Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 07/24/2007
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1/DD2
Run Time: 121 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
The life stories of Broadway tunesmiths
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart are prettified for the screen in
MGM's
Words and Music. Billed fourth, the colorless
Tom Drake plays Rodgers, but never mind that: the film belongs to
Mickey Rooney, as the dynamic, self-destructive
Lorenz Hart. Understandably, Hart's bisexuality is downplayed. According to
MGM, his biggest problem in life is that he was never satisfied with his work.
We are, however, especially when those great Rodgers & Hart tunes are performed by the likes of
Judy Garland,
Janet Leigh,
Perry Como,
Lena Horne,
June Allyson,
Cyd Charisse,
Betty Garrett,
Ann Sothern,
Mel Torme,
Allyn McLerie,
Gene Kelly and
Vera-Ellen. The musical highlights include Garland's powerhouse rendition of
Johnny One-Note, Kelly's
Slaughter on 10th Avenue dance solo, Horne's interpretation of
Where or When, Allyson's take on
Thou Swell, and, best of all, Rooney's premiere performance of
I'll Take Manhattan, which he allegedly had just written on the back of an automobile advertisement!
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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