Words and Music

Year:

1948

Duration:

120 min

Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Musical

IMDB rate:

6.5

Director:

Norman Taurog

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1948-12-31

Filming Locations: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Cast

Actor

Character

Allyn Ann McLerie

Words and Music

Kathleen O'Malley

Words and Music

June Allyson

Perry Como

Eddie Lorrison Anders

Judy Garland

Lena Horne

Gene Kelly

Mickey Rooney

Lorenz Hart

Ann Sothern

Joyce Harmon

Tom Drake

Richard Rodgers

Cyd Charisse

Margo Grant

Betty Garrett

Peggy Lorgan McNeil

Janet Leigh

Dorothy Feiner Rodgers

Marshall Thompson

Herbert Fields

Mel Tormé

Vera-Ellen

Jeanette Nolan

Mrs. Hart

Richard Quine

Ben Feiner Jr.

Clinton Sundberg

Shoe Clerk

Dee Turnell

Edward Earle

James Fernby Kelly

Harry Antrim

Dr. Rogers

Ilka Grüning

Mrs. Rogers

Emory Parnell

Mr. Feiner

The Blackburn Twins

Specialty Dancers

Royce Blackburn

Himself

Dick Haymes

Dorothy Abbott

Showgirl

Irving Bacon

Hollywood Realtor

Margaret Bert

Maid

Ramon Blackburn

Himself (uncredited)

Stanley Blystone

Brakeman

George Boyce

Cabbie

Jack Brady Jr.

Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)

Ralph Brooks

Man Backstage Calling for Doctor (uncredited)

John Butler

Dancer (uncredited)

William Cabanne

Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)

Marietta Canty

Mary

George M. Carleton

George

Sue Casey

Showgirl

Gower Champion

Specialty Dancer (uncredited)

Nora Christy

Baby Party Guest (uncredited)

Russ Clark

Cop in Park

Joe Cook Jr.

Cabbie

Gino Corrado

Italian Waiter

Jeanne Coyne

Showgirl

George Davis

Waiter

Mary Jo Ellis

Nurse

Peter Ellis

Baby Party Guest (uncredited)

William Fawcett

Doorman

Sig Frohlich

Western Union Messenger

Mary Ellen Gleason

Showgirl

Bob Graham

Eddie

Sherry Hall

Tommy

Don Hayden

Baby Party Guest (uncredited)

June Hedin

Mary, Age 12

Eilene Janssen

Linda, Age 8 (uncredited)

Doris Kemper

Housekeeper

Bob Manning

Baby Party Guest (uncredited)

Matt Mattox

Dancer (uncredited)

Bert May

Dancer (uncredited)

Frank Mayo

(uncredited)

George Meeker

Producer

Lora Lee Michel

Mary, Age 5

Harold Miller

Nightclub Patron

Martha Montgomery

Showgirl

Bert Moorhouse

Backstage Well-Wisher

Damian O'Flynn

Producer

William 'Bill' Phillips

Cabbie

Alexander Pollard

Butler

Rita Rend

Showgirl

Alex Romero

Dancer (uncredited)

Jeffrey Sayre

Waiter

Robert Seiter

Baby Party Guest (uncredited)

Irving Smith

Porter

George Spaulding

Doctor

Sandra Spence

Showgirl

Robert Spencer

(uncredited)

Helen Spring

Mrs. Feiner

Mary Stack

Mary - Age 2

Jack Sterling

Cabbie

Bert Stevens

Garrick's Gaieties Audience Member

Robert Stevenson

Theatre Electrician

Al Thompson

Waiter

Candy Toxton

Showgirl

Did you know?

Trivia

"It Never Entered My Mind," sung by 'Betty Garrett (I)', was deleted from the movie. Miss Garrett's vocal is not contained on the soundtrack CD from Sony.

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In supplementary material included on the DVD it is noted that Lena Horne's performances in most of the movies of the day, as in this one, are included in a way that permitted them to be cut from the films without damaging the story. This was so that the films could be shown in the American South.

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Judy Garland was scheduled only to sing with Mickey Rooney in this film, and producer Arthur Freed offered her $50,000 (or half of what she owed the studio for medical bills) to do one take. At the first public screening, the fans asked for more of her, so Freed offered her another $50,000 to do a second song. By the time her scenes were filmed, she had paid back the studio but had made nothing.

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Goofs

At the Hollywood party at Hart's home, he and Judy are singing a duet. Her dress is cinched with a belt in that scene, however, when she sings a solo just after that, the dress is beltless and her waist is a bit wider. Her hair is also longer than the previous scene.

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During the "Mountain Greenery" song a dancer drops a platter which breaks and scatters food all over the stage. A few seconds later the platter and the food are gone.

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The party at which Lorenz Hart meets Peggy Lorgan McNeil takes place during the 1920s, yet the women at the party all are wearing dresses and hairstyles from the 1940s.

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Quotes

Lorenz Hart: Miserable? Me? I'm always happy!

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Richard Rodgers: That was really black Sunday for me. Shut out twice. Once because I was too young, once because I was too old.

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Peggy Lorgan McNeil: I don't think I quite understand.

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Faq

Q

How accurate is this movie?

A

Not very. Songs are shown being performed in shows they were never part of, and in some cases years before they were actually written. Rogers and Hart went to Hollywood in 1930; Judy Garland, shown as an adult at the party there, was only a child at the time. It is true that Lorenz Hart was short, a heavy cigar smoker, and had major self-esteem and depression issues, but the movie also leaves out that he was an alcoholic and a closeted homosexual. (The lost love presented in the movie is a fiction.) Reportedly, Richard Rogers hated everything about the movie except the casting of Janet Leigh as his wife.Basically, the movie gives a sketchy, highly fictionalized view of the Rogers & Hart partnership, leaves out many details of their characters, and is really more of an excuse to show some of the top stars of the day performing Rogers & Hart songs.

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