Night Song

Director: John Cromwell John Cromwell

Overview

In this melodrama, a brilliant pianist is struck blind in an accident and stops working on his equally brilliant concerto. A wealthy woman pretends to be poor and blind to help him regain his confidence, and holds a contest with a large prize for the best musical composition. She, as the blind girl, encourages him to finish his work and enter it. He wins the prize, uses the money to have his sight restored, falls in love with the wealthy woman, and is thrilled to find that his two loves are one and the same.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/22/2012
UPC:	0883316452592
Original Release:	1947
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	41,326

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Merle Oberon	Cathy
Dana Andrews	Dan Evans
Ethel Barrymore	Aunt Willey
Hoagy Carmichael	Chick
Artur Rubinstein	Himself
Eugene Ormandy	Himself
Jacqueline White	Connie
Donald Curtis	George
Walter Reed	Jimmy
Jane Jones	Mamie
Whit Bissell	Ward Oates
Lennie Bremen	Headwaiter, Chez Mamie
Jack Gargan	Waiter
Alex Melesh	Waiter
Victor Romito	Sailor
Charles Cirillo	Sailor
Eva Mudge	Woman
Angela Clarke	Woman
Hercules Mendez	Headwaiter
Harry Harvey	Postman
Suzi Crandall	Girl on Street
George Cooper	Bellboy
Luis Alberni	Flower Vendor
Howard Keiser	Newsboy
Herbert Evans	Butler
George Chandler	Bartender
Antonio Filauri	Chef
Hector V. Sarno	Proprietor
Ervin Richardson	Artist

Technical Credits

John Cromwell	Director
Russell A. Cully	Special Effects
Harriet Parsons	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Night Song is a ludicrous melodrama, made palatable by a couple of its supporting players and its beautiful Lucien Ballard cinematography. Mentioning the supporting players over the stars isn't meant to denigrate Dana Andrews or Merle Oberon. Andrews is appropriately mule-headed and bitter, and Oberon, looking truly lovely and radiant, is appropriately sympathetic and lovestruck. It's merely that their characters are written in the baldest, most obvious manner, and so there's little the stars can do with them to make them come alive. They also are forced to carry the plot, and that's the real problem, for Night Song's plot is one of the most contrived, incredible and, to modern audiences at least, laughable that one can imagine. It's the type of plot that cries out for lampooning, and many viewers will be unable to watch without laughing out loud at the set-up and the unbelievable twists and turns that follow. Because they are not called upon to carry this silly story, the supporting players come out better, especially Ethel Barrymore and Hoagy Carmichael. Barrymore turns in one of her patented "wise woman" performances, not so terribly different from the one in A Portrait of Jennie, but enjoyable nonetheless. But it's Carmichael that steals the show and provides the film with its best moments. Not really an actor, Carmichael is an entertaining personality who, in small doses, can give a problem film a big lift -- as he does here. (It should also be said that Carmichael's little "Who Killed the Black Widow" tune is much preferable to the faux-classical dreck that Andrews' character is supposed to have written.