Night Song

For those who did not live in the 40s, this film may appear to be soap-operish. However, one must remember that 60 years of Real and TV soap opera have drastically diminished its impact, leaving us with a feeling that we have seen it all before - forgetting that it was the "first". A blind musician, a wealthy socialite, an "all-knowing" aunt, a musical friend, Rubinstein and Ormandy - what a confection! And the "glue" that holds it all together is the music. After all, it IS "Night Song". Other reviewers have been rather harsh in their criticism of Leith Stevens' concerto. It should be noted that it has been recorded along with other film piano concertos on ELAN CD (Piano in Hollywood)and represents - along with the output of so many others - the greatest "American" symphonic music of the 20th century. Film music never gets its proper due. Whatever "romanticism" in this movie appears far fetched, it's no less plausible than the current crop of "action" films. For those who prefer clanging and banging, this "song" is not for you!

I intended to watch this 1947 romantic drama to see the talented and most beautiful Jacqueline White in a starring role, but I had to settle seeing Ms. White in a short cameo appearance. The three (3) main stars were Dana Andrews, Hoagy Carmichael, and Merle Oberon and although I wanted to see more of Jacqueline White I was not disappointed with the on screen presence of the aforementioned three stars.

Dan Andrews plays Dan, a blind lyricist and talented pianist who lost his eyesight later on in life, so he does remember how beautiful the world and women were when he had his vision. His best friend is the actor Hoagy Carmichael who plays Chick, a fella who can set his blind buddy straight when he gets into one of his stubborn moods, which seems to occur more often than not.

Dan does not feel sorry for himself since losing his eyesight. Quite to the contrary he despises people who look down upon his blindness as a handicap which is why Dan and Chick are best friends. Into the picture comes a wealthy and beautiful Cathy played by Merle Oberon, who realizes with the assistance of Dan's best friend Chick that having any level of pity on Dan is like putting grease onto a hot fire, so Cathy decides to pretend to be blind so that they appear to have something in common.

I won't spoil the ending for anyone but suffice to say that although sometimes love is blind as they say, love can also conquer peoples fear of the unknown and in this case, love is like a Night Song which makes this film a pleasure to see.

I give the film a satisfying 7 out of 10 IMDb rating having watched the film twice, even if I only got a glimpse of the beautiful Jacqueline White. Well worth seeing, no pun intended.

The third of three films featuring Dana Andrews and musician Hoagy Carmichael, and this time, Andrews, instead of being a frontiersman/entrepreneur or a war veteran bombardier to Carmichael's mandolin and then piano playing, progressively-minded moral conscious... like in CANYON PASSAGE and THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES... Dana's a musician too: a blind pianist and ticked off about it, working for and living with Carmichael's jazz club manager, Chick, who winds up in cahoots with lovely rich girl Merle Oberon...

The best scenes happen early when she first meets Andrews at the nightclub with her stuffy friends in tow and he, between jazz sets, is playing a smoky classical composition only she seems to hear, and then pretends to "run into him" first at the beach, and then meeting up for lessons: all the while pretending to be blind. And she's got her own insightful advise-giving friend in Ethel Barrymore.

As for Dana Andrews, the performance is realistic enough throughout the first half that the happy-sappy second part, leading to what would now be considered a Hallmark Channel conclusion, is actually quite welcomed: Being such a genuinely grouchy, hateful jerk without sight, you'll hope he's cured just to give the poor little rich, smitten girl a break...

Who's painted herself into more corners by pretending to be someone else, again: After which NIGHT SONG plays out like a biopic of a famous composer, which it's not. And in one scene, when Dana tells Hoagy's he's a mediocre musician, well... that took some good acting on Dana's part, who, just the year before, was getting "stinking at Butches" (Hoagy's joint) along with Frederic March and Harold Russell.

If you ask me, this film seems undervalued or under-appreciated. I don't know why. RKO's NIGHT SONG stars Dana Andrews as a blind pianist and Merle Oberon as the woman who loves him. The music is wonderful, and while the plot is full of melodramatic complications and a liberal amount of hokum, it still manages to entertain and engage the audience because the characters are well-drawn and well played. The film boasts the added bonus of having Ethel Barrymore and Hoagy Carmichael in the supporting roles.

In some ways, NIGHT SONG reminds me of MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, where Irene Dunne (or Jane Wyman, take your pick) experiences blindness and manages to find love in an unlikely source.

While not considered an 'essential' (in the TCM sense of the word), NIGHT SONG is a studio film that is very well put together and succeeds on many levels.

This film predates my birth by ten years, but after just seeing it on TCM, I had to weigh in. Overlong? ...well probably, and certainly contrived, given the plot. But somehow, it works, and does so beautifully.

Both Andrews and Oberon do the best they can with their characters: he, a blind pianist playing in dives; she, a wealthy socialite who likes to go slumming. Enamoured by him, she feigns blindness in order to insinuate her way into his bitter existence. Both Hoagy Charmichael and stalwart Ethel Barrymore add comic bite and the requisite amount of wisdom as they lend their support to the ruse. And there are some cleaver twists which keep the game running just when one would think they would otherwise send it careening off the tracks. And it's hard for me to think of another film in which Merle Oberon was more beautiful.

Set your reality check to its lowest setting and enjoy this classic sudser. And, if you're not a fan of classical music, this film just might change that!