Humoresque Review
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. Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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