Till the Clouds Roll By

UPC: 012569678576

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Excellent For Children]

Summary: MGM's Till the Clouds Roll By is the musicalized, and highly fictionalized, life story of beloved composer Jerome Kern, who gave his blessing to the production shortly before his death in 1946. As played by a gray-templed Robert Walker, Kern is a likeable but none too exciting sort who expresses his emotions through his music. Constructed in the form of an extended flashback, the story proper begins at the turn of the century, as Kern tries to peddle his ditties to disinterested Broadway producers. His efforts to interest impresario Charles Frohman (Harry Hayden) go nowhere because Frohman is convinced that the only good music comes from Europe. Obligingly, Kern moves to London, where he meets and falls in love with his future wife Eva (Dorothy Patrick). On the verge of securing work with Frohman, Kern's hopes are dashed when the producer goes down with the Lusitania in 1915. Fortunately, Kern has developed such powerful U.S. contacts as Victor Herbert (Paul Maxey) and Oscar Hammerstein (Paul Langton), enabling him to find success as the composer of several "intimate" musicals for New York's Princess Theater. The film ends where it begins, with Kern's triumph as composer of the Broadway blockbuster Show Boat. Van Heflin weaves in and out of the proceedings as the obligatory best friend/severest critic, a musical arranger named Jim Hessler (purportedly based on longtime Kern associate Paul Sadler). No one in 1946 really cared about the dramatic passages of Till the Clouds Roll By; the film's biggest drawing card was its lineup of all-star MGM talent, performing Kern's most famous numbers. Judy Garland (as Marilyn Miller) sings "Look for the Silver Lining"; Dinah Shore performs "The Last Time I Saw Paris" before a back-projected "Gay Paree"; Kathryn Grayson does a Rita Hayworth imitation with "Long Ago and Far Away"; Virginia O'Brien deadpans "A Fine Romance"; Tony Martin warbles "All the Things You Are"; June Allyson and Ray McDonald team up for the title number; and Frank Sinatra, incongruously dressed in white tuxedo, runs through "Ol' Man River." In addition, other musical contributions are made by Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Cyd Charisse, Gower Champion, and Lucille Bremer (cast as Van Heflin's daughter). The film's high point comes at the very beginning with a Reader's Digest edition of Show Boat, featuring Lena Horne, as Julie (the role she was born to play, but never did again on screen), delivering a powerhouse rendition of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Since lapsing into public domain in 1974, Till the Clouds Roll By has, along with Royal Wedding, become the most readily accessible of all MGM musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Musical

Features: ccNew featurette Till the Clouds Roll By: Real to reel
Vintage Fitzpatrick traveltalk
Short glimpses of California
Classic cartoon Henpecked Hoboe: Outtake songs by D'ye Love Me? and Music in the Air
Theartical Trail

Till the Clouds Roll By

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/25/2006

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 130 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Till the Clouds Roll By
1. Credits and Foreword [2:39]
2. Cotton Blossom [3:15]
3. Make Believe [4:20]
4. Life Upon the Wicked Stage [2:22]
5. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man [3:16]
6. Ol' Man River [2:11]
7. Jim and Sally Hessler [5:39]
8. Kahlua [3:00]
9. Think Big [2:45]
10. London Reunion [5:15]
11. How'd You Like to Spoon With Me? [4:03]
12. If Only I Had a Piano [3:45]
13. The Prettiest Girl [3:35]
14. They Didn't Believe Me (1) [4:01]
15. Homeward Bound [4:27]
16. They Didn't Believe Me (2) [2:27]
17. Missing the Boat [3:18]
18. Words From the Dean [1:54]
19. Till the Clouds Roll By [5:08]
20. Happy Couple [3:49]
21. Leave It to Jane... [4:14]
22. Look for the Silver Lining [5:24]
23. Stage-Struck [5:15]
24. Sally's Song [5:37]
25. Sunny [2:19]
26. Who? [2:32]
27. Runaway [3:13]
28. Farewell to a Friend [5:32]
29. Good News, Good Book [3:28]
30. One More Dance [1:32]
31. I Won't Dance [3:48]
32. Bittersweet Reunion [3:10]
33. Just the Beginning [1:51]
34. She Didn't Say Yes... [1:51]
35. The Last Time I Saw Paris [2:59]
36. The Land Where the Good Songs Go... [2:24]
37. Long Ago and Far Away... [3:32]
38. Why Was I Born? [2:00]
39. Ol' Man River [3:12]

Craig Butler

Till the Clouds Roll By is useless as biography -- but what else is new where Hollywood and musical biopics are concerned? The problem is that, as with so many other useless musical biographies, it's also of no interest as drama. To fashion the plot of the musical, the creators might as easily have simply written down every clich?d situation they could think of, put them in a fishbowl, and drawn them out to see what order they would put them in. Under the circumstances, it's hard to ask much of the actors; suffice it to say that Robert Walker does the best he can under the circumstances, Lucille Bremer does somewhat less than the best she can, and Van Heflin actually manages to rise above things a bit. Musically, of course, things are much brighter, with some terrific contributions from Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Dinah Shore (and a much-too-short dance from Cyd Charisse and Gower Champion). Some of the other performers do not fare as well, such as Tony Martin and Kathryn Grayson; while Frank Sinatra certainly sounds good, his interpretation of "Ol' Man River" leaves a lot to be desired. Still, it's hard to beat Jerome Kern's music, even when presented in less-than-perfect circumstances. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Lee Bennett  Actor 
Robert E. O'Connor  Actor 
Irene Vernon  Actor 
James Darrell  Actor 
Frank McClure  Actor 
Lee Smith  Actor 
Jean Andren  Actor 
Elspeth Dudgeon  Actor 
Lilyan Irene  Actor 
Tom Stevenson  Actor 
Fr. George Murray  Actor 
John Alban  Actor 
Mickey Malloy  Actor 
George Peters  Actor 
Ann Codee  Actor 
Thomas Louden  Actor 
William Forrest  Actor 
Herbert Heywood  Actor 
Lee Phelps  Actor 
Wilde Twins  Actor 
Alma Carroll  Actor 
Mary Jane French  Actor 
Bob McLean  Actor 
Harry Denny  Actor 
Charles Griffin  Actor 
Alice Wallace  Actor 
Margaret Bert  Actor 
James Finlayson  Actor 
Russell Hicks  Actor 
Wesley Brent  Actor 
Louis Manley  Actor 
John Albright  Actor 
Dick Earle  Actor 
Beryl McCutcheon  Actor 
Stanley Andrews  Actor 
Ralph Dunn  Actor 
Mary Hatcher  Actor 
Howard Mitchell  Actor 
Larry Steers  Actor 
Sally Forrest  Actor 
Tony Merlo  Actor 
Fred Hueston  Actor 
Don Wayson  Actor 
Kathryn Grayson  Actor 
Reed Howes  Actor 
Larry Williams  Actor 
Lucille Casey  Actor 
Herschel Graham  Actor 
Guy Bolton  Screenwriter 
Myles Connolly  Screenwriter 
Roger Edens  Composer (Music Score) 
Fred F. Finklehoffe  Screenwriter 
Arthur Freed  Producer 
Lennie Hayton  Composer (Music Score) 
Conrad Salinger  Composer (Music Score) 
George Wells  Screenwriter 
Richard Whorf  Director 
Jean Holloway  Screenwriter 
Robert Walker  Actor 
June Allyson  Actor 
Judy Garland  Actor 
Lucille Bremer  Actor 
Gower Champion  Actor 
Cyd Charisse  Actor 
Joan Wells  Actor 
Van Heflin  Actor 
Bruce Cowling  Actor 
Rex Evans  Actor 
Paul Langton  Actor 
Dorothy Patrick  Actor 
Byron Foulger  Actor 
William Halligan  Actor 
Harry Hayden  Actor 
Lena Horne  Actor 
Johnny Johnston  Actor 
Van Johnson  Actor 
Maurice Kelly  Actor 
Angela Lansbury  Actor 
Tony Martin  Actor 
Paul Maxey  Actor 
Ray McDonald  Actor 
Mary Nash  Actor 
Virginia O'Brien  Actor 
Caleb Peterson  Actor 
William "Bill" Phillips  Actor 
Dinah Shore  Actor 
Frank Sinatra  Actor 
Ray Teal  Actor 

Country: USA