Music for millions

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Movie
German title Music for millions
Original title Music For Millions
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1944
length 120 minutes
Rod
Director Henry Koster
script Myles Connelly
production Joe Pasternak
for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
music George Stoll ,
Michel Michelet
camera Robert Surtees
cut Douglass Biggs
occupation

Music for Millions is a 1944 American film directed by Henry Koster .

action

Barbara plays bass violin in José Iturbi's orchestra . Her friends in the orchestra, with whom she also shares an apartment with the landlady Mrs. McGuff, have been sparing her for some time: Barbara is pregnant by her husband, who is a soldier in World War II . She hasn't heard from him for a long time. This, as well as pregnancy troubles, bother Barbara. She is all the more happy when her seven-year-old sister Mike comes to visit her and promises to stay with her until her husband returns from the front.

The orchestra goes on tour. Shortly before leaving, Barbara's roommate Rosalind receives a telegram to Barbara. It comes from the War Department and tells Barbara that her husband has died. Rosalind and the other friends decide to keep the news secret until after the child is born, otherwise they see the life of the unborn child in danger. Barbara, however, senses that her friends are hiding something from her. The women therefore commission Uncle Ferdinand, a forger , to write a letter to Barbara. It should look like a letter from her husband and explain the long-missing letters. In fact, a letter appears the next day with Barbara in which her husband explains to her that he was stuck on a desert island for months after a parachute jump. Although Barbara finds the humorous style of the letter unusual, she is overwhelmingly happy about the news from her husband and thanks God in church for the happy turn.

A short time later, the birth of your child is imminent. While she is in the hospital, her friends are about to perform Handel's Messiah . Uncle Ferdinand appears again on the run from the police, short of cash, and the women collect money for him because he wrote the letter so wonderfully. It turns out that Ferdinand was not the author, as he was too drunk on the evening of the letter forging. The letter was actually from Barbara's husband. Your friends are overjoyed. During the performance of the Messiah , just at the Hallelujah , Mike appears from the hospital and shows the women that Barbara has given birth to a boy. The orchestra can only play the piece to the end with great difficulty; the end shows Barbara with her newborn in her arms.

production

Music for Millions was filmed from May 22 to September 5, 1944. The film had its world premiere on December 18, 1944 in New York City . The German premiere took place in 1949.

The film features numerous pieces of classical music that are performed under the direction of José Iturbi or played by himself. These include Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy , the Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg and the Alleluia from Georg Friedrich Handel's Messiah .

criticism

The Lexicon of International Films called Music for Millions a “stirring story carefully tailored to the wishes of the American audience in the war year 1944”, which Henry Koster had staged “very appealing and moving the heart”.

Cinema described the film as a “sentimental piece with lots of music”.

Awards

Music for Millions was nominated for an Oscar in the category " Best Original Screenplay " in 1946, but could not prevail against Marie-Louise .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Ed.): Lexicon of International Films . Volume 5. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, p. 2682.
  2. ↑ See cinema.de