(1946)
4
Lucia Bozzola
For the second film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's bestseller about a rising violinist and his forceful mother, screenwriters Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold added a dipsomaniac patroness of the arts, and Humoresque (1946) became a classy Warner Bros. vehicle for Joan Crawford as well as John Garfield. Stylishly directed by Jean Negulesco, Garfield's struggle between art and ambition is played out through his financial and then adulterous relationship with Crawford's glamorous socialite Helen, accompanied by Isaac Stern's violin dubbed in for Garfield's convincingly mimed performances of Anton Dvorak and Richard Wagner. Even as the deadpan comic presence of Oscar Levant as Paul's accompanist and best friend Sid occasionally leavens the atmosphere, the melodrama reaches its apex when Helen takes a last walk on the beach with Paul's rendition of the "Liebestod" from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde playing on the radio. Ernest Haller's dramatic chiaroscuro photography and Crawford's intense performance elevate that suicidal walk into compelling tragedy. Humoresque scored only one Oscar nomination, for Franz Waxman's score, despite doing brisk business and featuring some of Crawford's finest work, arguably even better than her Oscar-winning title role in Mildred Pierce a year earlier.
Humoresque on AllMovie
Humoresque (1946)
