You won't be disappointed!

Simply A Masterpiece

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

As Hungarian composer Sigmund Romberg, who made a big splash in New York City in the 1920s writing the music for an array of hit Broadway shows, José Ferrer sings, dances and cuts up like never before, even dropping to one knee for an Al Jolson impression. Ferrer gives an appealing performance (particularly in his finale at Carnegie Hall), but less of Ferrer is more; he's certainly a trouper, but Ferrer is on the screen far too much. He's just about upstaged, anyhow, by a virtual roll call of MGM talent (Ann Miller, Howard Keel, Jane Powell, and Gene Kelly dancing with real-life brother Fred), all appearing in the kind of glorified cameos the studio excelled at during this period. Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell share a camp-exotica number heightened by surprisingly erotic choreography, and Powell's operetta number from "Maytime" is beautifully presented. The film is short on melodrama (which is a plus), and the final sequence--capped with a nice performance of "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"--is heartfelt. But overall, this is strictly pot luck for star-watchers, one with hokey voice-overs, characters who come and go at whim, and spinning newspaper headlines marking time. ** from ****

Sigmund Romberg was a composer whose career spanned the transition from opera to operettas to musical revues to stage musicals and film musicals. This biopic covers a substantial portion of his life, pausing to present musical numbers from his shows from his earliest success ("Maytime") to his work with Oscar Hammerstein.Jose Ferrer portrays Romberg with a light hand. The dark days of Romberg's life are discussed but little dramatized, which is a good choice, keeping the narrative light, and centered on his music.The music, by the way, is enjoyable, purely as entertainment and also from a historical perspective. But what really makes this film shine is the all-star cast that work in support of the major roles. Blink and you might miss the identity of a major talent.Speaking of talent, for me the highlight of the film--a scene that in itself makes the film recommendable--is the "Desert Song" dance scene featuring Cyd Charisse. I am not belittling the other dance performances, which are numerous and notable. But Cyd's elegance and talent outshine the rest of the film they are so prodigious. A huge measure of respect must go to Eugene Loring, the man responsible for the choreography. And Helen Rose drapes the women with great style, as usual. One wonders if some set designers felt they had to step up the quality of their work to keep pace with her brilliance. The "Desert Song" set, by the way, is beautifully designed.This is an undervalued film with plenty of hidden charms that reveal themselves as the film unspools.

The light touch and sense of fun evident in so much of Stanley Donen's musical work is almost entirely missing from this ten-ton biopic of Sigmund Romberg, played diligently but without charm by Jose Ferrer. Apparently it just wasn't a very interesting life, so MGM masked a near-total absence of drama with a bevy of guest appearances. Some work out beautifully, though most of these have more to do with dance than Romberg's melodies: a nifty tap production number with Ann Miller, an extremely hot "Desert Song" pas de deux by Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell, a lively comedy routine with Gene Kelly and his brother Fred. But the best of Romberg is stiffly staged in vignettes featuring a bored-looking Jane Powell and Vic Damone ("Maytime"), William Olvis ("The Student Prince"), and Howard Keel (a very uneasy "My Maryland"). Worse, none of the people surrounding Ferrer seem right: Merle Oberon was nothing like Dorothy Donnelly, and the screenwriters' attempt to create some drama by suggesting she was vainly in love with Siggy falls flat. The love of his life, Mrs. Romberg, is given to a pallid Grace Kelly wannabe, Doe Avedon. Helen Traubel, as his best pal, sings well but is also given too much shtick. Arthur Freed might have invested more vitality than Roger Edens, but it's an unexciting and overlong entertainment, worth sitting through once for the better musical numbers.

Deep In My Heart was recently shown on Turner Classics and for some reason it was shown in a Letter-Box presentation. I remember when this film first came out and there were no widescreen movies at that time, but I do remember that when the widescreen process did appear, many of the old film were redone over in a widescreen process such as "The Wizard of Oz" and Disney's Fantasia which was preprocessed in Super-Scope with the advertisement "Fantasia Will Amazya!", even though Disney originally had planned to make Fantasia in a widescreen process it didn't happen because of World War II, but all it did in a Super-Scope presentation was to have it's fans run out of the theater screaming! So, I don't remember "Deep In My Heart" being released at that time in a Widescreen process, but maybe they did. This film ages like a fine bottle of wine. I really didn't like it then, but I do now, and I remember that the M.G.M. Soundtrack album was a very big seller at the time. So, let's not bring up the negative parts about the film. Instead, remember that no one knew that Jose Ferrer could sing and dance, and above all, he was an accomplished piano player as well. Yes! That was Ferrer playing the piano. And what about Helen Traubel. Well, anyone that didn't like her performance in the movie should be hung Softly As a Morning Sunrise! All her songs were perfection and her rendering of "Stout Hearted Men" was so effective that it's a wonder that everyone wasn't standing at attention during her singing of it. Sure, the movie has its flaws, but the overall effect is wonderful. I thought Jose Ferrar playing all those different parts when they were trying to write the show for Al Jolson was kinda dumb, but he did it so well. Tony Martin I've never really liked. He always sounded to me like a singer with a tight girdle trying to strangle him. Ann Miller? Well, there's something very obnoxious about Ann Miller. Probably because she was always given these parts of a girl with an abnormal appetite for the opposite sex, but her best role was playing Lois Lane in "Kiss Me Kate"; she was great! So, why aren't films like this appreciated today? Once again, this is another one of those wonderful films that you have to see on the large silver screen in a movie theater to really enjoy! Television only gives you some of the enjoyment of it. Again, I wish they would release these films nationwide in movie theaters so all the young people could see what all the drum beating is all about, but Deep In My Heart I know that When I Grow To Old To Dream, I'll Have This Film To Remember!