SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Art Vandelay So the suits are sitting around one day and they all agree Technicolor musicals are all the rage. Somebody gets the bright idea -- could we make a musical where the music is provided by classical composers rather than Broadway hacks. ''Who would go to see a picture like that? The kids are into the rock n roll these days, not Rachmoninoff.'' ''No sweat, says the other suit, ''we put Elizabeth Taylor on the marquee and this picture will make money.'' Boom. You got a hit. No story necessary, just like most musicals have no story, but are mostly just a collection of excuses to sing, dance and play music. Not that there's anything wrong with that. So when you put together great music with Liz Taylor's shattering beauty, what kind of grumpkin could complain about plot holes and improbabilities?

HotToastyRag The Glenn Miller Story, The Eddy Duchin Story, and Young Chopin are all biopics from the 1950s that show audiences a true story of a famous musician's life. Biopics have always been a popular genre, and in the golden age of musicals, the 1950s produced many true-to-life stories of musicians and singers. Rhapsody is based off of a novel, not real life, so keep that in mind when you watch it.Vittorio Gassman, who made a big splash in the previous year's Glass Ceiling, is placed in the difficult position of having to choose between two passions: the violin and Elizabeth Taylor. Tough decision. In the same Zurich music conservatory, a piano player falls in love with Liz, adding another love triangle to the mix. If you like these types of movies, with lots of classical music in the background and lots of violin and piano playing scenes, you'll probably want to add Rhapsody to your list. It doesn't have the same feel as a biopic, and sometimes the love stories get a little tiresome, but it's not the worst movie to come out of the decade.

boirin This was loosely based on the Henry Handel Richardson novel, 'Maurice Guest', which explored obsessive, destructive and unrequited love amid the backdrop of music students in Leipzig at the turn of the twentieth century. This film adaptation took huge liberties with the plot, played down or eliminated most of the characters, sanitized the sexuality and ditched the bleak ending (though happily so). Enough has been said here about Elizabeth Taylor's breathtaking gorgeousness, the lushness of the classical music score and the brilliant instrumental simulations by Vittorio Gassman and John Ericson, but not enough about Charles Vidor's direction, which keeps the film on a thoroughly entertaining, albeit melodramatic, path. The best part IMO is the last fifteen minutes or so, which takes a wrenching turn and builds the tension with a spectacular rendition of Rachmaninoff's Concerto 2 (by far the best version I've ever seen on screen). Ericson's performance here is amazing and almost runs away with the film. Last but not least, that hopelessly gorgeous ending!

clanciai This is one of Elizabeth Taylor's more interesting features, made while she was still at the top of her beauty and talent, sensitively portraying the love of two musicians, one decisively preferring his musical career to her, the other succumbing to her and almost perishing in the process in "a marriage of inconvenience". Vittorio Gassman and John Ericson are the two musicians, a violinist and a pianist, but although you would prefer Gassman all the way, Ericson actually improves, while both hopelessly remain in the shadows of her. The best actors, however, are Louis Calhern as the very realistic father and Michael Chekhov as the music professor, who knows the delicacy of his trade. The music is first class all the way, so that in between, when there is no music, you long for the next musical moment to turn up. Best of all is the café scene in the beginning, when all the guests appear to be musical students spontaneously forming an orchestra to accompany Vittorio Gassman. The real violinist is, however, Michael Rabin, and the real pianist of all the solo performances is Claudio Arrau, at the time perhaps the best pianist in the world. The film begins and ends with Rachmaninov's second and crowns the delightful trio drama with a conclusion which feels right in spite of all.