Carnegie Hall

I disagree with those here who said the story that frames this showcase for classical musicians is mediocre or worse. Though it's a variation on "the Jazz Singer", I thought the script especially well written, and believably and very likably acted by Marsha Hunt. The scene where her character's adult son finally asserts his independence was so passionately acted by William Prince that I was startled. I didn't suspect that the son was, in real life, older than his "mother"; Marsha Hunt did a fine job playing an older woman.

For me, many of the classical music performances were boring, despite the talented and famous cast of musicians. Mostly this was because the un-enhanced 1947 audio did such a poor job of reproducing the music (TCM 2013 showing). I did enjoy seeing Stowkowski conduct in his graceful flamboyant manner (and I suspect that some of the footage may have been rotoscoped for one of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons, where "Leopold" is the revered symphony conductor). As a musical theater buff, it was interesting seeing Enzio Pinza, near the time when he starred in "South Pacific". He was more charismatic and energetic than in some early 1950's TV footage that was my only visual impression of him.

"Carnegie Hall" was made in 1947 and actually filmed in the newly refurbished Carnegie Hall. It's the story of a cleaner at the Hall named Nora (Marsha Hunt) who marries a pianist. He dies some time after they're married, and she's left to raise their son.

Nora exposes him, by taking him to Carnegie Hall, to all of the great music and musicians, and he studies piano. The plan is for him to grow up to be a concert pianist. But he has other plans, and some of them include the pretty Ruth (Martha O'Driscoll), who sings with Vaughn Monroe. William Prince plays the adult son, and Frank McHugh plays an employee of the Hall who is a friend of Nora's.

This is one long movie with tons of beautiful music done by some of the great artists of the time: Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky's "Symphony in E Minor," Artur Rubenstein (whom I saw play in concert while I was in high school) doing Chopin's "Polonaise" and "The Ritual Fire Dance" at the piano keyboard, Jascha Heifetz and his nimble fingers on the violin for Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for Violin" - to name only a few.

Singers include Ezio Pinza singing parts of Don Giovanni, Rise Stevens singing "Pres des Ramparts de Sevilla" from Carmen, and Lily Pons, in an exquisite gown, doing the Bell Song from Lakme, her signature piece. Jan Peerce sings "O Solo Mio."

It's all wonderful, and a real feast for classic music lovers, but it isn't very cinematic, and the script is non-existent. It is great to have the musical performances preserved, however.

Marsha Hunt is still with us as of this writing, and she was a lovely actress, physically a cross between Jennifer Jones and Barbara Rush. She gets the usual Hollywood aging of gray hair, white powder and half a line on her face.

I suggest putting this on your DVR and fast-forwarding to the performances.

What a pleasure it is to review the 1947 "Carnegie Hall," with its wealth of legendary classical artists performing in lengthy segments. Many of these artists have rarely been photographed in such a clear manner, and it is indeed a treat to have so many in one film.

"Carnegie Hall" contains some 75 minutes of footage featuring these artists, with many works and movements uncut. How rare it is to see and hear such artists as Lily Pons and Ezio Pinza preserved for all time. These, plus many instrumental soloists and orchestras perform brilliantly in beautiful black and white photography.

Alas, surrounding these musical segments is a very tepid dramatic yarn, which often is not well blended into the musical sequences. In fact, at one point the drama seems to come to a scretching halt, to make way for the music.

Further, the camera work during the first part is rather unimaginative and static. It does get better as the film progresses and, by the end, sequences of Heifitz and Stokowski contain some fluid and interesting shots.

While it could have been better, "Carnegie Hall" is a real curio from an era which boasted true musical giants. The restored print is crisp and clear, and the sets are nicely lit, reminding one of the beauty of black and white production.

It's worth enduring the story to get to the great music and magnificent artists, all honoring that fine structure at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York. ###

This love letter to several major classical music artists of the mid 20th century came from Edgar G. Ulmer, a director who specialized in working on low budget movies. He was known in Hollywood as "the King of PRC". Producers Releasing Corporation was a Poverty Row studio that was considered Tinsel Town's bottom rung. Most of their movies were shot in less than a week and cost around $50,000 to make. CARNEGIE HALL was not a PRC production and the budget was 5 times what Ulmer was used to working with. He had always loved classical music (which figures prominently on the soundtracks of his movies) and this project which was co-financed by some of the performers themselves gave Ulmer the opportunity to focus directly on them.

In order to make the movie appealing outside of classical music circles, Ulmer gave it a typical Hollywood back story. A young widow who works behind the scenes and lives at Carnegie Hall dreams of having her son become a classical pianist. She exposes him to all the great artists who perform there. As he grows up (the story covers a number of years), he decides that he prefers jazz to classical and that causes a rift between him and his mother and they don't see each other for several years. She remains at Carnegie Hall and becomes a fixture there while he becomes a big success on the jazz circuit. They finally reconcile when he gives a performance of a Jazz Concerto that he has written...in...Carnegie Hall!

Talented and later blacklisted actress and activist Marsha Hunt (she died in 2022 at the age of 104) portrays Nora Salerno, an Irish immigrant who literally grows up in Carnegie Hall. When her Italian pianist husband is killed in a domestic accident shortly after their son is born, she raises him to be a classical musician. As a young man, the son has a chance encounter with jazz great Vaughan Monroe which is what causes him to devote himself to jazz and to keave his mother and Carnegie Hall behind. William Prince portrays the grown-up son. Hunt must age 25 years over the course of the movie and this is done simply with theatrical make-up and a wig. The same applies to character actor Frank McHugh who portrays a Carnegie Hall doorman.

Woven throughout this family drama are numerous (they make up 75% of the movie) stellar performances by a who's who of classical musicians of the time. They include soloists Jascha Heifitz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Artur Rubinstein, singers Lilly Pons, Rise Stevens, Ezio Pinza, and conductors Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, and Artur Rodzinski. Unforgettable highlights are Pons singing the Bell Song from Leo Delibes' LAKME', Rubinstein performing Chopin and Manuel de Falla, Heifitz playing the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and Rodzinski leading the NY Philharmonic in the finale from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Unlike today, these people are not just classical musicians, they are true show business performers.

Surprisingly, CARNEGIE HALL was not a success when it was released in 1947. The outfit that produced it went bankrupt, the musicians that helped to finance it got no royalties, and it eventually became the property of a bank. It then disappeared for many years before resurfacing in the 1960s in a variety of edited versions that altered the order of the performances and in some cases, removed the back story altogether turning it into the earliest classical music video. In 2001 the fully restored 144 minute version was released by Kino International (now Kino Lorber) the way that Edgar G. Ulmer originally shot it. This version, and this version only, is the only one with a clear picture and enhanced sound...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

If you love classical music, CARNEGIE HALL will give you an earful. Some of the great performers of the time are seen in concert, such as Leopold Stokowski conducting Tchaikovsky's "Symphony in E Minor," Artur Rubenstein doing Chopin's "Polonaise" and "The Ritual Fire Dance" at the piano keyboard, Jascha Heifetz and his nimble fingers on the violin for Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for Violin," all performed brilliantly and making for a memorable soundtrack.

But the story is a mawkish affair--MARSHA HUNT wanting her son to be a concert pianist who will some day play at Carnegie Hall, while he has other plans that include the world of modern music. When he joins the Vaughan Monroe band, mother and son sever their relationship and the rest of the tale treads the predictable movie line of many a backstage musical with no inspiration from the screenwriter.

It doesn't help that Hunt's age make-up is as artificial as the thin plot that is supposed to hold all of this music together. WILLIAM PRINCE as her son makes almost no impression and MARTHA O'DRISCOLL is merely eye candy as the girlfriend who becomes his wife.

If only the producers had a script worthy of all this music. RISE STEVENS does a nice job on an aria from "Carmen" and LILY PONS gets to do her famous "Bell Song," but neither of these acts are staged as more than "get up to the mike and sing." EZIO PINZA and JAN PEERCE are a bit luckier in the staging of their arias.

Music lovers will certainly appreciate all the musical bits, some of which go on for quite a lengthy time while what little plot there is comes to a complete standstill.

A feast for the ears, but not much can be said about the film itself which is more like a test of endurance over two hours and sixteen minutes of running time.

Trivia note: All of the performing scenes were actually filmed at the newly refurbished Carnegie Hall.