A Song to Remember
Encyclopedia
A Song to Remember is a 1945 Columbia Pictures
biographical film
which tells a fictionalised life story of Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin
. Directed by Charles Vidor
, the film starred Cornel Wilde
(as Chopin), Merle Oberon
(as George Sand
), Paul Muni
(as Józef Elsner
), Stephen Bekassy (as Franz Liszt
), and Nina Foch
.
. Chopin, played by Cornel Wilde
, is first presented to the audience as a child prodigy playing a piece by Mozart
, but suddenly starts to bang on the piano keys when he notices out the window that Polish people are being taken prisoners by the Russian authorities.
The film also shows Chopin taking part in secret meetings to work on saving Poland with his young friends. Vidor depicts patriotism as a major motive for Chopin playing the piano. He attends a secret meeting instead of showing up on time for his concert in front of a count and distinguished guests.
In addition, when he finally performs at the concert, he stops playing when he sees the Russian Governor of Poland
enter the room. Chopin stands up and announces, "I do not perform for Russian butchers." He storms out of the room as his famous Revolutionary Étude starts in the background.
Before leaving Poland for Paris, Chopin clutches Polish earth in his hands. When he arrives in Paris, he says: "I’m thinking of my people back home. You see, there was a purpose in coming to Paris."
The first work of Chopin's that is heard in Paris is his "Heroic" Polonaise, a song for Poland. The appearance of George Sand
, played by Merle Oberon
, alters Chopin's life. Vidor portrays George Sand as a disruptive figure in Chopin's life, who seduces him and distracts him from Poland. At the end of the film, he gives a passionate concert tour around Europe, despite his failing health. In one of his concerts, Chopin starts bleeding.
Ironically, when this film was produced in 1944, Poland was suffering from a similar fate as it had when Chopin was alive—Poland was under foreign control once again (under Germans) during World War II.
The pianist José Iturbi
played the piano music, and also orchestrated part of the B minor Sonata for the scene when Chopin and George Sand arrive in Mallorca
.
The hands of pianist Ervin Nyíregyházi
are shown playing the piano.
(Cornel Wilde), Best Cinematography, Color
, Best Film Editing
, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
, Best Sound, Recording (John P. Livadary
) and Best Writing, Original Story
.
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
which tells a fictionalised life story of Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
. Directed by Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor was a film director.-Biography:Born Károly Vidor to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, he served in the Hungarian Army during World War I...
, the film starred Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
(as Chopin), Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
(as George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
), Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
(as Józef Elsner
Józef Elsner
Józef Antoni Franciszek was a composer, music teacher and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw...
), Stephen Bekassy (as Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
), and Nina Foch
Nina Foch
Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
.
Plot
Vidor romanticizes Chopin's patriotism in the film, which was produced during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Chopin, played by Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
, is first presented to the audience as a child prodigy playing a piece by Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, but suddenly starts to bang on the piano keys when he notices out the window that Polish people are being taken prisoners by the Russian authorities.
The film also shows Chopin taking part in secret meetings to work on saving Poland with his young friends. Vidor depicts patriotism as a major motive for Chopin playing the piano. He attends a secret meeting instead of showing up on time for his concert in front of a count and distinguished guests.
In addition, when he finally performs at the concert, he stops playing when he sees the Russian Governor of Poland
Namiestnik of the Kingdom of Poland
The Namiestnik of the Kingdom of Poland was the deputy of the King of Poland —i.e., the deputy of the Emperor of Russia who, under Congress Poland , styled himself "King of Poland." Between 1874 and 1914, when the former Congress Poland was known as the Vistula Country, the title Namiestnik was...
enter the room. Chopin stands up and announces, "I do not perform for Russian butchers." He storms out of the room as his famous Revolutionary Étude starts in the background.
Before leaving Poland for Paris, Chopin clutches Polish earth in his hands. When he arrives in Paris, he says: "I’m thinking of my people back home. You see, there was a purpose in coming to Paris."
The first work of Chopin's that is heard in Paris is his "Heroic" Polonaise, a song for Poland. The appearance of George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
, played by Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
, alters Chopin's life. Vidor portrays George Sand as a disruptive figure in Chopin's life, who seduces him and distracts him from Poland. At the end of the film, he gives a passionate concert tour around Europe, despite his failing health. In one of his concerts, Chopin starts bleeding.
Ironically, when this film was produced in 1944, Poland was suffering from a similar fate as it had when Chopin was alive—Poland was under foreign control once again (under Germans) during World War II.
The pianist José Iturbi
José Iturbi
José Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
played the piano music, and also orchestrated part of the B minor Sonata for the scene when Chopin and George Sand arrive in Mallorca
Mallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
.
The hands of pianist Ervin Nyíregyházi
Ervin Nyíregyházi
Ervin Nyíregyházi was a Hungarian-born American pianist.-Childhood and early career:...
are shown playing the piano.
Reception
A Song to Remember was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Cornel Wilde), Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Best Sound, Recording (John P. Livadary
John P. Livadary
John Paul Livadary was a sound designer.He started work in 1928 at Columbia Pictures and won the Academy Award for Best Sound three times, in a career that spanned 30 years...
) and Best Writing, Original Story
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
.