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This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Directed by Irving Rapper, with a screenplay co-written by Howard Koch and Elliot Paul from Sonya Levien's story, this fictionalized biography of George Gershwin captures the spirit of the great composer's passion and features much of his varied music, including the titled composition. Robert Alda (father of Alan) plays Gershwin (in his film debut), Herbert Rudley plays his brother Ira. Joan Leslie and Alexis Smith play women in his life, Charles Coburn plays the music publisher who discovered him while Albert Bassermann plays the music teacher he most respected. Oscar Levant plays himself, a friend of the Gershwins, whose parents are played by Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp. Julie Bishop plays Ira's wife. Conductor Paul Whiteman, singer Al Jolson, producer George White, pianist Hazel Scott, and singer Anne Brown play themselves.The film, which was actually shot in 1943 and sat on the shelf due to the backlog of war and escapist films being released at that time, received Oscar nominations for its Score and Sound Recording.Though Momma Rose (DeCamp) buys her boys, George (Mickey Roth) & Ira (Darryl Hickman) Gershwin, a piano for their New York (The Bronx) apartment above the family grocery store, to give it class, it is Poppa Morris (Carnovsky) who enables George to pursue his obvious gift. Through the years, George moves from one music instructor to another until he finally works under the tutelage of Professor Franck (Bassermann). Around the age of twenty, George (Alda) briefly plays relief piano for Chico Marx before he finds himself hawking "free to performers" Remick music for tone-deaf manager Mr. Kast (Charles Halton), during which time he meets wannabe singer Julie Adams (Leslie). When he's fired by Kast for playing the music he'd written himself, he finds himself in the waiting area of Harms Inc., run by music publisher Max Dreyfus (Coburn), with Oscar Levant, who's also trying to see the publisher. Dreyfus likes Gershwin's song Swanee so much, he hires him for $35/week and phones Al Jolson, who makes it a smash hit in his show at the Winter Garden ("Sinbad").Gershwin enjoys great financial success with hit after hit, but his discussions with Franck, who talks of Schubert, Wagner, Beethoven and Brahms, make him feel that he's missing something. He writes a musical for Julie called "Half Past Eight" which features S Marvelous, but it bombs. George says that he doesn't have time for failures and, for the rest of his life, drives himself relentlessly to create and explore new areas of music. His father now owns a Turkish bath, and Ira is starting to write lyrics.In the bath, George meets a friend of Dreyfus's named George White, who produces an annual string of musical comedies called "Scandals" with Gershwin's songs. Poppa marks his son's success by the length of the songs he writes. George continues to experiment, but has another temporary setback when he tries to write blues music. George learns that Ira is to marry Lee (Bishop) during a dinner in which Dreyfus and Franck "debate" the best use of George's talent; Levant and Julie are also in attendance. Conductor Paul Whiteman recognized George's capacity for the blues and takes him to Aeolian Hall where lots of famous persons (including Will Wright as Rachmaninoff) hear his "Rhapsody in Blue" concert. It is well received but Professor Franck, who was unable to attend due to illness, dies which tempers George's enthusiasm.George decides to go to Paris, intending to study per Professor Franck's wishes. However, in a nightclub he hears Hazel Scott play & sing his music and then meets Christine Gilbert (Smith). She is an artist herself, a painter, and they have some good times together. She introduces him to Ravel (Oscar Loraine) of Bolero fame and soon learns that George is consumed by his music. Still, she returns with him to an unexpected "welcome home" party in New York where she and, the waiting, Julie are made to feel unimportant by George's egocentric attention to his gift, at Levant's expense as well. After singing Embraceable You, Julie runs out on George and soon, after giving him a dog, so does Christine. George returns to Paris and writes "An American in Paris".George returns home in time to see his father die of leukemia. Based on his father's dying words, George finds Julie in Miami, but she pretends to be engaged to her bandleader; she refuses to come between him and his talent. He completes his opera "Porgy and Bess", starring Anne Brown, which earns praise from Dreyfus even if it receives mixed reviews. George, Ira, and Oscar travel to Los Angeles by train, but George's health is failing. He experiences splitting headaches to go along with his heartbreak. He has a brief recovery when he hears that Julie will come to be with him, but he dies as Oscar is playing a concert back in New York. The film ends with a concert of Gershwin's music, being played in his honor.

Robert Alda, Charles Coburn, & Herbert Ruddley carry a major Warner brothers triumph in this production. The folks who made the film had the smarts to let the music carry the film along. It helped that the story really celebrates the Gershwins, centering on George (Alda) but featuring Coburn and Ruddley.In a way, this might be one of the strongest biographic films made. The cast is outstanding in every way. It is a reminder that George Gershwin was a man driven to greatness so hard, that when he does have a flop, his only regret is how much time he spent failing. It does not stop him from going on to write some of the greatest music in American History and one of the very few American Operas.While I am not sure if there are many facts of the true lives changed, the fact is this one chose the right people to play the royal family of American Composers. Warner even cast several people as themselves in the movie adding a touch of realism to the finished product. When you finish watching this, it tells you just how great the music is the Gershwins wrote, sang, and produced. Bravo

Completely true or not, corny or not, it's still a wonderful film, especially with Gershwin's music being showcased. I've been viewing this film for probably 25 years or more - maybe even 35 years, and I never get tired of it. Remember that this was a film released near the end of WWII, and is typical of biopics of the day, and also remember the mood of the public was such that they loved this type of depiction of a beloved composer's life. The cast is perfect - I can't even try to imagine any other actors in these roles, and I love Oscar Levant being Oscar Levant. This movie also shows Oscar's great talent as a pianist, something many forget with his wry self-deprecating humor.

Yes, George Gershwin wrote some wonderful music and yes, Warner Bros. does use a lot of his music almost continuously throughout the background--but this has to be a musical bio even more fabricated than NIGHT AND DAY, which purported to be the bio of Cole Porter.All the standard Hollywood clichés are there--the girl friend (JOAN LESLIE--who never really existed) upset because another woman (who else, but ALEXIS SMITH) has stolen her true love's affection. There's even a melodramatic scene where Alexis nobly gives up her love for Gershwin because she knows she's only "the other woman" in his life.Then there's the best friend, played by Oscar LEVANT, who did indeed know George Gershwin well, the devoted brother Ira Gershwin, and the loving parents, including teary-eyed mother ROSEMARY DeCAMP.But while the plot is standard formula bio stuff, the kind that Warner Bros. did throughout the '40s, not much can be said for the performances which are also pretty standard, including ROBERT ALDA as Gershwin. (He's Alan's dad, you know.) Highlights are Gershwin's works performed before concert audiences, including "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Porgy and Bess". There's even a familiar face popping up now and then before stardom came--for example, MARK STEVENS (who is uncredited in the billing) as a singer.Just as NIGHT AND DAY was a complete fabrication, so is RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Music lovers will find plenty to listen to, but don't expect to learn more about Gershwin's real life as a composer.This is one case where the B&W photography looks drab. The studio should have gone all out for color--at least then the film would have been worth watching as well as listening to.