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Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

SPOILER ALERT:The first problem with this film is that none of the major characters are likable. Joan Crawford plays a self-obsessed, half-drunk socialite who ruins the lives of every husband she has had, and while wallowing in self-pity intends to ruin the life of our other main character -- John Garfield. Garfield plays a violinist who is rude to just about everyone -- because he's an artist -- including his mother and the woman who really loves him. About an hour into the film you're wishing the father had gotten his way and the young Garfield had been forced to take the fire engine (you'll understand if you choose to suffer through this film). The third major character is Oscar Levant, a pianist whose sole purpose in the film seems to be to make wisecracks which often seem out of place. I know, he was the accompanist, but that role could have been played by a bit player. The only acting I enjoyed in the film was by supporting characters -- J. Carrol Naish as Garfield's father, Ruth Nelson as Garfield's mother, and Paul Cavanagh as Crawford's husband.I will give Garfield credit for making his violin playing quite convincing, although closeups of the hands playing the violin were actually the hands of Issac Stern. Nevertheless, Garfield did a nice job here. Also, there's some great music here! By the time we reach the movie's climax, I began wishing that Crawford's character would commit suicide and put us all out of our misery. Take pills with all that alcohol. Slit your wrists on that broken glass. Walk into the waves. I didn't see it coming...but she did! If only she had done it 2 hours earlier.I know some people think this was a wonderful film, but I think it was a dog. The best thing about the film -- Crawford in the movie poster. Early in the film when his brother was complaining about Garfield making no money for the family, I was afraid Garfield was going to become a gangster. Two hours later I wished he had.

HUMORESQUE is a really intense romantic drama where a working class musician and a rich and unstable woman fall madly in love with each other. They struggle with each other and the expectations from their family.JOAN CRAWFORD is extraordinarily beautiful and she turns in a remarkable performance here as the hard drinking unhappily married rich woman. GARFIELD is intense and tough as the musician from the working class. Like GARFIELD's character in the film says "the two of them are like wrestlers circling each other". I wasn't sure why nearly every one of their encounters was fraught with tension but it is all revealed in CRAWFORD's monologue towards the end of the film.Oscar LEVANT keeps things from getting too dark and melancholic. He is almost always around when GARFIELD and CRAWFORD are running around circles around each other. His character seemed to be straight out of a noir film. I'm usually not a big fan of these intense romantic drama's but I liked this one because of GARFIELD and CRAWFORD.(7/10)

This is a great movie and for two reasons. First, Joan Crawford. This movie contains what has to be the best performance of her career. Not only does Ms. Crawfod dominate the entire movie, her acting is superb, and she never looked better. There is great chemistry between her and her co-star, John Garfield, whose performance is also outstanding. Yet this is Ms. Crawford's movie; no other actress could have played her role more effectively.Second, the music. In this movie the music not only sets the mood but is an integral part of the story. Without the music the story would be dull and stale, and for good reason, the story is about music and musicians, which in itself is a novel idea. Oscar Levant is also wonderful as the pianist with the sardonic wit. The movie also features great cinematography, including impressive close ups of Ms. Crawford and Mr. Garfield as well as some outstanding montage of New York City. This movie is well worth watching.

Given the somewhat clichéd and thin storyline (from a short story rather than a novel), the film just about hold up. This seems to be due to Negulesco's balancing act between some of the overwrought passions and the basic telling of the story.Joan Crawford came to this following on from her Oscar-winning success in "Mildred Pierce". No doubt she, and the studio, thought that this would be "her" film. But John Garfield's performance actually overshadows Crawford; may this be a testament to method acting? I found it difficult to muscle up much sympathy for either of the main characters and this probably accounts for my comparatively Luke-warm conclusion. Both characters seemed devoid of any humour but fortunately we have Oscar Levant's one-liners to relieve some of the emotional tension. The extensive music performed in the film will be a plus for many, especially as much of it is from the Romantic era of classical music.It's certainly worth watching if you're interested in film history; if you're not then I suggest you wait for a wet Sunday afternoon when it's on TV.