INTERRUPTED MELODY
(M.G.M.-CinemaScope) MUSICAL biography doesn’t generally appeal to me much as screen entertainment and, a not very eager victim in the first place, I was surprised more than somewhat to find myself enjoying Interrupted Melody. It’s the story of Marjorie Lawrence, the Australian opera singer who was badly paralysed by polio, but with the help and devotion of her doctor-husband, made a comeback at the Met. A series of good scenes cut to a smart pace, excellent dialogue and @ most engaging performance by Eleanor Parker as Miss Lawrence quite won me over early in the film, and thus favourably predisposed I accepted the inevitable opera scenes, which, so far as I can tell, were well done. A's the young doctor, Glenn Ford, restrained and sympathetic, also makes an excellent impression. The conflict between careers and love both before and after doctor and prima donna marry is well handled-the scene in which Dr: King tells Miss Lawrence they should part is particularly good, and Miss Parker plays the impetuous, affectionate wife in a refreshingly un-
selfconscious way. The later scenes, after the polio attack, are a greater test for everyone concerned. In having a true story to tell, the director (Curtis Bernhardt) is, of course, half way to winning his audience. Even so, he uses consider-
able restraint and, though I wasn’t quite comfortable at times, I don’t think the film ever really gets out of hand.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560413.2.50.1.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 871, 13 April 1956, Page 26
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237INTERRUPTED MELODY New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 871, 13 April 1956, Page 26
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