Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Cristi_Ciopron A musical biopic with an all-star cast, and if Johnson looked a bit goofy, there are scenes with Cyd Charisse and Esther Williams; Heflin plays the 2nd lead, doing what he can with his role as the arranger and repentant procrastinator. He has been well chosen to make scenes watchable, as his style had brio, and the script also allowed for some depth, if the word isn't too grand, or at least plausibility, to his character. The movie signifies also the dawn or the spring of a few careers, of players who were then in their blessed prime. People like A. Lansbury and Sinatra went on to great careers. The Sally Hessler's selfishness subplot stank of hypocrisy and paternalist judgmental meanness (also, Kern's submissiveness when depriving Sally of her tune, and acknowledging the absolute authority of the producer to cut as he likes). The storyline has the cautiousness of such biopics, with few anecdotes (the Hessler family, Frohman's demise, Herbert the dean, the courtship in the British countryside, Sally's subplot). If the sentiment was phony, it also defines this genre of tributes to Broadway, with their MGM insipidity. There is though a moment, when Jerry, after he had just visited the prodigal Sally, feels the grandeur of the river …. The tunes that I liked very much were those not sugary: 'Life Upon the Wicked Stage', 'Till the Clouds Roll By', 'She Didn't Say Yes' (Lyn and Lee Wilde), 'Ol' Man River' sung by Sinatra; 'Show Boat' seemed indeed the nicest of Kern's works.Mainly, enjoy the music. That's why this movie has been made for. 'Ol' Man River', from the legendary 'Show Boat', thrilled Whale, 10 yrs before this movie has been made. A musical movie isn't always an ambitious experiment in narration, often it's a musical show, which may require a narrative convention, and this, in its turn, however conventional, asks for craft, in order to be achieved. I find it puzzling how many reviewers, when dismissing the musicals for their pretended lack of a plot, seemed to ignore that these were mainly musical shows and that it was as unfair to complain about story as in the situation of an operetta, a revue or a variety. In our age, objecting seems a sign of cleverness.Who would care much if an operetta hasn't a plot, and who would care about the contemporary reviews, other than for historical research? Perhaps some deplored that the songs haven't been matched by plot, etc., that a better movie could of been made, yet this thought remains sour and unfair. Quibbles, indeed. As for Crowther, he used to dismiss many things, and I don't find him a dependable reviewer. Many of his disparaging takes are too whimsical.

TxMike Even though Jerome Kern died just about 5 weeks before I was born in 1945, he and I have an indelible connection. When I was in graduate school back in the 1960s I managed to work myself into a student musical which ran for 28 performances over 4 weeks. The musical was "Leave it to Jane", an early and popular Jerome Kern musical which had an early long run off-Broadway. I never knew much about Kern over the following 46 years but now, with this movie, most of the gaps were filled in.Robert Walker plays the role of Jerome Kern, starting in the early 20th century when Kern was in this 20s and trying to become recognized as a Broadway composer. In that time American theater seemed to be enamored with British musicals, so Kern traveled to London to hone his craft. There he met his eventual wife. When he finally became recognized then his career took off and he became one of the most prolific and recognized composers of songs we love.This movie used Kern's songs, and scenes from many of his musicals, including one from "Leave it to Jane" about a football rivalry. And most of the songs are performed by some of the best-known performers of the 1940s, including such artists as Frank Sinatra, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Van Johnson, Dinah Shore, and a very young Angela Lansbury , just to name a few.For me, a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable movie. Here's to the memory of Jerome Kern. On DVD from my public library, the picture and sound are very good for such an old movie.

museumofdave During the period of the late 1940's and 50's, Hollywood decide to treat the public to musical biopics, and because of censorship difficulties, demands from living relatives and ethnic considerations, most of them--whether dealing with Larry Hart, George Gershwin, Cole Porter or in this case, Jerome Kern, were whitewashed and innocuous life stories, skirting life episodes that might have given the films some genuine punch.While there are enough well-staged MGM candy-colored musical treats to keep this biopic afloat, this odd and frequently dull postwar musical features a dreadfully miscast (but popular in 1946) Robert Walker as the tunesmith Kern (Walker was also stuck in another film as Johannes Brahms);the fine actor Van Heflin acts as Kern's mentor (a person who never existed in real life) and there is far too much repetitive dialogue between the two men used to pad out the 137 minute running time.Definitely worth watching are Judy Garland (in brilliant joyous numbers staged by her husband at the time, Vincent Minnelli), June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, and other major singing stars in tiny cameos--a word of warning about the film print quality: years ago, someone at MGM forgot to renew the copyright, and this film drifted into public domain; many mediocre copies were produced with bad sound and poor color, usually included in bargain collections or close-out stores for a buck. There is now an official studio copy available, and because the Technicolor is such an important part of the film's impact, it is recommended you avoid the cheapies and get the real thing--and gape in wonder as a very young Frank Sinatra, clad in white tuxedo, standing alone on a giant white mountain of a column, sings "Old Man River." The mind boggles!

Petri Pelkonen Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) tells the story of composer Jerome Kern.In this movie he's played by Robert Walker.Van Heflin is James Hessler.Lucille Bremer is his daughter Sally.It has many fine musical numbers.My favorite has to be the one with Angela Lansbury where she's singing How'd You Like to Spoon With Me? and swinging at the same time.There are lot of names appearing in the movie.Judy Garland is in a rather big role as Marilyn Miller.Lena Horne is Julie in Show Boat.Tony Martin is Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat.Cyd Charisse does a dance specialty in Roberta.Van Johnson is Bandleader in elite club.Esther Williams makes a cameo appearance.Silent era's 'Snub' Pollard appears as Orchestra Drummer.James Finlayson is Candy Vendor.Frank Sinatra sings the very last piece Ol' Man River.Watch this movie and enjoy all that lovely music.