been playing supporting parts up to this film, such as the cowardly inside-man in the heist in HIGH SIERRA. It was here that he finally came into his own as an actor, even getting nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. Merle Oberon had an unusual role. Normally she was a supportive lover (her Cathy is ultimately deeply in love with Heathcliff, but proud and snobbish when she meets Edgar Linton in WUTHERING HEIGHTS - that was an exception for her). Here she is committed to her own literary success, and she does little to understand the musical success at the core of the man who adores her. There is a hint of nymphomania in her - a seeming hard incapacity to love that drives men wild (not only Chopin, but his predecessor in her bed Alfred de Musset the poet (George Macready)). In the end she is the villain in the film, breaking the spirit of her Polish lover, and dooming him to early death.

How true is this? Not totally. While two creative spirits like Chopin and Sand could clash they both were deeply attached to each other. In a television series on the career of Sand, starring Rosemary Harris, it turned out that a message from Chopin on his death bed was withheld from Sand by her jealous daughter - a fact she did not learn until many decades later.

Paul Muni gave a weak, over the top performance as Chopin's mentor Joseph Elsner in the film. He had done older men for years, and Elsner was a slightly comical one (look at his scene with Howard Freeman as a music publisher). But it is overdone, and one of the weaknesses of the movie. Still it is not too serious a weakness. On the whole it is a good film, for the two leads and some of the supporting cast. But it is not true history.

History twisted

[ilprofessore-1 · 7/10 · 4 February 2009]

Although this film, as many a musical bio before and after it, twists and breaks historical fact –-e.g. Professor Elsner (Paul Muni) portrayed as a father-figure in Chopin's life never went to Paris with his pupil nor was he rejected as the film implies— the story does manage to capture the spirit of the age. Cornel Wilde with his boyish good lucks is well cast as the tormented young Polish composer who died at thirty-nine, and there are two exceptionally strong performances: Merle Oberon has a wonderful moment or two with Muni as she displays a thoroughly convincing steely edge as Chopin's lover and surrogate mother; and the old maestro himself, Muni, is simply superb in the old-fashioned scenery-chewing manner of a great film star who knows exactly how to steal every scene he is in, and does. The film was directed by long-time Columbia Pictures staffer, the Hungarian-born Charles Vidor ("Gilda") who managed to surround himself with a number of other expatriates from the homeland --story by Ernst Marischka; Cornel Wilde as Chopin and Stephen Bekassy as Lizst; and lush musical arrangements by Miklos Rozsa and Eugene Zador. Vidor's professionalism here is greatly aided by the unusually tasteful, rarely garish Technicolor cinematography by Italian-born Tony Gaudio, famous for his gritty black-and-white photography at Warner Bros. Here Gaudio has a chance to show what wonders he could do with the more elegant settings the usually tight-fisted Harry Cohn constructed on the Gower Street lot.

Colorfully bad, with good music

[SGriffin-6 · 9 November 2000]

Knowing that this was Liberace's favorite film should give you an idea of what this film is like--in fact, his trademark candleabra on the piano was taken from one of the most memorable moments in the film.

This was a high profile production for Columbia in 1945, with lots of money thrown at the sets and costumes, and actually filming in color (remember, Columbia was still a second-rank studio during World War II--usually only spending major money on its Rita Hayworth films). Consequently, this biography of Chopin is beautiful to look at--but a bit overboard at the same time. It's certainly not minimalist!

As if competing with the lavishness of the design, the acting (particularly by Paul Muni) is waaaay over the top, and the storyline refashions Chopin's life into a very heavy melodrama. The dramatics are so ham-handed that the Harvard Lampoon in 1945 gave the film an award for the "ketchup on the keys" sequence. Possibly the most interesting aspect of the film (other than its campiness) is how this costume biography is inflected with aspects of 40s film noir. Merle Oberon as author George Sand is the film's femme fatale, potentially drawing Chopin down the wrong creative path. And, since the film was made while World War II was still being fought, the film has to make allusions to patriotic duty (especially since Chopin was Polish, and World War II officially broke out when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939).

So--you have tons of visual excess, some sumptious renditions of Chopin pieces, and a weird discussion of gender relations and wartime responsibilities. All in all, it's a wild piece of gorgeous junk.

Composer Bios and Biopics

[harry-76 · 6/10 · 13 February 2001]

"A Song to Remember" is one of many bios and biopics based on the lives and careers of great composers. It is a superficial and inaccurate account of Frederic Chopin, executed with rich production values, colorful performances, and fine piano renderings on the soundtrack.

What makes filmmakers constantly churn out these gross fabrications on composers? Probably because with all the emotional and dramatic power of their music, these creative artists surely must have lived very exciting lives.

In truth, the dramatic power and emotional expressiveness undoubtedly took place in their studios, where all the action and revelation raged within their heads, through their fingers, and onto score paper.

Theirs was a world of technical concentration, dedication and execution. It was about problems of form, balance, themes, voicings, instrumentation and the like -- in other words, matters concerning the elements of music.

Not much there in the way of dramatic subject material. Yet screenplay writers, producers and directors go on concocting characters that never existed, situations that never took place, and scenes that impose 'modern' views upon 'classic' events.

Thus we have Lizst ("Song Without End") Mozart ("Amadeus") Beethoven ("Immortal Beloved") Schumann and Brahms ("Song of Love") Kern ("Til the Clouds Roll By") Rodgers and Hart ("Words and Music") and countless others being given The Treatment. Is it truly a song without end?

In "A Song to Remember" we are required to suspend our historical knowledge and go with the flow of romantic melodrama, as the life and career of the Chopin is brazenly exploited for dramatic purposes. Thus we can thrill to the the pianism of Jose Iturbi, revel in the beauty and grace of Merle Oberon, enjoy the young and debonair Cornell Wilde, and devour the rococo posturings of Paul Muni. Were only life really as dramatically pat as this.

Legally filmmakers have no worries over such exploitation. The subjects and families are all conveniently deceased, and it's fair game without risk of lawsuits or infringment cases. Further, the music is, for the most part, in public domain, cancelling out copyright costs.

Therefore we simply place a mental inscription over the portal to these fanciful journeys: "Abandon Your Senses, All Ye Who Enter Here."

The music is the star.

[PWNYCNY · 10/10 · 13 October 2005]

This movie is about the life of one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, piano composer in history, and Polish patriot, Frederic Chopin. Now, why should someone bother to watch this movie about Frederic Chopin? Let me give you one good reason: the Music. This movie has to be one of the greatest musicals ever produced by Hollywood. This movie is permeated throughout by the music of Chopin, and Chopin's music is wonderful; indeed it is immortal and transcends time. This movie introduces the audience to some of the finest music ever composed. In addition, the story itself is interesting, not only because it's about Chopin and his relationship with Georges Sand, played magnificently by the beautiful Merle Oberon, but also because it poses the question that confronts all artists: Does the artist exist to serve himself or to serve society? Chopin had to struggle with this very question. But first and foremost in this movie is the music. In this movie, the music is the star.

As bad as any of the musical biographies made in Hollywood.

[piapia · 6/10 · 28 May 1999]

A Song to Remember looks bad now not because it is 54 years old but because it is bad and, notwithstanding its blockbuster reputation, it was bad in 1945. The story is a falsification of Fredric Chopin's life. The miscasting of muscular Cornel Wilde as the consumptive composer is a travesty. And the over-acting of Paul Muni, uncontrolled by the director, is an insult to the intelligence and good taste of the spectator; besides, too much footage is dedicated to him. The magic is, of course, the music, the way Jose Iturbi plays it, and the magnificent color and art direction. But the writing, the direction and the acting are all abominable.

Song to Remember---Film to forget

[aciolino · 4/10 · 18 May 2009]

And I give it a "FOUR" ONLY for the music.

Yes, the music's great and the costumes are beautiful, and Muni is Muni and Oberon is Oberon... please.

The script appears to have been written by a Junior High School class of drama students who have just read a pamphlet about the life of Chopin. Why, oh, why, can't producers understand that the real story of most composers and artists are far more compelling than the dreck (like this) that they normally produce?

The meeting of Chopin and Liszt is so bad it is embarrassing. The dynamics of the relationship between Sand and Chopin is superficial, not fleshed out at all, and without the least element of romance. How is this possible? They've taken a fascinating life and turned it into the truly banal.

Were it not for the music, and that's a lot, this would be one of the all-time bombs of Hollywood and I'm not sure that it isn't anyway.

Do yourself a favor and buy a good CD of Chopin's music and listen and enjoy the magic and genius of the greatest composer of piano music.

You don't need this film for that.

I saw this film when I was 7 and immediately went home determined to learn to play all of Chopin's music!

[countryway_48864 · 10/10 · 13 August 2001]

I think I must have seen A Song To Remember at least 6 times when it first came out,(I was 7), and now I own the VHS and love it still!!

Of course the FACTS are incorrect or at least, not arranged in the correct order of events. Of course Cornel Wilde looks nothing like the REAL Chopin, but Jose Iturbi plays Chopin beautifully and Wilde does a fair to Excellent job of fingering. I do wish they had had him PEDAL! Chopin was an innovator-he created a new way of fingering and a new way of pedalling!

The REAL Chopin had reddish hair and hazel eyes and Wilde (who was Hungarian NOT Polish) had jet black hair and eyes. Who cares. He was gorgeous!!!

One thing Wilde DID do for the Chopin myth was to abolish forever the idea that Chopin was a limp-wristed fop.

I remember my mother and every other woman in the audience, sobbing out loud at the end of this film. I was crying too because the film was over and I would have to wait to see it again.

Merle Oberon was marvelous in her role as George Sand and Paul Muney, (born in Poland) was funny, effective and sometimes over-the-top as Chopin's teacher, Professor Elsner (who was German).

One scene of particularly fine acting all around is the confrontation scene between Prof. Elsner, Sand and Chopin. Brilliantly played by all three.

The final 17 min. montage depicting Chopin's concert tour is Superb! 8 locations, 8 piano's 6 different pieces of music and 6 different outfits. Wilde as Chopin has no dialogue here, but telegraphs every mood and all his pain directly to the audience as he grows more and more ill and more and more dedicated to finish the tour!

I recommend this film to all who love music, old-fashioned movie making and Cornel Wilde, who is yummy and remarkable here. He deserved his Academy Award nomination.

A SONG TO REMEMBER (Charles Vidor, 1945) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 13 December 2011]

I am kind of ambivalent about watching classic Hollywood biopics: though I enjoy the evident professionalism at work, most of the time the backstories are almost complete fabrications and bear little resemblance to its subject's life! This one (emanating from Columbia and dealing with Polish composer Frederic Chopin), then, proved such a box-office smash that it spawned a whole series of pictures about the lives of famous composers – even so, 7 years previously, MGM had already done a sterling job on THE GREAT WALTZ (a biopic about Johann Strauss); indeed, the trend kept on intermittently through 1972 and, probably unintentionally, actually came full-circle with a remake of THE GREAT WALTZ! As I said, A SONG TO REMEMBER captured both the critics' (copping 6 Oscar nominations, including one to Cornel Wilde for Best Actor, though it eventually went home empty-handed) and public's fancy – the latter due, in no small measure, to its patriotic zeal (do not forget, WWII was still waging when this emerged). That said, the film's lack of fidelity to the facts (filtered with such potentially risible moments as the as-yet-unknown hero playing proficiently at a soiree' in a darkened room, then being revealed for who he is to the astonishment of one and all, by way of a candelabra: incidentally, this scene is said to have inspired Liberace's own flamboyant stage act!), Paul Muni's overstated performance as his teacher Professor Joseph Elsner, and also the unusual – albeit entirely authentic – depiction of Chopin's lover (played by Merle Oberon) sporting both a male name and clothing, has rendered the film pretty much a camp classic.

Consequently, its reputation has taken a beating with the passage of time – with this in mind, it was only released on R1 DVD (and without much fan-fare to boot) last year; by that time, I had already acquired a copy through ulterior sources, presumably derived from VHS (resulting in slightly washed-out colors, certainly in comparison to screen-grabs I have seen from the DVD edition)! However, to put things into perspective, in no way does A SONG TO REMEMBER really deserve this treatment; if anything, I was more impressed with Muni's performance (who mugged no worse than in his heyday, when he was himself playing famous historical figures and collecting various accolades for them!) than Wilde's glum and rather stiff Chopin (though this latter quality actually stood him in good stead during the climax when he literally played himself to death – incidentally, the star 'mimicked' throughout to Jose' Iturbi on the piano – for the Polish cause…and there goes another untruth and genuinely over-the-top sequence!). On a personal note, I own all but 3 of Muni's 22 films (though have actually only watched 9 thus far!) – his first two, THE VALIANT (which is scheduled for a TCM screening in a couple of days' time!) and the presumed-lost SEVEN FACES (both 1929), and the inexplicably ultra-rare THE WOMAN I LOVE (1937).

As for Oberon (perhaps still best-known as the wife of British movie-mogul Alexander Korda, whom she actually divorced a few months after the film under review was released!), in the role of the controlling George Sand (thus echoing the Rudolph Valentino/Natacha Rambova relationship in 3 biopics I have just watched on the Latin Lover prototype!), this was her most popular Hollywood effort since that other tragic romance – namely the William Wyler version of Emily Bronte's WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939). The supporting cast, then, includes Columbia contract players Nina Foch (as Chopin's Polish girlfriend) and George Macready (as author Alfred De Musset; an unfamiliar name to me but, apparently, one of his plays supplied the inspiration for Jean Renoir's masterpiece LA REGLE DU JEU {1939}!), reliable character actors George Coulouris (as Chopin's publisher), Ian Wolfe (as the latter's clerk), Howard Freeman (as a music critic whom Muni insults over his failure to recognize Chopin's genius), and even a debuting Darren McGavin (whom I failed to recognize as a music student!).

By the way, I watched A SONG TO REMEMBER (unsurprisingly, the title is meaningless!) in conjunction with a tribute to the late controversial director Ken Russell, who made several films for both TV and the cinema about great classical composers – though, oddly enough, not one specifically about Chopin himself; in fact, he was briefly featured in his idiosyncratic LISZTOMANIA (1975), which actually preceded this viewing…while, here, that film's subject i.e. Franz Liszt has been given a sizeable part (played by Stephen Bekassy)! Speaking of Liszt, the director of this one would be assigned to a traditional Hollywood biopic on his life – SONG WITHOUT END (1960) – but, unfortunately, he died early during production (with George Cukor stepping in to complete the movie)! For the record, there is another Chopin biopic I am interested in checking out – Polish film-maker Andrzej Zulawski's German production THE BLUE NOTE (1991) – which promises to be as hysterical as any of Ken Russell's biopics of famous composers...but, alas, I have not yet managed to locate an English-friendly copy!

Chopin's Berzerka

[LCShackley · 4/10 · 5 November 2007]

What a horrible historical shambles of a movie. If you like listening to Chopin played well (which I do), there are plenty of fine performances here. But if you want any sense of accuracy about the composer's life, please read CHOPIN IN Paris by Tad Szulc and forget this truly dismal movie.

This is an egregious example of how Hollywood can take the shell of the truth and fill it up with utter nonsense. Paul Muni gives a very engaging performance about someone who did virtually NONE of the things he is shown doing in the film. Cornel Wilde, who looks like a sort of lifeless anorexic Tony Curtis in tight pants, has about as much emotional range as a piano leg. The glamorous Merle Oberon plays George Sand (who in real life actually REPELLED Chopin physically and smoked cigars) as a glamour girl who continually trots out new shimmering wardrobe choices. Sand is portrayed as a sort of 1940s Yoko Ono figure, and of course, Hollywood chose to ignore the fact that she already had children who accompanied her and Chopin to Mallorca.

Most of the supposed historical events of this picture never took place, the love story is twisted and exaggerated, and the outdoor sets are cheesy. Unless romantic dreck is your passion, avoid this clinker of a movie and buy a good CD of Chopin music instead.

Over-acting at it's finest!

[inoldhollywood · 24 February 2006]

Although a biography about any composer is a rare gift, even if it's largely fictionalized, this film suffers from some of the most exaggerated over-acting caught on film by an actor.. and that is Paul Muni as Prof. Joseph Elsner. His character is almost embarrassing. It seems as though he was directed to play it to be "comic relief" to Cornel Wilde's "Chopin", which is beautifully performed ... but he comes off more as a buffoon and a caricature than a believable person.

The film is saved by Wilde, Nina Foch, Merle Oberon, and a fantastic performance by Stephen Bekassy as Franz Lizst. The piano playing by Jose Iturbi is superb, as expected. The stunning costumes and magnificent set designs, not to mention the cinematography executed in glorious Technicolor make it fun to watch, but what had the potential to be a masterpiece is cut short by the direction and Muni's performance, which seems to be more suited to the Vaudeville stage than to the big screen.

Bi Pole

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 28 March 2013]

This gives Night And Day and Words And Music a run for their money in the least-like-the-truth bio-pic stakes in fact virtually the only thing actually authentic is the music that really was written by someone named Frederic Chopin who had only a name in common with the character played by Cornel Wilde here. The music, of course, is magnificent even when truncated and played by the very bush league Jose Iturbi when none of the heavy hitters - Rubinstein etc - would touch it. Paul Muni (who shares top billing with Merle Oberon, neither of whom played Chopin, go figure) gives a Master-Class in over-the-top screen acting whilst what acting honors there are are divided equally between Merle Oberon as George Sand and third-billed Cornel Wilde as Chopin. Worth watching if only for the music.

lightweight Chopin

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 9 November 2019]

Paul Muni and Cornel Wilde star in Columbia's story of Chopin. Merle Oberon co-stars as "George Sand". Békássy István is contemporary Franz Liszt. In paris, where they can live, and write, and perform, and celebrate! Light and fluffy. a sense of humor and comedy, having escaped the drudgery of the old life. a grand production, showing the ups and downs of Chopin's personal life. and the interactions with George and Liszt. Living free and as he wishes in Paris, but then his friends start to say he should be doing more for his home country Poland. and some kind of jealousy triangle going on with Sand. Directed by Charles Vidor, who made SO many great films! "Song To Remember" won some awards at the film festivals. was nominated for SIX oscars, but didn't win any; Paul Muni and Cornel Wilde star in Columbia's story of Chopin. Merle Oberon co-stars as "George Sand". Békássy István is contemporary Franz Liszt. In paris, where they can live, and write, and perform, and celebrate! Light and fluffy. a sense of humor and comedy, having escaped the drudgery of the old life. a grand production, showing the ups and downs of Chopin's personal life. and the interactions with George and Liszt. Living free and as he wishes in Paris, but then his friends start to say he should be doing more for his home country Poland. and some kind of jealousy triangle going on with Sand. Directed by Charles Vidor, who made SO many great films! "Song To Remember" won some awards at the film festivals. was nominated for SIX oscars, but didn't win any; or for Gilda, a year later, which really was a ripoff. Vidor was married to Doris Warner, as in Warner Brothers; he died quite young of a heart attack. This one is okay, and pretty much tells the story, in almost a monotone fashion. Vidor didn't win any for Gilda, a year later, which really was a ripoff. Vidor was married to Doris Warner, as in Warner Brothers; he died quite young of a heart attack. This one is okay, and pretty much tells the story, in almost a monotone fashion.

Not a Chopin biopic to be completely captivated by, but not one to completely forget about either

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 28 December 2015]

Of the three Chopin biopics- this, 2002's Desire of Love and 1991's Impromptu- Impromptu, for all its flaws is the best of the three, being the best-looking, the best-acted and having the best balance between humour, intelligence and pathos. A Song to Remember has some glaring problems and also some unforgettably good things, not as good as Impromptu but better than the tedious, disjointed and soap-opera-ish Desire of Love.

A Song to Remember's weaknesses are, in comparison to its plaudits, not a great many, but sadly the weaknesses are rather big. The biggest flaw was Paul Muni (a usually fine actor) as Elsner, who even for a purposefully eccentric role is far too wildly over-the-top that the character (who is also used far too much that you wonder whether he is the central character and not Chopin) came over as an annoying cartoon rather than a real character, and it is very distracting sad to say. Merle Oberon fares a little better, because she is a little more emotive and subtle in performance and actually seems like she was trying to connect with the character and the subject matter, that said she is also miscast, being rather too haughty, too attractive, too feminine and too fiery as Sand. A large part of the problem though is the very unsympathetic and somewhat nymphomaniac-like way that Sand is written in, so it is a big problem when the viewer is questioning what does Chopin see in this woman rather than being moved by their romance.

Some of the script is also rather weak. Some of it is intelligent, witty and poignant but too many parts flow awkwardly, are saccharinely flowery ("You can make miracles of music in Majorca" is a particular clunker) and cause some unintentional humour in over-egged parts like the confrontation between Chopin, Sand and Elsner. It also too often only scratches the surface with what happened with not enough depth going on, Chopin and Sand's relationship is actually really fascinating, more so than it has been portrayed to be so far, but it's explored superficially here (Impromptu's portrayal of it fares the closest and best realised of the Chopin biopics, and even then it had its rushed and underplayed parts especially in the early stages). If there more of them on screen together (they were like supporting characters), much less of Muni (whose numerous scenes drag the film down and are not that interesting really), more intimacy in the chemistry and if Sand was written in a more dimensional way it would have worked better.

However, A Song to Remember is particularly worth watching for the music, both Miklos Rosza's beautifully complimenting score and how the great man's music is featured. Chopin's music is some of the hauntingly beautiful and soul-searching of any composer to exist, and even when truncated the beauty, emotion and power is not once lost. This is thanks to pianist José Iturbi, who dubs for Cornel Wilde brilliantly with piano playing that's lyrical, achingly beautiful, fiery and seductive, wonderful music and equally wonderful playing should transport one to another world and Iturbi playing Chopin certainly does. Once more, the music is recorded well and quite rightly takes centre stage when it should do, instead of being just background music. The whole film looks great too, with gorgeous Technicolor photography, evocative costumes and opulent production design. Charles Vidor does direct with engagement and captures the spirit of the times well, while the story (though with some draggy spots and a case of the basic events being there, though with some glaring inaccuracies and changes in chronology, but not in enough detail) still fascinates and still entertains and moves if not to its full potential.

The meeting between Chopin and Liszt is pure magic, and the final seventeen minutes are truly unforgettable, even if the film doesn't always engage completely up to then from then on it's edge-of-your-seat stuff. Cornel Wilde, despite being as mentioned by other reviews being wrong physically (tall, handsome and muscular rather than frail, plain and consumptive) still comes off credibly as Chopin and certainly shows the most emotion, dramatic engagement and subtlety of all the three leads, charmingly and affectingly low-key and not as stiff as feared. His fingering is also convincing that you are convinced that it is him playing. Stephen Bekassy is also strong casting as Liszt.

In conclusion, interesting and decent but could have been much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

six noms for biopic

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 9 February 2023]

It's a biography of Polish music genius Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). As an 11-year-old child prodigy, Joseph Elsner (Paul Muni) becomes his mentor. As a young man, Chopin (Cornel Wilde) becomes a gifted composer and a revolutionary for Poland against the Russian Czar. The two escape to Paris where they meet George Sand (Merle Oberon), the man-woman writer.

This is the traditional Oscar bait movie. It's a famous person's biopic. It's a lot of music. It's a lot, a lot of music. The production is pretty good. The drama is rather light despite whatever fictionalization. It's a lot of romantic melodrama and political over-drama. I'm not that taken with George Sand. The first meeting could have been interesting if I actually believed that she was a man. It's hard to tell if that's the intention. I'm not taken with their relationship and the rest falls a bit flat. All in all, it's fine for the traditional biopic although six Oscar nominations are a bit much.

Well done, albeit "Hollywoodized," biography of Chopin

[Schryer · 8/10 · 11 March 1999]

I love this movie. I realize that many of the facts of Chopin's life have been altered in order to make an appealing story which fits into a normal-length movie. Despite this, this movie has much to commend it, starting with the fact that it is filled with some of the best music Chopin -- or anyone, for that matter -- ever wrote (played, I believe, by Jose Iturbi). Also, unlike one reviewer, I find it well cast, and well acted as well -- in the style of the time in which it was made. In my view this movie is characteristic of both the strong points and flaws of Hollywood's golden age.

Good but not great

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 15 February 2023]

I enjoyed this fim more than I thought I would. I'm not going to get into the accuracy of the film in terms of history; I'm just going to talk about the film as it is.

And I'm going to start with the biggest negative. Paul Muni was a fine actor...but not in this film. Throughout the first half of the film he comes across as a bafoonish fool. I can't believe that was the intent. A vain, perhaps. But not as Muni played him. Later in the film he was more reasonable in his portrayal. Was it Muni's fault or the director's? I don't know. But it affected my enjoyment of the film.

Cornel Wilde, not one of my favorites, was very good here. You'll love to hate George Sand, as played by Merle Oberon. This was certainly a different kind of portrayal for Oberon.

The sets are beautiful, the color intense, the music very good...but somehow this film left me feeling flat. It was lacking something.

I said I wasn't going to talk about the film's accuracy. But I will say this...the REAL story would appear to have been just as interesting as the fictionalized version.

False to Chopin

[gue_gg_ila · 5/10 · 6 March 2005]

This film has absolutely nothing to do with he reality of Chopin's life, starting with the fact that Chopin was a very delicate, feminine man, with a weak health..the guy who plays Chopin is totally miscast, he portrays Chopin fantastically(talented man) but he just doesn't fit with the known description we know of the famous composer. The film also changes why he left Poland to live in Paris, how he fell in love with George Sand, and they put his teacher as a silly, old, boring man. George Snad played by Merle Oberon is a character totally miscast, especially because the gorgeous Oberon was too young, and feminine to play a woman who was constantly pretending to be a man.

The film also has good things: the music. Chopin's music is the only connection we humans have with the angels, so it's just terrific, the costumes are also gorgeous. And the scene where Chopin meets his friend Liszt, I seriously believe that might have been how it really happened...like magic sparkling between two master geniuses! Overall...not a satisfying film...5/10

Chopin and Me

[clarip · 8/10 · 10 February 2006]

While I agree that the facts of Chopin's life are ignored, film-making of this period didn't focus on educating the public as much as making a buck, and keeping their contract actors busy. However, this movie still holds a special place in my life. It was the first movie my parents took me to see when I was only 4 or 5 years old. I knew nothing about Chopin or Poland or war, but when I left that theater I knew the sound of beautiful music, and the magic of a piano. It led to many years of music lessons, listening to recordings of all kinds from Elvis to Grand Opera, and eventually to raising a daughter who would become an opera singer. So, facts, schmacts - Cornell Wilde was gorgeous, Merle Oberon was beyond beauty, Jose Iturbi was perfection, and the music lives forever.

A crescendo of horror!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 20 May 2018]

Director Charles Vidor's assignment, A Song to Remember (1944), is probably the movie for which he is best remembered.

Rather loosely based on the life and tunes of composer Chopin, it is a sprawling, uneven work. Often, especially (and regrettably) in Paul Muni's scenes, listless and plain dull, due to inadequate scripting (Sidney Buchman) and flat direction, the film picks up with the introduction of George Sand (Merle Oberon).

Several beautifully realized scenes on the Isle of Iviza, astringently convey the shattering of romantic illusion into a full sense of the eerie loneliness and utter desolation of the place.

In the film's concluding slates, the pace quickly accelerates in tempo, providing the director with a vivid set-piece leading up to Chopin's collapse: massive close-ups of Cornel Wilde's agonized features are intercut more and more rapidly with tilted shots of a pounding key-board, the whole reaching a crescendo of horror that was never excelled in the director's later films.

a hollywood history better forgotten

[netochka · 4/10 · 25 May 2001]

I must say, I was greatly disappointed. The story of two icons of the Romantic era has become something rather unattractive and uninteresting in this Hollywood refit. Chopin, herein a tall strapping Pole with a fab hairstyle courtesy of America 1945, hardly shows any signs of the wasting ailment that claimed him at age 39. Strike that, after Sand mentions in the later portion of the film that he is not well, he sports a bit of shadow in his cheekbones courtesy the makeup crew. George Sand is reduced to the most simple of possibilities, portrayed as a baleful sphinx rather than a woman sympathetic to a fellow artist and more importantly, her lover. Her face shows little emotion as she moves through the scenes in improbable ensembles (a pumpkin frock with sequins while writing in the country home? Please.) The passion evident in her novels and in her biographical records should have lent itself to a fleshier scripting of her character, and not this wooden `dragon lady' cliché.

Instead, we are given the character of his teacher, symbolic of his beloved Poland and the life he lead there. Thickly accented, he is a typically comedic boob, pathetic in his displacement in Paris and out of Chopin's life. Sorry, but I didn't feel it made up for the lack of a cohesive storyline, the frightful design, and the awkwardly black and white acting. I would have forgiven the storyline inaccuracies if the film moved me, made me laugh, or perhaps swoon with escapist delight as other Hollywood films of this period do. A more modern film, "Impromptu" (1991), comes highly recommended by this writer, as most of the infirmities of this film are remedied; thus resulting in a much more entertaining and thoughtful bit of cinema stemming from the same source, Sand and Chopin and the cast of personalities that shared their era.