It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Deep in My Heart (1954) – Musical #275

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Stanley Donen

Starring:
José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Helen Traubel, Doe Avedon, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Henreid, Tamara Toumanova, Paul Stewart, Isobel Elsom, David Burns, Jim Backus, Douglas Fowley, John Alvin (uncredited), Gertrude Astor (uncredited), Barrie Chase (uncredited), Julie Newmar (uncredited), Russ Tamblyn (uncredited), Dee Turnell (uncredited)
Specialty performances: Gene Kelly, Fred Kelly, Jane Powell, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, Ann Miller, William Olvis, Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, Howard Keel, Tony Martin, Joan Weldon

Plot:
Musical biography of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg (Ferrer).

Trivia:
• This film features the only feature film appearance of Gene Kelly and his brother Fred Kelly dancing together.
• José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney were married in real life at the time of this film and perform a duet in the film, “Mr. and Mrs.” Clooney wrote in her autobiography that this was the only time they appeared in a film together.
• First feature film of Helen Traubel
• First film appearance for William Olvis. This was only one of two films he appeared in. Olvis performs in the “Student Prince” sequence.
• The working title for the film was “The Romberg Story.”
• Tamara Toumanova’s singing voice is dubbed by Betty Wand.
• Two songs were omitted from the film, “Dance, My Darlings” performed by Helen Traubel. Another is “Girlies of the Cabaret” performed by George Murphy with an appearance from Esther Williams.
• Cyd Charisse’s singing voice was dubbed by Carol Richards
• In Ann Miller’s “It” number for “Artists and Models,” the chorus is wearing costumes recycled from “Singin’ in the Rain,” including from the “Beautiful Girl” number, the vamp on the red carpet, and Cyd Charisse’s green costume from the “Broadway Melody” ballet. A football uniform
• Roger Edens’s first solo producing credit.
• When production was announced by the Hollywood Reporter, Kurt Kasznar was announced as Romberg, Louis Calhern as Florenz Ziegfeld, Donna Reed as Lillian, and Lana Turner as Gaby Deslys. Linda Christian and Eva Gabor were also announced as having roles in the film.

Highlights:
• The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer orchestra opening the film on-screen with an overture of Sigmund Romberg’s music.
• Walter Plunkett’s costumes
• José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney singing and dancing “Mr. and Mrs.” together, who were married in real life together at the time.
• Brothers Fred Kelly and Gene Kelly dancing together.

Notable Songs:
• “Mr. and Mrs.” Performed by José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney
• “Will You Remember? (Sweetheart)” performed by Jane Powell and Vic Damone
• “I Love to Go Swimmin’ with Wimmin” performed by Gene Kelly and Fred Kelly
• “It” performed by Ann Miller
• “Lover, Come Back to Me” performed by Tony Martin and Joan Weldon
• “One Alone” danced by Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell

My review:
After World War II, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer paid tribute to great songwriters and composers with Technicolor, star-studded musical extravaganzas. It began in 1946 with TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY about Jerome Kern followed by WORDS AND MUSIC in 1948 about Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and then THREE LITTLE WORDS (1950) about Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.

These films were filled with multiple musical performances, reenacting Broadway and stage successes, with MGM’s top performers in cameo roles. These performances were strung together with bits of biographical plot lines.

The last of this biographical musicals during Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s golden age of musicals is DEEP IN MY HEART (1954). While just as big and star-studded, this musical feels different than the others.

DEEP IN MY HEART is the biographical story of composer Sigmund Romberg, who wrote the music for shows like “Maytime,” “Desert Song” and “The Student Prince.” José Ferrer plays the lead role of Romberg with Helen Traubel in a fictional friend role, Merle Oberon plays real-life screenwriter Dorothy Donnelly, and Doe Avedon as Romberg’s wife, Lillian. There are cameo appearances by Paul Henreid as Florenz Ziegfeld, Walter Pidgeon as J.J. Shubert, and several cameos as musical performers including:
• Cyd Charisse
• Rosemary Clooney
• Vic Damone
• Howard Keel
• Gene Kelly
• Fred Kelly
• Tony Martin
• Ann Miller
• James Mitchell
• William Olvis
• Jane Powell
• Joan Weldon

While I’ve seen DEEP IN MY HEART, it had been several years since I watched it and the only parts I really remembered was that Merle Oberon co-starred and that Jane Powell performed in the “Maytime” sequence (which is probably my favorite part of the film. Oh how I love that song.)

I didn’t really remember much about José Ferrer in the lead role as Sigmund Romberg. Before revisiting this, in my mind Ferrer usually performed in more serious, dramatic roles. I know him best for his roles in films like THE CAINE MUTINY (1954), MOULIN ROUGUE (1952), CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1952) and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) –though as an aside, I have seen him in the comedy, THE HIGH COST OF LOVING. However, I had no idea that Ferrer could sing and dance! (I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since he also had a long stage career).

I definitely was not used to seeing Ferrer sing, dance AND DO A SPLIT, but he did a great job. It was also refreshing to see him in a more lighthearted role that also allowed him to flex his acting muscles.

The film helped revitalize Ferrer’s film career and he was cast, by his friend and director of the film, Stanley Donen, according to Rosemary Clooney’s memoir.

One thing that is interesting about DEEP IN MY HEART compared to these other star-studded variety show musicals is that it includes rare, special performances, such as:

• Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer sing and dance to “Mr. and Mrs.” together. The actors were married at the time and this was the only film that the two appeared in together. Despite knowing the details of their relationship, this was a sweet and fun number.

• Brothers Fred Kelly and Gene Kelly sing and dance together in the number “I Love to Go Swimmin’ with Wimmin.” This was the only time the brothers performed together on screen, and one of Fred Kelly’s most featured film appearances. It’s fascinating to see these brothers dance together because while Gene is better known, Fred is equally skilled. It’s fascinating and energetic.

• If you have watched any tap number with Ann Miller, you know she is an incredibly skilled and FAST tap dancer. However, I love her number “It” in the “Artists and Models” sequence, because the mix of tap dancing and popular 1920s dance moves is very different and athletic than her other dance numbers. This felt like a unique moment on film for Miller. Another fun highlight of “It” is to peak at the costumes worn by the chorus. Several costumes are recycled from SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, including the outfits from the “Beautiful Girl” number, the costume worn by the Vamp at the beginning of the film on the red carpet, and Cyd Charisse’s famous green costume from the “Broadway Melody” ballet.

• While Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell both appear in incredible dance numbers in other films, there is something different about their “One Alone” dance number. Maybe it’s because it is perhaps among the most sensual dance numbers filmed at MGM, even the Breen office objected! You would have to look four or five years earlier when Charisse danced with Ricardo Montalban to find something as sensual as this number.

While the film is about Sigmund Romberg, it’s really dance numbers like this that make DEEP IN MY HEART worth watching. At 2 hours and 12 minutes, this film feels very long, but also worth watching.

There were only a few missteps for me. Ballet dancer Tamara Toumanova is dubbed by Betty Wand, who is putting on a French accent and it feels ridiculous. Toumanova doesn’t even have the opportunity to perform ballet, so I’m not sure why this was necessary. I also could have done with less of Helen Traubel (or not at all). She does have a great voice, but her fictional role as a close friend added no value in my opinion.

My only other disappointment is thanks to the fact that in today’s day in age, we have the opportunity to see footage that 1954 audiences probably didn’t see. On the DVD extras is a cut song called “Girlies of the Cabaret.” The song is performed by underrated George Murphy and at the end, Esther Williams, is unveiled in a Miss America-like costume. I gasped when I saw this. As a lover of both stars, it would have been fun to see this.

However, overall this film is filled with wonderful songs and dance numbers. My favorite, as I mentioned above, is Jane Powell and Vic Damone singing “Will You Remember?” from “Maytime.” I just love that song.

The only other disappointing point is that DEEP IN MY HEART was one of the last of its musical breed as the genre was beginning its slow decline at MGM. Coming off the success of SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, Jane Powell wrote in her autobiography that she thought bigger and better roles would come her way. When essentially a cameo performance was her next role, she was disappointed, especially as her time at MGM soon came to an end.

The film opens with the lines: “to all those who love the music of Sigmund Romberg.” And if you do love his music, you will enjoy this film.

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