Interrupted Melody

Interrupted Melody
File:Interrupted Melody.jpg Original French poster
Directed by	Curtis Bernhardt
Produced by	Jack Cummings
Written by	Marjorie Lawrence (autobiography)
Screenplay by	Sonya Levien William Ludwig
Based on	Interrupted Melody 1949 autobiography
Starring	Glenn Ford Eleanor Parker Roger Moore Cecil Kellaway
Music by	Alexander Courage, Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography	Joseph Ruttenberg, Paul Vogel
Edited by	John D. Dunning
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	March 25, 1955 (1955-03-25) (United States)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,367,000
Box office	$4,028,000

Interrupted Melody is a 1955 biographical musical film in CinemaScope and Technicolor, which tells the story of Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence's struggle with polio. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Curtis Bernhardt and produced by Jack Cummings from a screenplay by Marjorie Lawrence, Sonya Levien, and William Ludwig.

The operatic sequences were staged by Vladimir Rosing. The film stars Glenn Ford, Eleanor Parker, Roger Moore and Cecil Kellaway. The singing voice of Lawrence was provided by Eileen Farrell; Farrell also appears on screen as a student struggling to hit a high note in a scene with the singing teacher Mme. Gilly (Ann Codee).

Plot summary

The story traces Marjorie's (Eleanor Parker) long, hard road to the top, her success on two continents, and her turbulent marriage to American doctor Thomas King (Glenn Ford). While touring South America in 1941, Lawrence is stricken with polio, which not only abruptly ends her career but briefly robs her of the will to live.

Cast

• Glenn Ford as Dr. Thomas King
• Eleanor Parker as Marjorie Lawrence
• Roger Moore as Cyril Lawrence
• Cecil Kellaway as Bill Lawrence
• Peter Leeds as Dr. Ed Ryson
• Evelyn Ellis as Clara
• Walter Baldwin as Jim Owens
• Ann Codee as Mme. Gilly
• Leopold Sachse as Himself
• Stephen Bekassy as Comte Claude des Vignaux

Reception

According to MGM records the film made $1,801,000 in the US and Canada and $2,227,000 overseas resulting in a profit of $101,000.

It won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Eleanor Parker) and Best Costume Design, Color for Helen Rose.

Musical tracks

Parker could read music and had a firm soprano voice with perfect pitch. She prepared for the singing aspect of her role by listening to the numbers for weeks and she sang them during the filming in full voice instead of just lip-synching. Walter Ducloux conducted the MGM Studio Symphony Orchestra. MGM published a selection of eleven numbers on an original motion picture soundtrack album.

• "O don fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlos
• Act 1 finale from Verdi's Il trovatore
• "Un bel dì" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly
• "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen
• "Seguidilla" from Carmen
• "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah
• Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene from Wagner's Götterdämmerung
• Excerpts from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
• "Annie Laurie" by Alicia Scott
• "Over the Rainbow" by Harold Arlen
• "Voi que sapete" from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
• Medley: "Anchors Aweigh" by Charles A. Zimmermann; "Marines' Hymn", based on works by Jacques Offenbach; "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" by Sam H. Stept
• "Quando me'n vo'" (Musetta's Waltz) from Puccini's La bohème
• "Waltzing Matilda", traditional

See also

• List of American films of 1955

External links

• Interrupted Melody at IMDb
• Interrupted Melody at AllMovie
• Interrupted Melody at the TCM Movie Database
• Interrupted Melody at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Intro/outro to Interrupted Melody with Robert Osborne and Renée Fleming, Turner Classic Movies
• Original trailer