The Music Lovers (UK, 1971) was obsessed with the homosexuality of Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain). Tchaikovsky (USSR, 1970) ignored the composer's homosexuality completely, putting the collapse of his marriage down to a trivial social incident. This kitschy story of Edvard Grieg had groups of grinning dancers tripping over the mountains. Song of Norway (USA, 1970) was the film that made The Sound of Music seem astringent. Song Without End (USA, 1960) rambled on endlessly with Dirk Bogarde as Liszt, a profligate womaniser who later turns to the church. The Magnificent Rebel (USA, 1960) showed Beethoven (Kurt Bohm), being inspired to write the opening bars of his Fifth Symphony by the sound of the rent collector knocking on the door. Korngold arranged the music, and Yvonne de Carlo and Rita Gam played his two wives. Magic Fire (USA, 1956) starred Alan Badel as a sneering, effete Richard Wagner. But Lanza's lusty singing and temperamental personality were perfect for playing Caruso in this wildly innacurate, mawkish biopic. The Great Caruso (US, 1951) was played by Mario Lanza, one of the most boorish and gluttonous stars ever loosed on Hollywood. Song of My Heart (USA, 1947) was a Poverty Row production about Tchaikovsky's love affair with his patroness. Song of Love (USA, 1947) showed Paul Henreid going crazy as Robert Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara and Robert Walker as a young Brahms pining over her. Song of Sheherazade (USA, 1947) was a camp biopic with sailor Rimsky-Korsakov (Jean-Pierre Aumont) writing melodies for a dancer (Yvonne de Carlo) in a Moroccan nightclub. La Symphonie Fantastique (France, 1947) depicted Jean-Louis Barrault as a romantic Hector Berlioz conducting the eponymous symphony as a storm rages. Yehudi Menuhin, whose violin is heard, called the film "abysmally vulgar and nonsensical". The Magic Bow (UK, 1947) Paganini is portrayed by Stewart Granger. Equally unconvincing was Merle Oberon as George Sand. Starring French actor Fernand Gravet, it was the story of a philandering Johann Strauss, who composes Tales from the Vienna Woods in a carriage, taking the melodies from the birds.Ī Song to Remember (USA, 1945) starred Cornel Wilde as Chopin, far too healthy-looking to be convincing as a man suffering the ravages of TB. The Great Waltz (USA, 1938), dubbed 'The Great Schmaltz' by some critics, was one of Stalin's favourite films. The Great Mr Handel (UK, 1938) had a miscast Wilfred Lawson, with no trace of a German accent, battling against petty bureaucrats as he composes The Messiah.
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