Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall
$29.95
Edgar Ulmer was the king of B-movie directors, and this one was definitely one of his best. The story, for those who don't know it, is about a lady named Nora (played by the brilliant and versatile Marsha Hunt) and her son Tony. Tony's father dies when he's an infant and Nora raises Tony to be a distinguished pianist. Tony chooses another musical path - that of more popular music, much to Nora's disdain. Nora, meanwhile, has developed a society at Carnegie Hall for promising young musicians to study classical music. Tony goes on the road but comes back to Carnegie Hall for a concert, and wins back his mother's approval. Marsha Hunt is my colleague - and at the time I'm writing this, she's 90 years old and still going very strong. She agrees that the story was quite corny but the music made it all worthwhile. She shared a brief scene with Heifetz, and she said that Heifetz was terribly nervous about the whole thing...except for when he was playing, of course. She also said that Heifetz played solos for her during the rehearsal time. This was not Heifetz's acting debut, though - he had a similar part in "They Shall Have Music" 10 years earlier. Still, for all of us "J.H." connoisseurs who know the man and his art and philosophy, seeing him acting in a film is a REAL treat.

The music is the blood of the film - the story is pretty secondary. Very cool to see Damrosch, Reiner, and Stokowski, AND the famed New York critic Olin Downes. One curiosity is the camera zooming in on various billboards for the Carnegie Hall concerts - there's a billboard there for Kreisler. Too bad that Kreisler was not part of the film, but by 1947, he wasn't performing much anymore and eventually he lost interest in violin playing.

An aside - this film didn't do well. Good though the music was, and pleasant though the story was, "Carnegie Hall" became a nightmare. It did far less well at the box office than was expected. But there were many other problems Heifetz, for one, received $10,000 for his appearance in the film and although he was not given first billing in the credits, he was included as one of the film's shareholders. Meaning, that if the film did well, he'd receive royalties for the rest of his life. The cost of production was around $250,000 (peanuts, even in those days.) The production company, Federal Films, Inc. didn't come close to breaking even and the budget was entirely of borrowed money, which the bank sued them to repay, despite the box office failure. As a result, all of those who had a share in the film were hounded by the bank. Ultimately, the money was not paid back in full; the bank sued and became the new owners of the film. Despite this, it is rather fitting that, over 60 years later, the magic of Carnegie is still very much there, and the music in this film attests to the greatness of "The Hall".

Carnegie Hall: The First One Hundred Years
$49.50
How thrilled I was to find that this book was still available. I sat down and went through it page by page immewdiately. Along with all the detailed information of the hall's history, it brought back special mem=
ories of concerts I'd attended there in the 1980s. It's a real treasure.

Bob Dylan Live At Carnegie Hall 1963
$5.94
What more is there to say? I've been a Bob Dylan fan for 40 years and his stuff just seems to get better. He's the best! Here are six very early songs recorded live at a 1963 concert, so I felt it had to be checked out. Lo and behold the stuff is nothing short of great! He never ceases to surprise. A must have for anyone who even just likes Bob Dylan.

Carnegie Hall at 100: A Place of Dreams
$24.99
Carnegie Hall has been around for 100 years and this documentary tells the story in less than one hour. Give me a break. It should be at least twice as long. There are plenty of comments from performers but not even one complete performance. And way too much time is spent on the upstairs studios. This DVD was a huge disappointment. Fortunately, I only rented it. Whatever you do, make sure you see it first before wasting over 20 dollars.