Rating: 
Summary: A pretty good show
Review: Although as a movie, this film is no great cinematic achievement, and as a biography is even worse, the film does boast a fine roster of production numbers and cameo appearances which save the picture and make it watchable. Based on the life of legendary composer Jerome Kern (Robert Walker, in an excellently executed performance), the film follows Kern's friendship with composer Jim Hessler (Van Heflin), first stage hits, marriage, and the first theatrical performance of Kern's legendary "Show Boat". Kern passed on shortly before the film's completion, and as a tribute to him, the cameo performers make the very best of Kern's classics: a very young Angela Lansbury is very fetching in a delightful Cockney number, "How D'Ya Like To Spoon With Me?" June Allyson is sweet and sunny with the Egyptian-set "Cleopatterer". But the cameo performance that steals the show is Judy Garland, as singer Marilyn Miller, particularly charming with "Look For The Silver Lining", dressed in dowdy clothes, washing dishes. (Look for Garland's big song-and-dance to Kern's "Who?"- Garland was four months pregnant!) Lena Horne is divine with "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine" and "Why Was I Born", Van Johnson and Lucille Bremer do a great song-and-dance duet to "I Won't Dance", Dinah Shore is charming with "The Last Time I Saw Paris", and to top it all off, Frank Sinatra performs a great big bessello "Ol' Man River" at film's end. A wonderful film, if nothing else, for its outstanding production numbers.
Rating:
Summary: Till The Bad DVD Editions Roll By
Review: I don't know why this little jem of a film slipped through the fingers of MGM and became "public domain" but it has and it's not to easy to find a decent copy. However, the Goodtimes Entertainment DVD is as close as you can get to an actual studio release. I've purchased two different off the wall company prints of this film and it seems Goodtimes is the best. It's really quite a shame that "Till The Clouds Roll By" will most likely not receive the same grand DVD treatment the rest of the MGM classics of that time such as "Meet Me In St. Louis", "For Me And My Gal", "The Harvey Girls", to name a few. I feel that "Clouds" ranks right up there with all the rest of the great MGM musicals and deserves a better fate than languishing in DVD bargin bins! If you love movie musicals as well as musical theater (the subject of the film Jerome Kern was an early pioneer of American Musical Theater) then you will love this film. Just remember to find a copy of the Goodtimes Entertainment DVD edition. Goodtimes has put together a nice presentation for a low price. The color is a bit faded but, the picture is clear and it's a clear digital transfer. The sound is Mono but, considering the elements they had to work with it's good. There are no special features other than scene selections. This may be the only decent edition of this film we ever get so buy it before it goes out of print!
Rating:
Summary: Good typical MGM musical at a bargain price
Review: I just finished watching the Good Times DVD version of this prototypic MGM musical of the 1940's and was pleaasantly entertained. Unlike a lot of cloudy, muzzy nth generation prints of films that have slipped into the public domain, this one seems darn close to the master. No aplogies need be made for the sound or color. The movie seesm to be complete without edits.
This biopic of composer Jerome Kern (Show Boat) is pure fiction and dated slush in equal measure, but you've got to hand it to the man, he could write a song. The storyline frames a number of his best. Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train) is earnest as Kern, but it is singers like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Lena Horne and Dinak Shore than give the film its best moments. In fact, a lot of MGM contractees show up to support Kern, including Angela Lansbury signing and dancing, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Gower Champion, Van Johnson, June Allyson and others.
Ok, some of the production numbers border on the kitschy, and the dialogue is pretty pedestrian, but the music still charms. The MGM production values were pretty high, aimed at capturing crowds returning to theatres at the end of World war II..
They don't make them like this anymore, and they never will.
Worth a look and a listen.
Rating:
Summary: Colorful and musical.
Review: I own both a VHS and a DVD copy of this film, and oddly enough, the VHS tape yields a much clearer, more colorful picture! Go figure. The film is a wonderful study, not of a biography proper (it's often reported that the script was highly fictionalized), but of a top-flight execution of a musical. And if you're any kind of musical afficionado (and over 30), you'll enjoy the innovative ways this film stuffs so many stars into one motion picture- from Judy Garland as real-life Kern star Marilyn Miller, to the various stage pieces featuring Angela Lansbury, Ray McDonald, June Allyson, Tony Martin, Kathryn Grayson, Lucille Bremer, Van Johnson, and a BRUNETTE Dinah Shore singing "The Last Time I Saw Paris." And five of the singers- Grayson, Martin, Virginia O'Brien, Lena Horne, and Caleb Peterson- are magnificent in a mini-production of "Show Boat." (Interesting sideline: though it is only a small cameo, the gorgeous Horne is obviously performing the role of the mulatto singer Julie- a role she hoped to play in the actual "Show Boat" film. She was even approached by Broadway producers to do a revival of the show, but MGM would not allow it. Her striking essay of "Can't Help Lovin' That Man-" in her own fair skin and piercingly beautiful eyes- makes one wonder what might've been.) Blink and you'll miss Gower Champion dancing with Cyd Charisse. Sneeze and you'll miss Esther Williams signing autographs.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspired Musical Numbers Will Appeal to Musical Fans
Review: Jerome Kern died while MGM's bio-pic TIL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY was still in the pre-production stage--and while Kern had been more than willing for MGM to tell all, his estate was considerably more reticent. In order to avoid any legal issues, MGM scrapped their original intentions, wrote up a fluffy script that bore little similarity to Kern's life, and crammed the film with every musical star available in a non-stop series of drop-dead-stunning production numbers. The result may be extremely bad biography, but leading man Robert Walker and co-star Van Heflin keep the sentimental story moving--and the musical numbers are piled on top of each other so quickly that one doesn't really question it. The film opens with a lengthy montage from SHOWBOAT, Kern's innovative masterpeice, that features knock-out performances from Lena Horne, Katheryn Grayson, and Virgina O'Brien and then quickly seques into a series of star-solos that feature June Allyson, Gower Champion, Cyd Charisse, Angela Lansbury, Dinah Shore, and Frank Sinatra.Along the way we are also treated to an extended cameo by Judy Garland, performing "Look For The Silver Lining" precisely as Marilyn Miller played it on stage and singing "Who?" to a staircase of chorus boys--which Garland was said to find most amusing, considering that she was pregnant at the time. Also notable is Lucille Bremer in the role of Robert Walker's stage-struck ward; although her star quickly faded, Bremer is an attractive performer and shows her talent for song and dance here by teaming with Van Johnson for a spirited version of "I Won't Dance." TIL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY will not appeal to most casual viewers, for the story line and script are much too weak. But musical fans will love this one all the way from Lansbury doing a Cockney "Spoon With Me" to Sinatra belting out "Old Man River." As a Jerome Kern song-and-dance fest, the movie can't be beat, and it should have a place in every musical fan's collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Jerome Kern Performed by MGM's Brightest Stars
Review: MGM, the studio of the roaring lion in Culver City, at the end of World War Two could be said to possess an embarrassment of riches in the realm of musical talent. What could be better than turning a large segment of that talent loose at once? By adding an additional measure to the operation by having those bright talents perform the best in the repertoire of one of the legends of American music in "Till The Clouds Roll By."
Jerome Kern was one of America's brightest songwriting talents and MGM received permission just prior to his 1946 death to do a biography depicting his great music. The finished product was released that same year.
The film begins with Kern at the peak of his powers as his 1927 musical classic "Showboat" based on a novel by Edna Ferber with Oscar Hammerstein supplying book and lyrics was opening on Broadway. Kathryn Grayson, who would later star in MGM's version of "Showboat" in 1951 with Howard Keel and Ava Gardner performed in tandem with Tony Martin Kern's "Only Make Believe."
The film then moves into a flashback as Robert Walker, portraying the musical legend, asks his chauffeur to drive him back to an old familiar neighborhood prior to attending the big celebration on his behalf at the Waldorf Astoria. They stop at the former residence of his departed partner and closest friend. We see how Walker as a young songwriter had to entice Van Heflin, a leading Broadway musical arranger, to give him a helping hand. Heflin talks glowingly about leaving for London in three weeks, when he will say goodbye to popular music and turn his attention to classical selections. Heflin speaks glowingly of Beethoven and Mozart.
Before their first mutually profitable meeting ends Heflin goes to work helping his newly acquired friend. He leaves for London, but soon Walker boards a boat and rejoins him there. It turns out that Heflin has made no progress on his classical career, and they go to work on songs for the popular musical "gaieties" show, with Angela Lansbury performing a number.
Walker not only gets launched in London, he meets the girl of his dreams. Dorothy Patrick will eventually become Mrs. Kern and while in London he meets prominent New York producer Charles Frohman. He returns home and Kern begins making strides toward the greatness he will eventually achieve.
Judy Garland portrays the great Broadway musical star Marilyn Miller and performs a brilliant rendition of one of her big hits, "Who." One of the picture's leading dramatic scenes occurs when Garland and Kern, against their personal wishes, must convince Lucille Bremer, Heflin's daughter, who has known Kern from her youth and calls him "Uncle Jerry," that she must give up the "Who" number for the good of the show. While Bremer rebels angrily at the time and goes to Memphis to perform at a nightclub on her own, eventually she learns the importance of teamwork and at film's end is given an opportunity to make good in Hollywood.
One of the film's highlights, coming appropriately at the end, the equivalent of the final show stopping medley of a Broadway musical, when selections from some of Kern's greatest songs are played. One number complete with stairway and a costumed chorus includes Frank Sinatra delivering a stirring rendition of "Old Man River" while June Allyson cutely dances in two numbers. Dinah Shore also sings two numbers while future MGM dancing starts Cyd Charisse and Gower Champion are also showcased.
A heartwarming musical that displays great musical talent doing excellent numbers, "Till The Clouds Roll By" also presents solid human values in a feel good setting, with Walker finding himself in effect as part of a new family. Widower Heflin becomes his closest friend and musical partner while Lucille Bremer idolizes "Uncle Jerry" as he achieves enduring greatness on Broadway.
Rating:
Summary: Good musical with many Kern songs
Review: Overall, a very good biography of Jerome Kern that tracks his career as a songwriter. So-so script, talented cast, and great Kern music. A pregnant (it's hard to notice at first) Judy Garland is featured as a Broadway star who perform's Kern's songs. Also in the cast are Lucille Bremer, (Garland's older sister in "Meet Me In Saint Louis," her playing someone younger than Garland, Van Johnson, Van Heflin, June Allison, Angela Lansbury, Lena Horne, and Frank Sinatra (singing Ol' Man River).
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BAWULS OF THUNDAH!!!!
Review: This poor stepchild of a movie ......saw it barely as an infant centuries ago and mama was not impressed by the length [got a bit of a whipping for staying out too late that time] ..... then years later in a 3rd world country in a musty little cinema with locals barely understanding what was going on - movie broke down a few times - gunshots from the projectionist's booth ..... [!] HOWEVER, this DVD print is DREADFUL [but it IS CHEAP] and upon occasion - somewhere towards the end in a non-crucial moment, the same happens ... we don't decode .... cheap stuff! CAN ONLY HOPR THAT SOMEONE RESTORES THIS ONE TO FULL DOLBY 5.1 and CLEANS UP THE NEGATIVE> WHY? Well, there's LENA HORNE as the doomed JULIE singing "Can't Help Loving dat Man of Mine" in "Showboat" [looking spectacular in Egyptian II a shade developed especially for her by Max Faxtor - alas in the full lenth Miss Ava Gardner inherited the skin tone from Factors]. However, this is just ONE of the reasons to get this DVD .....there's also Judy Garland, Angela Lansbury, Van Johnson, old blue eyes Frank, Cyd Charisse, Eather William and a truckload of stellar talent. It's a lavish production - very lavish - currently snubbed by this poor version - but destined to be resurrected in spelndor [please?] Footnote ...Whatever Happened to LUCILLE BREMER? She's a pivot character in this saga, looks and dances great - especially with Van Johnson [wow!] Pity - ah, but that's Hollywood.....
Rating:
Summary: a star-studded musical "bio"
Review: Though only marginally a biography of Jerome Kern, and with a corn and syrup plot, anyone who likes traditional American musical theater will appreciate this film, which is a great showcase for Kern's wonderful songs.
Robert Walker as Kern, and Van Heflin as his arranger James Hessler are good, but this film is all about the music and the singers, especially Judy Garland. Lena Horne, and Frank Sinatra.
Directed by Richard Whorf, with Vincente Minelli directing the Judy Garland portions, and musical numbers staged by Robert Alton. Total running time is 132 minutes.
I own a cheap DVD edition (released by Vina) which is remarkably clear considering the price, though it has a slight "bootleg" quality to it.
Musical numbers include:
Excerpts from "Showboat", with Lena Horna exquisite singing "Can't Help Loving that Man of Mine". Others include Kathryn Grayson, Tony Martin and Caleb Peterson.
"Howja Like to Spoon Me" from the "London Gaieties" with Angela Lansbury.
"They'll Never Believe Me", Dinah Shore.
"Till the Clouds Roll By" from "Oh Boy" with Ray McDonald.
"Leave it to Jane" with June Allyson and Ray McDonald.
"Look for the Silver Lining" from "Sally" with Judy Garland. This may be the most interesting song of the film.
"Who" from "Sunny" with Judy Garland.
"I Won't Dance" with Lucille Bremer and Van Johnson.
"Smoke gets in Your Eyes" from "Roberta" with Cyd Charisse (a short but lovely dance).
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" with Dinah Shore.
"The Land Where Good Songs Go" with Lucille Bremer.
"Yesterdays" by the chorus (one of my favorite songs).
"Long Ago and Far Away" with Kathryn Grayson.
"A Fine Romance" with Virginia O'Brien.
"All the Things You Are" with Tony Martin.
"Why Was I Born ?" with Lena Horne.
"Old Man River" with a remarkable vocal performance by a very bushy-haired Frank Sinatra.
Rating:
Summary: just filling in the gaps and fixing to watch this soon
Review: [from the sleeve] "Star-studded musical biography of Jerome Kern with great song numbers featuring some of MGM's finest talent: Robert Walker, Judy Garland, Dinah Shore, Van Johnson, Lena Horne, Cyd Charisse, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Tony Martin & June Allyson." 1946, Color, 135 minutes
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