One of Stanley Donen’s worst moviesm Deep in My Heart is a dull MGM musical film about the life of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg, starring the pompous acotr Jose Ferrer.
That the movie followed Donen and Kelly’s dazzling 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain made comparisons inevitable.
Ferrer was rising high after winning the 1951 Best Actor Oscar for Cyrano de Bergerac. (He was the first Hispanic actor wo win that kudo).
My Book:
Romberg is known for the diverse and melodic music he wrote for “The Student Prince,” “The Desert Song,” and “The New Moon,” among others.
Grade: C+ (** out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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Leonard Spigelgass adapted the film from Elliott Arnold’s 1949 biography of the same name.
Roger Edens produced, and Eugene Loring choreographed.
José Ferrer (miscast) played Romberg, with support from soprano Helen Traubel as a fictional character, and Merle Oberon as actress, playwright, librettist, producer, and director Dorothy Donnelly.
The film’s title derives from “Deep in My Heart, Dear,” a song from “The Student Prince.”
The secondary cast consists of cameo turns by every significant singer or dancer on the MGM lot at the time: dancer Cyd Charisse (dubbed by Carol Richards), Rosemary Clooney (Ferrer’s wife), Vic Damone, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly and his brother Fred Kelly (their only on-screen appearance together), Tony Martin, Ann Miller, James Mitchell, Jane Powell, Joan Weldon, and the ballerina Tamara Toumanova (dubbed by Betty Wand). Robert Easton, Russ Tamblyn, Susan Luckey, and Ludwig Stössel make uncredited appearances.
Cycle of Music Biopics
Deep in My Heart was the final film in a series of four MGM biopics based on the lives of composers, which included Till the Clouds Roll By (Jerome Kern, 1946), Words and Music (Rodgers and Hart, 1948), and Three Little Words (Kalmar and Ruby, 1950).
Cast
José Ferrer as Sigmund Romberg
Merle Oberon as Dorothy Donnelly
Helen Traubel as Anna Mueller
Doe Avedon as Lillian Romberg
Walter Pidgeon as J. J. Shubert
Paul Henreid as Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Tamara Toumanova as Gaby Deslys
Betty Wand as Gaby Deslys (singing voice)
Paul Stewart as Bert Townsend
Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Harris
David Burns as Lazar Berrison, Sr.
Jim Backus as Ben Judson
Credits:
Directed by Stanley Donen
Screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass, Elliott Arnold (book)
Produced by Roger Edens
Cinematography George J. Folsey
Edited by Adrienne Fazan
Music by Sigmund Romberg
Production company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by Loew’s, Inc
Release date: December 9, 1954
Running time: 132 minutes
Budget $2,504,000
Box office $3,978,000
