Interrupted Melody | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Curtis Bernhardt |
Screenplay by | Sonya Levien William Ludwig |
Based on | Interrupted Melody 1949 book by Marjorie Lawrence [1] |
Produced by | Jack Cummings |
Starring | Eleanor Parker Glenn Ford Roger Moore Cecil Kellaway |
Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg, Paul C. Vogel |
Edited by | John D. Dunning |
Music by | Alexander Courage Adolph Deutsch |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 106 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,367,000 [2] |
Box office | $4,028,000 [2] [3] |
Interrupted Melody is a 1955 American musical biopic film starring Eleanor Parker, Glenn Ford, Roger Moore, and Cecil Kellaway. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt, it was filmed in CinemaScope and Eastman Color, and produced for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Jack Cummings. With a screenplay by Lawrence, Sonya Levien, and William Ludwig, the operatic sequences were staged by Vladimir Rosing, and Eileen Farrell provided the singing voice for Parker. It tells the story of Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence's rise to fame as an opera singer and her subsequent triumph over polio with her husband's help
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The story traces Marjorie's long, hard road to the top, her success on two continents, and her turbulent marriage to American doctor Thomas King. While touring South America in 1941, Lawrence is stricken with polio, which not only abruptly stops her career but briefly robs her of the will to live. With her husband's help, she makes a triumphant return to opera and the concert stage, beginning by singing for hospitalized soldiers and troops overseas. She returns to the Metropolitan Opera, appearing in a full production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
In 1947, it was reported that Marjorie Lawrence was writing her memoirs, titled Interrupted Melody, and that she wanted Greer Garson to play her in a film. [4] The book was published in 1950. The Chicago Tribune called it "engrossing". [5]
In June 1951, MGM, which had just had a huge success with The Great Caruso , another biopic of an opera star, announced that it had bought the screen rights to the book. Jack Cummings was going to produce, and Kathryn Grayson was a possible star. [6] Other possible leads were Greer Garson and Deborah Kerr, who would use Lawrence's voice. [7] Lawrence flew to Hollywood in July to have discussions with Cummings and Sonya Levien, who was to do the script. [8] In December, MGM announced Lana Turner would play the lead with filming to begin in February. [9] However, filming did not proceed. In July 1952, MGM said Garson would be playing the lead and William Ludwig was working on the script. [10] By February 1953, the studio had postponed production again. [11] In December 1953, the film was put back on MGM's schedule with Garson still attached. [12]
On April 7, 1954, The New York Times announced that Eleanor Parker would play the part because all the other candidates, with the exception of Lana Turner, had left MGM. The article reported that Lawrence had recorded the songs for the film. [13] Filming started in September 1954. According to Parker, the filmmakers could not use Marjorie Lawrence's voice, because she had lost her upper register. Parker could read music and had a firm soprano voice with perfect pitch. She prepared for the singing aspect of her role by listening to the numbers for weeks, and she sang them during the filming in full voice instead of lip-synching. [14] The singing was dubbed by Eileen Farrell, who appears on screen early in the film, as a student struggling to hit a high note in a scene with the singing teacher Mme. Gilly (Ann Codee) . [15]
Glenn Ford would only appear in the film if he got top billing. Parker says: "I wanted to do what was right for the picture, so I said: 'Let him have the top billing.' Glenn was a kind of a difficult man, but he was right for the picture and a very fine actor." [15]
A key supporting role was given to Roger Moore, who had just made The Last Time I Saw Paris for MGM and had been put under contract to the studio. [16]
Filming had finished by November 1954. [17] The film was previewed in January 1955. [18]
In February 1955, The New York Times published a photo spread showing scenes from the film. [19]
According to MGM records, the film cost $2,367,000 to produce, and made $1,801,000 in the US and Canada and $2,227,000 overseas. [2]
In a contemporary review of the film in The New York Times , critic Bosley Crowther described it as "tender and moving," "a stirring drama, plus a handsome and melodious one," and "a tale of personal triumph and recovery that is rendered the more eloquent and taut by the ample production of gorgeous music." [20] Film critic Derek Winnert wrote in 2013 that the film "is still an extremely enjoyable old-style heart-lifter and spirit-raiser. It is Parker’s show all the way but Glenn Ford is on top form too as the husband," and noted that "Eileen Farrell performs Parker’s vocals in eight beautiful arias – from Verdi, Puccini, Richard Wagner and Bizet’s Carmen. Amusingly, Farrell [also] plays a singing student of Mme Gilly (Ann Codee) who cannot seem to hit the right notes." [21]
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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Academy Awards [22] | Best Actress | Eleanor Parker | Nominated |
Best Story and Screenplay | William Ludwig and Sonya Levien | Won | |
Best Costume Design – Color | Helen Rose | Nominated | |
Venice International Film Festival | Golden Lion | Curtis Bernhardt | Nominated |
Walter Ducloux conducted the MGM Studio Symphony Orchestra. MGM published a selection of eleven numbers on an original motion picture soundtrack album.
Eleanor Jean Parker was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951), and Interrupted Melody (1955), the first of which won her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. She was also known for her roles in the films Of Human Bondage (1946), Scaramouche (1952), The Naked Jungle (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), A Hole in the Head (1959), The Sound of Music (1965), and The Oscar (1966).
Marjorie Florence Lawrence CBE was an Australian dramatic soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first Metropolitan Opera soprano to perform the immolation scene in Götterdämmerung by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended. She was afflicted by polio from 1941. Lawrence later served on the faculty of the School of Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
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