Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

MartinHafer If you want to see a good bio-pic about Rogers and Hart, it apparently doesn't exist. Instead, MGM did what studios often did during that era...they whitewashed the folks' lives and used a semi- fictionalized bio-pic as an excuse to present a myriad of song and dance numbers. These numbers feature a little of everyone from MGM...Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Ann Sothern, Cyd Charisse, Perry Como and many others. The overall result is a rather bland and episodic film. So, if you'd like to know about the real Lorenz Hart (he was gay after all...but oddly really likes girls in this film), you might want to skip this film and read about him instead. The same could be said about "Night and Day", Warner Brothers bio-pic of Cole Porter that stripped away the gay and presents a very, very sanitized version of his life.So am I saying that "Words and Music" is a bad film? Yes and no. As a bio-pic, it stinks even though the actors try their best because it's a lie. But you might enjoy the production numbers...they are often very colorful and lovely.

weezeralfalfa Lary Hart wasn't around when this pseudobiopic was made, but Richard Rogers reportedly disliked everything about it, except Janet Leigh as his girlfriend-wife. That's not a good recommendation, but no doubt Rogers was much harder to please than the average viewer. I certainly find quite a few musical numbers I liked, but the choice of which numbers to include and exclude, and who should sing certain numbers certainly could have been improved.Why was wooden, sleepy-eyed, Perry Como featured more than anybody else? Presumably, MGM got him cheap as a loan from Fox, because his wooden acting in his several Fox musicals was not well received. Everyone else got a maximum of 2 musical numbers, but Como got 3, plus 2 more that were deleted! His "Blue Room" number, with Cyd Charisse as dancer and lover, was OK, but only because of Cyd's presence. His long "Mountain Greenery" number, with extensive chorus help, could have been deleted as ordinary. His near ending encore of the standard "With a Song in my Heart" was OK, but mostly because it was abbreviated.On the other hand, Como's best song "My Heart Stood Still" was deleted!(Hear it as an audio outtake on the 2007 DVD release). It would have made a great finale song for the film!Betty Garrett just wasn't right to sing "There's a Small Hotel". She gave it no life. I'm sure Rooney would have done much better job. MGM also had Sinatra under contract. Of course, he later sang this in "Pal Joey". On the other hand, "Way Out West" was perfect for Garrett, as evidenced in the audio outtake on my DVD. But 90% of her rendition was cut from the final film! Why was she cast as Hart's on and off girl friend , being much taller than Rooney? Jane Powell was available at MGM and was shorter than Rooney, besides being a great singer and passable dancer. I guess the point was to make Hart more self conscious of his short stature, by pairing him with a fairly tall woman.The elaborate June Allison-starring "Thou Swell" was OK, if a bit long. Like Gsrrett, she didn't have the greatest singing voice for straight romantic ballads, being best with comical, satirical and novelty songs, with light dancing back and forth across the stage, where she looked good.The Gene Kelly & Vera-Ellen "Slaughter on 10th Ave." was an interesting arty ballet number, though I didn't like the ending. But why was their number "Falling in Love with Love" deleted? Certainly, this standard should have been included. It could have replaced the rather ordinary number "Where's That Rainbow", featuring an expendable Ann Southern. Also, it would have been nice to see a classic Kelly-Cid dance number, especially since they costarred in several musicals.Perhaps they could have danced to the conspicuously absent "Bewitched", "Falling in Love with Love", or "I Feel at Home with You" Cyd's duet rendition of "On Your Toes" could have been deleted as ordinary. However, the follow up "This Can't Be Love" extravaganza, with many pink ballet dancers, and featuring Cyd plus a blond companion, was visually spectacular.Judy Garland's two numbers, with or without Rooney, were among the best productions. Mel Torme's rendition of "Blue Moon", trying to cheer up Hart, was also excellent.We could have used another Torme ballad: one of the missing standards mentioned above. Lena Horne's two numbers were OK, although she's not my favorite singer. Rooney's "Manhattan" was also good. Rooney did the best job he could trying to portray Hart's pluses and minuses, but the audience mostly had to read between the lines to get the probable real reason for his self-destructive behavior and early death.

morgana-31 I first saw this movie on TV in 1963. I was only 13 years old. What caused me to sit down and watch was the mention of Mel Torme in the opening credits. I had only just become favorably aware of this man's music but had never seen as much as a photo of him.This was my first experience of 'The Musical' genre of film and I was enchanted from beginning to end. Well apart from the Mel Torme bit. I think we got more of Larry Hart looking miserable, and his mother looking out of the window (no doubt wondering when this party was going to end. It's 4am and she probably needed her beauty sleep) than we did of Mel.I was stunned by the brilliant 'Slaughter On 10th Avenue' sequence. There was stuff like this available and yet kids my age were listening to the Beatles? What on earth was wrong with the world? And Lena Horne's out-standing performance of The Lady Is A Tramp just blew me away.Plot? OK it was sanitized but I didn't know that at the time. Homosexuality was never mentioned back then. I just figured that anyone who would write a song like 'My Funny Valentine' would never score with the ladies."Your looks are laughable - unphotographable" Come on. You can't be serious? I finally found this on DVD a few days ago and couldn't believe my luck. I had wanted to see it again ever since reading in Mel Torme's autobiography that he and Richard Rodgers had had a falling out over how to handle the vocals on 'Blue Moon'. Mel had wanted to go with the meaning of the lyrics, example 'you heard me saying a prayer... (pause) for someone I really could care for.Rodgers had insisted that he stick with the rhyme, example you heard me saying a prayer for (pause) someone I really could care for.Sorry, Dick, but I'm with Mel on that one.

caa821 This is a very typical musical biopic of its period. One can readily see why Richard Rodgers liked nothing about it (except casting of Janet Leigh), as indicated in note on this site.Lorenz Hart was far from the type of individual portrayed by Mickey Rooney. The scene with him at home with his mother and Rodgers, picking scraps of lyric notes from every pocket, is not only unrealistic and "over-the-top," but decidedly silly and unfunny.His collapse in the rain outside the theater towards the end, having come from hospital bed in only pajamas and raincoat, is positively ludicrous. Why do motion picture characters - both male and female, sick or well - ALWAYS, if in pajamas or nightgown, insist on going out with nothing but a raincoat or topcoat added? Ever seen this in "real life?"This flick rates a 2* mark for story, but easily 7* additional for the musical numbers and guest star roster. Might have been better simply as a documentary dedicated to the composers.