It was quite a shock to see that Warner Bros logo in colour, and Cary Grant. Autobiog of Cole Porter is unfortunately top heavy with musical numbers (most of the songs are great of course) and dramatically lacking, so the film itself is a bit of a bore, and overlong. Would have been more interesting if it had been allowed to deal with Porter's homosexuality. (Maybe it slightly does hint at it, come to think of it.) Does though have the distinction of Monty Wooley playing himself - we had no idea about his background at Yale nor his involvement in the story (nor that he too was gay, a close friend of Clifton Webb).
We'd watch Grant - who does his own singing - in anything, though most contemporary critics thought his performance uneasy. With Alexis Smith, Ginny Simms, Jane Wyman (filmed at the same time as The Yearling - I didn't even recognise her), Eve Arden, Victor Francen, Alan Hale, Dorothy Malone, Henry Stephenson, Sig Rumann.
Photographed in the brightest blues by Peverell Marley and William Skall. Directed with consummate skill by Curtiz. Max Steiner provides the odd bit of non-Porter music.
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| Note early appearance from Woody Allen on the right |
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