TYRONE POWER does a remarkably convincing job at the keyboard and the camera seems to linger on his dexterity at the piano (on a dummy keyboard, of course) while the magic of Carmen Cavallaro takes over on the soundtrack. He's excellent as the brash and overly eager young piano player who eventually makes bigtime as a popular pianist, marries and loses his sweetheart, KIM NOVAK, with whom he has a young son who at first resents him after Power's desertion, then reunites before Duchin's untimely death from leukemia. That's the plot, in a nutshell, but it's the sparkling music that counts.
The richly textured Technicolor photography of Manhattan and its settings evoke the time and period perfectly. I found KIM NOVAK's performance artificial and disturbingly unreal--as though she were affecting a series of poses--while Power is completely natural and appealing opposite her. Novak's performance here is a far cry from her work as Madge in PICNIC. The mood of the film becomes somber after her death and Power's decision to leave the country on tour, leaving his baby son behind. The conflict between Duchin and his son is what has to be resolved before the story ends.
The handsome production values are all enhanced by the constant use of Duchin's music, either in the background or with him at the keyboard and these qualities make it one of the most enjoyable musical biographies I've seen in a long time.
The film won four Oscar nominations and Power deserved to be included, but was not.
