Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

morrison-dylan-fan Getting lucky in catching the charming 1951 movie Two Tickets to Broadway,I decided to keep a look out for other similar titles appearing on the BBC. Finding the only DVD around to be a Warner Archives edition that would cost £15 to import (!) I was happy to spot that the BBC iPlayer had an obscure gem,which led to me getting ready to perform a morning song.The plot:Becoming blind from an accident, classical musician Dan Evans sinks into dark seedy clubs where Evans is paid in beer and burgers. Catching some of his act at a slightly more up-market club, socialite Cathy Mallory asks Evans if she can become his benefactor.Still bitter about his blindness,Evans rejects the offer.Shortly after his exchange with Mallory,Evans quits the club. Keen to track him down,Mallory gets bandleader Chick Morgan to arrange a secret encounter between them. Wanting Evans to feel that she understands where he is coming from,Mallory changes her name to Mary Willey,and pretends to be blind.View on the film:Learning to play the piano for the film, Dana Andrews gives an excellent performance as Evans,whose joy behind a piano Andrews makes sing,which masks the blind bitterness that Andrews covers Evans eyes with off-stage. Trying to stop Evans from catching her real sight, Merle Oberon gives a terrific performance as Mallory,with Oberon lapping up Mallory's Melodrama glamour with a breezy,loved up atmosphere.Taking some big leaps in the credibility of Evans and Mallory's romance,the screenplay by Frank Fenton/Dick Irving Hyland & DeWitt Bodeen shade some of the gaps in by allowing Evans to open up about the darkness around him,which never becomes bitterly melodramatic,thanks to the writers retaining a playfulness between Evans and Mallory. Crisply showing Andrews play Evans music,director John Cromwell and cinematographer Lucien Ballard looks into his eyes by engulfing the nightclubs in striking low- lighting which reflect Evans view. Stepping on the beach,Cromwell gives the romance a stylish elegance of overlapping images opening the love between Evans and Mallory,as the night song sings.

bobvend This film predates my birth by ten years, but after just seeing it on TCM, I had to weigh in. Overlong? ...well probably, and certainly contrived, given the plot. But somehow, it works, and does so beautifully.Both Andrews and Oberon do the best they can with their characters: he, a blind pianist playing in dives; she, a wealthy socialite who likes to go slumming. Enamoured by him, she feigns blindness in order to insinuate her way into his bitter existence. Both Hoagy Charmichael and stalwart Ethel Barrymore add comic bite and the requisite amount of wisdom as they lend their support to the ruse. And there are some cleaver twists which keep the game running just when one would think they would otherwise send it careening off the tracks. And it's hard for me to think of another film in which Merle Oberon was more beautiful.Set your reality check to its lowest setting and enjoy this classic sudser. And, if you're not a fan of classical music, this film just might change that!

simonson024 The job of a movie is to give the audience members a bigger slice of life than they would normally experience. Night Song, a classic movie of the post-war 1940's, gives that slice of life with rare grace, elegance and style. Critics have panned it because of the "bad" far-fetched plot, the "bad" music, and "bad" acting.I like this movie because, quite coincidentally, I personally have digested many of the slices of life in the "far-fetched" plot. The movie is about a piano player/composer who is struck on the head in the prime of his life. I am a piano player/composer who was struck on the head in the prime of my life. We both made it through a war era untouched, he WWII, and I Vietnam, well almost. He is living hand to mouth with his best friend. I am also living hand to mouth with my best friend, my wife. For those who love far-fetched coincidences: The composer's last name is Evans—my grandfather's name before he changed it. The movie was probably shot in 1946, the year I was born. Exactly 20 years later I saw Artur Rubenstein, who acted and performed in this movie, in a concert at the Music Center in Los Angeles--the only time I ever went to such a concert. It opened in Sweden on my birthday. What could be more far-fetched?. The not so far-fetched plot twists were not lost on me. As I watched, I was saying to myself, "What is possible for me? Miracles happen every day! Every success story was improbable before it happened!" After watching the film, I went over to the piano and played my own unfinished concerto once again! As for the Leith Stevens music, if you didn't like it, say so. If it didn't touch you, say so. I liked it, immensely. It touched me immensely! If you want a thrill, type in Leith Stevens on IMDb. You'll find page after page of musical credits—right up to 2005! The man is a modern master composer played by the greatest performers of that time in this movie! Not bad for "bad" music! The job of film critics is to say what they like and dislike about films and why. They should leave all categorical good and bad thoughts completely out of the conversation.One measure of the talent of an actor, and some say the only measure of a film, is the ability to transport the mind and the spirit of the viewer to another time and place. I was completely transported by this movie. I was perfectly comfortable with ALL the performances, by some of the most distinguished actors of the era, because I was ready, willing and able to be transfixed; and this film is transfixing! Let's get it on DVD!

MartinHafer One of the most striking things about this film when it first began is that I noticed some very strange casting. While Dana Andrews is cast as a blind piano player, I was surprised to see Hoagy Carmichael (a very famous pianist) cast as a clarinet player! Talk about odd. Now Hoagy did play the piano as well in the film AND Andrews either faked it VERY well or he actually knew how to play the piano--so it all worked out fine.The film begins with Merle Oberon and some other rich friends "slumming it". Instead of their usual high-class evening, they drop in at a lower-rent club where Dana Andrews is performing. When Oberon and Andrews meet, there is a bit of a spark--though Andrews is so bitter from his recently becoming blind that he pushes everyone away--including her. However, to get past this wall, Oberon tells him that she, too, is blind and has been all her life. They hit it off and soon fall in love. BUT, she is NOT blind--just a kind lady with a strange idea how to help!! One of the big issues in Andrews' life, other than his coping with blindness, is his desire to be a composer. Oberon encourages him and eventually he wins a major prize for his music--and can now afford the surgery to possibly restore his sight. However, when the surgery IS a success, he gets on with his life and seems to forget about Oberon. As for Oberon, she decides to introduce herself to Andrews without telling him who she really is--and they hit it off. Oddly, he doesn't realize who she really is--and that it was her family that sponsored the prize he won. All of which, when you think about it, makes little sense. You'd assume that with exact same voice, he'd quickly know who she is! But, again, being a film, you are expected to believe this little ruse--or at least not question it. Oberon is hoping that in time, Andrews will come back to her--the blind girl. Or, if he doesn't, that he'll at least not feel obligated to her out of a sense of loyalty or pity. Will the two sort all this out and find love or will they forever be pathetic and lonely idiots? See for yourself and find out how all this unfolds.This is an odd film. While so much about the plot is contrived and even a bit silly, the romance is handled so well that the deficiencies in the plot somehow aren't all that important. While you normally would not expect to love seeing Andrews and Oberon together (it is an unlikely pairing), the two actors manage to make it work--mostly because they were terrific at their craft. And, incidentally, the director had a particularly deft hand with setting the mood--with great lighting, scenes and music. It's a film I really DIDN'T want to like much because of the silly plot, but it still manages to work and is well worth seeing...just be sure to turn off that nagging voice that tells you to question all the plot difficulties! If you can do that, then this film is for you.By the way, at the 89 minute mark (or so), there are brief cameos by the great pianist Arthur Rubenstein and director Eugene Ormandy. Rubenstein even does a solo--of the piece Andrews' character wrote in the film.