Main Cast: Mickey Rooney, Perry Como, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
Plot
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
Review
Hollywood biopics have justifiably been criticized for playing fast and loose with the facts, especially when dealing with composers and lyricists. Words and Music is an extreme example of this, the historical accuracy of which is practically nil. This wouldn't have really mattered had the resulting screenplay been more palatable, blessed with more interesting characters, or possessed of witty and sparkling repartee. Unfortunately, it's a clichéd story with lines the viewer can finish before they're out of the characters' mouths. Matters aren't helped by the leads; Tom Drake is dull and Mickey Rooney annoying. What saves the film are the songs and their performers. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote some of the finest songs of their day, each imbued with Rodgers' incredible melodic facility and Hart's astounding wordplay, and most of the interpreters present do them full justice. Judy Garland and Lena Horne win highest marks, with a vigorous "Johnny One Note" and a blazing "The Lady Is a Tramp," respectively. "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" is truncated somewhat, but danced brilliantly by Gene Kelly and, cast surprisingly well against type, Vera Ellen. Even June Allyson, singing "Thou Swell," turns in a superior performance. Production values are high, as expected of an MGM musical of the period, and the vocal arrangements are a lot of fun. Words and Music would be followed the next year by Night and Day, a film about Cole Porter that was also largely fictionalized. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
In the story Hart's complex psychological problems and self-destructive behavior are ludicrously ascribed to his being snubbed by taller women all his life -- but the words and music are definitely the main attractions here.
