atlasmb Sigmund Romberg was a composer whose career spanned the transition from opera to operettas to musical revues to stage musicals and film musicals. This biopic covers a substantial portion of his life, pausing to present musical numbers from his shows from his earliest success ("Maytime") to his work with Oscar Hammerstein.Jose Ferrer portrays Romberg with a light hand. The dark days of Romberg's life are discussed but little dramatized, which is a good choice, keeping the narrative light, and centered on his music.The music, by the way, is enjoyable, purely as entertainment and also from a historical perspective. But what really makes this film shine is the all-star cast that work in support of the major roles. Blink and you might miss the identity of a major talent.Speaking of talent, for me the highlight of the film--a scene that in itself makes the film recommendable--is the "Desert Song" dance scene featuring Cyd Charisse. I am not belittling the other dance performances, which are numerous and notable. But Cyd's elegance and talent outshine the rest of the film they are so prodigious. A huge measure of respect must go to Eugene Loring, the man responsible for the choreography. And Helen Rose drapes the women with great style, as usual. One wonders if some set designers felt they had to step up the quality of their work to keep pace with her brilliance. The "Desert Song" set, by the way, is beautifully designed.This is an undervalued film with plenty of hidden charms that reveal themselves as the film unspools.

vincentlynch-moonoi While it can be said that without question MGM cornered the market in producing high quality musicals, that is not to say that all of those musicals were good. It seems to me that the quality varied a great deal, and that after a while audiences tired of seeing the same old stars trotted out for virtually every major musical.Having said that, I would have also say that "Deep In My Heart" is one of MGM's better musicals. Yes, you see quite a few of those "same old stars", but here there are enough...well, you might call them gimmicks...to keep you interested. For example, when did you ever see Gene Kelly doing a peppy dance number...with his real brother Fred? Or Rosemary Clooney singing and dancing...with her husband Jose Ferrer (star of the film). And then again, how often did you see Jose Ferrer singing and dancing? Yes, there are a number of things to keep you interested here. Among them are the "cameos" for the musical numbers -- (in addition to those already mentioned) Jane Powell, Vic Damone, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, Howard Keel, and Tony Martin.In terms of the acting cast, Jose Ferrer was different enough here that I must reevaluate his talents. He really does rather nicely on the song and dance numbers. Merle Oberon is around as a lyricist, but her talents are rather wasted. Helen Traubel -- opera singer -- does a nice turn as a friend of Romberg's. Walter Pidgeon has a bit of a role as one of the theatrical Shuberts, and Paul Henreid appears briefly as Florenz Ziegfeld. Paul Stewart and Jim Backus do nicely in supporting roles, though Backus is underused.The problem with this film -- for modern audiences -- is that the music is very outdated. And most audiences today do not have very diverse musical tastes.

w22nuschler This is a decent film and has some really nice numbers by some of the great MGM stars of the day. Mel Ferrer stars and does a nice job of filling in the time between the numbers. It is a little slow in parts and probably could have used 20 minutes cut out, but it's still worth a look. Other stars include Walter Pidgeon, who does a nice job in a smaller part. My favorite musical number comes from Jane Powell and Vic Damone. They were perfectly matched in this film because they had the two best voices. Jane looks simply stunning in her long, ruffled, white dress. My other favorite has to be the song and dance number by Gene and Fred Kelly. This is the only time they appeared on film together and they don't disappoint. Howard Keel rounds out the great numbers near the end with a nice number backed by male vocals. Overall not perfect, but the three musical numbers I mentioned are worth watching.

wpbc1945 Deep in My Heart is a wonderful biography of the life and music of Sigmund Romberg. The film is very well acted by Jose Ferrer, Merle Oberon, and opera star Helen Traubel.The star-studded music numbers are a must see for any fan of the great MGM musicals. Selections include a dance sequence with Gene Kelly and his brother Fred Kelly, "Maytime" with Vic Damone and Jane Powell, dance sequences with the incredible talents of Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller, Tony Martin singing "New Moon", and a host of other stars in performing in grand style. The magnificent Helen Traubel performs several songs with her "voice of technical perfection" and great warmth. Traubel and Oberon do a wonderful job portraying Romberg's close friends and collaborators. They give the story a very personal touch.This is by far the best musical biography of the composers ever made. The musical selections are some of the best of any movie musical (and I have seen about all of them). Well worth the time.Sadly, this film is very hard to find any more. I hope it will be released to DVD soon. My tape is getting old.Highly recommended.