What a horrible historical shambles of a movie. If you like listening to Chopin played well (which I do), there are plenty of fine performances here. But if you want any sense of accuracy about the composer's life, please read CHOPIN IN Paris by Tad Szulc and forget this truly dismal movie.
This is an egregious example of how Hollywood can take the shell of the truth and fill it up with utter nonsense. Paul Muni gives a very engaging performance about someone who did virtually NONE of the things he is shown doing in the film. Cornel Wilde, who looks like a sort of lifeless anorexic Tony Curtis in tight pants, has about as much emotional range as a piano leg. The glamorous Merle Oberon plays George Sand (who in real life actually REPELLED Chopin physically and smoked cigars) as a glamour girl who continually trots out new shimmering wardrobe choices. Sand is portrayed as a sort of 1940s Yoko Ono figure, and of course, Hollywood chose to ignore the fact that she already had children who accompanied her and Chopin to Mallorca.
Most of the supposed historical events of this picture never took place, the love story is twisted and exaggerated, and the outdoor sets are cheesy. Unless romantic dreck is your passion, avoid this clinker of a movie and buy a good CD of Chopin music instead.
This is an egregious example of how Hollywood can take the shell of the truth and fill it up with utter nonsense. Paul Muni gives a very engaging performance about someone who did virtually NONE of the things he is shown doing in the film. Cornel Wilde, who looks like a sort of lifeless anorexic Tony Curtis in tight pants, has about as much emotional range as a piano leg. The glamorous Merle Oberon plays George Sand (who in real life actually REPELLED Chopin physically and smoked cigars) as a glamour girl who continually trots out new shimmering wardrobe choices. Sand is portrayed as a sort of 1940s Yoko Ono figure, and of course, Hollywood chose to ignore the fact that she already had children who accompanied her and Chopin to Mallorca.
Most of the supposed historical events of this picture never took place, the love story is twisted and exaggerated, and the outdoor sets are cheesy. Unless romantic dreck is your passion, avoid this clinker of a movie and buy a good CD of Chopin music instead.