Humoresque

1946

Drama / Film-Noir / Music / Mystery / Romance

10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 57% · 7 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 71% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 5131 5.1K

Plot summary

A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.

Director

Top cast

Robert Blake as Paul Boray
Joan Crawford as Helen Wright
Patricia Barry as Fritzie - Bauer's Secretary
John Abbott as Rozner
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.12 GB
986*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 4 min
Seeds ...
2.07 GB
1480*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 4 min
Seeds 6
1.12 GB
1280*932
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 4 min
Seeds 1
2.07 GB
1484*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 4 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by nickandrew

Perhaps Joan's Finest Hour

The film is over 2 hours long, but Crawford only has about 1 hour of film time in it, and it is surely one of her finest performances and finest films in her lengthy career. She plays a married socialite who takes particular interest in a rising concert violinst (played by Garfield). This is one of my favorite movies of all time and yes the ending is one of the greatest of all times. ***1/2 out of ****.
Reviewed by Handlinghandel 7 / 10

"This isn't a two-hour trip to Chinatown. It's your life!"

So violin prodigy John Garfield's mother scolds him. And indeed, he has taken up with a married woman. And a pretty neurotic one, at that.

The woman is chic and wears glasses. And she is Joan Crawford. This is one of Crawford's best roles. And Garfield is extremely good in it, too. The play well off each other.

This was made in the days when being Jewish was still pretty much unacceptable in big-budget movies. Garfield's father, a shopkeeper, says "Saturday is always my busiest day" -- just in case anybody was getting suspicious. It's too bad, because that would be fine today and would have added to the story of ill-fated lovers.

Warner Brothers did more movies about and including classical music than any of the other studios. Or so I feel. Garfield's playing is well known as having been provided, very beautifully, by the great Isaac Stern.

Just off the top of my head, two other movies about classical music from Warner are the extremely charming "My Love Came Back" and the fabulous "Deception." To me, that is, along with "All About Eve," one of Bette Davis's absolute best movies. And within more recent times, the "Hollenius" Cello Concerto by Korngold is being played by symphony orchestras as part of their regular fare.

This movie is a must for anyone with an interest in Joan Crawford, John Garfield, or music in the movies. Not to mention anyone who likes Oscar Levant! (And who possibly could not?) He is delightful in it and plays piano beautifully.)

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