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Till the Clouds Roll By (English Subtitled)
Biography, Musical
Kern attends the opening night of Show Boat in 1927, the landmark musical that secured his popularity. Following several of the show's most notable songs, Kern departs to reminisce about his early days as a young songwriter.
Kern recounts meeting Jim Hessler, a musical mentor, and Hessler's young daughter Sally. Kern and the Hesslers grow close, and he later visits them in London.
Taking Sally to the fair inspires Kern to conceive a stage production for one of his songs. At the London Gaieties revue, Kern's song garners the attention of theatrical producer Charles Frohman.
When Kern happens to meet Eva Leale, it's love at first sight, but the courtship is cut short. He must abruptly sail back to New York to adapt The Girl from Utah for its Broadway debut. Following the show's success, Kern narrowly misses sailing back to London on the RMS Lusitania.
The 1917 opening night of Oh, Boy! includes the musical number "Till the Clouds Roll By". The composer proposes to Eva and returns to New York to continue his string of theatrical successes, including Leave It to Jane. His 1920 musical Sally, starring Marilyn Miller, popularized the song "Look for the Silver Lining".
Now grown up, Sally Hessler asks her Uncle Jerry to help her get a stage role. He writes the song "Who?" for her to have a part in the 1925 musical Sunny. After the show's producers give the song to star Marilyn Miller, Sally leaves in protest. At the opening night of Sunny, Kern learns that Sally has run off, leaving her father despondent.
All attempts to locate Sally fail, and Jim Hessler dies, leaving a mourning Kern unable to work. Oscar Hammerstein visits the Kerns to share a copy of the 1926 novel Show Boat. The same night, Kern learns that Sally will be performing at a club in Memphis, Tennessee. He leaves to find her in Tennessee, where the two make amends, and he spends the night listening to the sounds of the Mississippi River.
Having recounted his life story so far, Kern feels his career has likely come to an end with Show Boat. On the contrary, he continued to write hit shows, including The Cat and the Fiddle (1931) and Roberta (1933). While visiting a sound stage at MGM, Kern is delighted to discover the studio has cast Sally to perform in a new film featuring his songs.
Highlights of Kern's Hollywood career include songs from Swing Time (1936), Cover Girl (1944), and Broadway Rhythm (1944); the montage concludes with songs from Sweet Adeline and Show Boat. (Wikipedia)
Movie Info
Directed by: Richard Whorf, uncredited Busby Berkeley, Henry Koster, Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay by: Myles Connolly, Jean Holloway, George Wells (adaptation)
Story by: Guy Bolton
Produced by: Arthur Freed
Starring: June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Van Heflin, Lena Horne, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury. Tony Martin, Virginia O'Brien, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Robert Walker
Cinematography: George J. Folsey, Harry Stradling
Edited by: Albert Akst
Music by: Jerome Kern
Production company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by: Loew's, Inc.
Release date: December 5, 1946
Running time: 132 min.
Country: United States
Language: English, English subtitled
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