Strong and Moving!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This is purportedly the story of Stephen Foster but bears no resemblance to his real life. It is more than 80% pure fiction and its only saving grace is a load of his music and some very good performances of it. Foster is portrayed as a wimp who is so besotted with a girl who is so obviously a self-centered brat that he swears that he will give up writing music if she will marry him (she doesn't). Many of the facts of Foster's life are portrayed here, his association with Christy, his lack of copyrights, his not being paid royalties, etc., but the basic story is pure Hollywood. Watch it for the good old music but beware, there is a long black face Minstrel show which will jolt many who grew up in recent years. Tacky by today's overly sensitive standards the minstrel show was still alive and well in the 1940s and into the 50s. Foster died, penniless and alone, at an early age but his music lives on and is well represented in this film.

This lightweight update of "Swanee River" (1939) is also in color, but lacks Al Jolson. "I Dream of Jeanie (with the Light Brown Hair)" is not only the title, but also introduces perky Eileen Christy (as Jeanie). She is the love interest of great American songwriter Stephen Foster (Bill Shirley), but he thinks he likes sister Muriel Lawrence (as Inez). Minstrel showman Ray Middleton (as Edwin P. Christy) is the man who helps turn Mr. Foster's songs into hits. Home studio Republic's Rex Allen joins in a partially embarrassing "black-face" sequence, by which time the movie has lost sight of its flimsy plot. It's tuneful, though.*** I Dream of Jeanie (6/4/52) Allan Dwan ~ Bill Shirley, Ray Middleton, Eileen Christy, Rex Allen

Probably because the songs of Stephen C. Foster were in the public domain and therefore cost penny pinching Herbert J. Yates not a dime, Yates decided to do a minstrel show musical comedy with the life of Stephen C. Foster to hang the story on.The songs of Stephen Foster retain their beauty to this day, sad though that they do reflect the times they were written in. Since the famous minstrel star and entrepreneur E.P. Christy was the one who popularized Foster's work, to not have a minstrel show in the story would be historically way inaccurate.But this film isn't anything close to the story of Foster's life. For all the inaccuracies of that film, 20th Century Fox's Swanee River which starred Don Ameche as Foster and Al Jolson as E.P. Christy is far more accurate.The thin plot seems to be borrowed a bit from Bing Crosby's Mississippi where Bing is courting Gail Patrick, but it's really Joan Bennett who's crushing out on him. Here William Shirley as Foster is courting Muriel Lawrence, but it's really Eileen Christy as, guess who, Jeanie who's giving him the come hither glance. One thing I will say, the Foster songs are given magnificent vocal treatment. The women both sing well and Shirley most famous for his behind the camera vocalizing in Sleeping Beauty and My Fair Lady has a terrific tenor voice. Ray Middleton however, most famous as the original Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, gives the best performance in the film as the egotistical E.P. Christy.The rest of the cast, acting wise, is pretty weak. The plot is razor thin and in 1952 there was no excuse for calling a young black kid, Chitlin. Rex Allen, Republic's last cowboy B picture star makes a guest appearance here in blackface as a minstrel and that sure didn't help his career in any way.I'd stick with the Ameche-Jolson version of the Stephen Collins Foster story.

I found a DVD of "I Dream Of Jeanie" in the $1.00 bin at Wal-Mart. When I saw that it was the "story of Stephen Foster", being a musician and music educator, I had to see it. I had no idea what year it was made for it did not say on the cover, just that it was a remake of 1939's "Sewanee River". Bill Shirley's portrayal of the composer is sometimes painful, sometimes laughable. The man has NO testosterone and is a wimp all the way through! I have a difficult time believing Stephen Foster thought music publishers were doing him a favor by publishing his songs...without paying him for them! In addition to that ridiculous notion, there is a nearly 20 minute segment of Ray Middleton and his black-faced "Christy Minstrels" performing Stephen Foster's songs that was difficult to watch, to say the least. I can hardly believe anyone would consider this movie appropriate to resurrect in our current time. It is an embarrassment and should remain forgotten. Fortunately, Stephen Foster's songs will NEVER be forgotten....also, Eileen Christy's portrayal of Jeanie was certainly the highest point in this lowest point of Hollywood history.