Humoresque (1946)

Humoresque
Directed by Jean Negulesco
Written by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold from a story by Fannie Hurst
1946/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Sid Jeffers: Tell me, Mrs. Wright, does your husband interfere with your marriage?[/box]

Joan Crawford, John Garfield, and Oscar Levant are all at their best in this musical melodrama. Even better is Isaac Stern dubbing all that glorious violin playing.

Paul Boray (Garfield) lives above his father’s (J. Carrol Naish) grocery store during the Depression.  When asked what he wants for his birthday, he opts for a violin over any toy.  His father objects but his mother gives him the coveted instrument.  It becomes his life.

Through non-stop practice and devotion, Paul becomes a virtuoso.  But he has trouble converting his talent into a paying gig.  He is almost too talented and flashy to fit in with any orchestra.  He commiserates and argues daily with his pianist friend Sid (Levant).  An artist needs money to hire the hall for a debut concert.  Finally, Sid suggests that Paul come with him to a sort of open-house salon hosted by the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Paul agrees and finds an early opportunity to show off his skill on the violin.  Helen Wright (Crawford), a sarcastic and neurotic lush, immediately shows her interest by goading him. She soon adopts him as a protégée and gets him an agent and a concert.  Paul’s talent does the rest.

Paul’s one true love is his music but he eventually succumbs to the Helen’s charms and she professes her love for him.  However, she is far too self-centered and possessive to play second fiddle to the violin for long.

Coming off her triumph in Mildred Pierce, Crawford is still in tip-top form here.  Her overblown style perfectly suits Helen’s character.  Garfield is as solid as always and Levant is ever ready with the quips and demonstrates some real piano virtuosity.  The dialogue is a tad bit too literate for my liking, as is often the case with Odets.  This is never more the case than in the too-oft repeated love-hate relationship chats between Garfield and Levant.  Putting all this aside, I was in heaven just hearing Stern play for long stretches at a time.  The music is woven in skillfully enough with the story, though, that non-classical music fans should enjoy the film.

Although almost every bit of the picture is underpinned by famous classical works, Franz Waxman was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.  I think it deserved a Special Effects nod for the seamless impersonation of violin playing by Garfield using the hands of two different artists.  Isaac Stern played whenever Garfield’s face was not in the frame.

Trailer