Basic Info
Title: A Song to
Remember
Genre: Drama
Country: United
States
Language: English
Production Company:
Columbia Pictures
Distributed by:
Columbia Pictures
Running time: 112 minutes
Release date: January 18,
1945
Staff
Director: Charles
Vidor
Producer: Louis F.
Edelman, Sidney Buchman
Written by: Sidney
Buchman
Music: Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography:
Tony Gaudio
Editor: Charles
Nelson
Cast
Paul Muni (Prof. Joseph Elsner)
Merle Oberon (George Sand)
Cornel Wilde (Frédéric Chopin)
Nina Foch (Constantia)
George Coulouris (Louis Pleyel)
Howard Freeman (Kalkbrenner)
Stephen Bekassy (Franz Liszt)
Summary
One of the most successful
biographical films of the 1940s, "A Song to Remember" is a
biographical film produced by Columbia Pictures in 1945 that tells a
fictionalized life story of Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin.
Directed by Charles Vidor and starring Paul Muni, Merle Oberon and Cornel
Wilde. Including Cornel Wilde, who played Frédéric Chopin, for Best Actor, the
film was nominated for many award categories including Best Cinematography,
Best Film Editing, and Best Music.
Movie Review
“A handsome Technicolor
extravaganza”
“The First Celebrity Super Couple”
“A Film to Remember”
“The music is the star”
“I saw this film when I was 7 and
immediately went home determined to learn to play all of Chopin's music!”
“The final 17 min. of this film
show Wilde at his best and why he was nominated for an Academy Award for best
actor.”
“Some of the best entertainment
ever made”
“Worth listening too”
“It made me love Chopin's music”
Interesting stories about the film
1. The American pianist “Liberace” stated
that he got an idea of placing a decorated candlestick on his piano from the
scene in this film when George Sand carries a candlestick to the dark room and
places it on the piano to reveal Chopin as the pianist rather than Franz Liszt.
2. To play Chopin's piano solos,
Columbia Pictures attempted to recruit Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz. Rubinstein,
however, was offended by the attitude of Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn.
Horowitz was a better relationship with Cohn than Rubinstein, but he didn't
want to perform the severely cut versions of Chopin's works the film required.
3. After an attempt to borrow MGM's
Spencer Tracy and Greta Garbo was failed, the planned original settings were Frank
Capra for the director, Francis Lederer for Chopin, Paul Muni for Elsner, and Marlene
Dietrich for George Sand.
4. After making this film, Charles
Vidor directed a biography of Franz Liszt, "Song Without End (1960)"
starring Dirk Bogarde. Alexander Davion and Patricia Morison appear as Frédéric
Chopin and George Sand, and the film became Vidor's last film. He died of a
heart attack while filming, and then the director was replaced by George Cukor.
5. Producers Sidney Buchman and
Louis F. Edelman and director Charles Vidor originally wanted Lenore Aubert as the
role of George Sand. However, Samuel Goldwyn did not allow her to appear in the
Columbia Pictures film.
Thank you.
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