Elizabeth Taylor in "Rhapsody" (1954)

Elizabeth Taylor in "Rhapsody" (image from JSR Pages)

REVIEW:
Once again Elizabeth Taylor is cast as a young rich beautiful girl. Seen today, all these films made by ​​M.G.M. in the early 50's survive only because an illuminating Elizabeth Taylor is up there on the screen. It's amazing how the M.G.M. bosses did not know how to take advantage of the young Taylor's dramatic talent; instead, they prefered to distribute her in commercial hits which were easily forgotten in the long term. In fact, the studios successfully applied their old method: the public comes to see the star and nothing else matters. Although Elizabeth Taylor was already a well-known beauty, it seemed that her great beauty was counterproductive to the actress' ambitions: she was generally considered too beautiful to be able to play dramatic composition roles...And yet, she gave herself totally to every role she ever had. In "Rhapsody", Elizabeth Taylor is flawless. Soon she will be able to act on her own terms and she will "catch" more and more dramatic and consistent roles. The only actress who dared to fight with the Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer, had no intention to become a Hollywood puppet!

FILM TITLE
"RHAPSODY" (U.S.A./M.G.M./1954)

PROMO
"Beauty abounds in this film, especially as concerns Miss Taylor, who shines from every angle you look at her" (New York Times)
"A rhapsody of love on the great masters' divine music, a feast for the sight and hearing: the most beautiful woman in the world and the humanity's greatest composers" (MGM promo)

OVERVIEW
A romantic drama, soaked by a divine music. Young, beautiful and rich Louise Durant (Elizabeth Taylor) tells her father who lives in the family villa on the French Riviera that she wants to go to Zurich to study piano and - at the same time - to be with her boyfriend, Paul Bronte (Vittorio Gassman), whom she will marry, although he still does not know ... Paul goes to the Conservatory in Zurich to deepen his violin studies. Louise rents an apartment from Frau Sigerist and meets James Guest (John Ericson), an American who studies piano. Professor Schuman immediately realizes that Louise is a mediocre talent, and she is forced to confess the truth: the only reason for her to study at the Conservatory is because she wants to be close to Paul. The teacher tells her that musicians are not always great lovers and informs her that he chose Paul to play the violin as a soloist in a Tchaikovsky concert. The long hours of training for the concert exasperate the independent Louise, who begins to understand that the violinist loves his art above all, and that she, Louise, ... will always be the second fiddle. By contrast, the pianist loves Louise first and then his art... The story goes on with countless twists, with unpredictable things that change (marriage, concerts, suicide attempts) and Louise eventually has to choose which of the two men she wants. A true Hollywood majestic film with a magnificent music.

CAST
Elizabeth Taylor (Louise Durant), Vittorio Gassman (Paul Bronte), John Ericson (James Guest), Louis Calhern (Nicholas Durant), Michael Chekhov (Prof. Schuman).
DIRECTED BY
Charles Vidor.
SCREENPLAY
Ruth Goetz, Augustus Goetz, Michael Kanin, Fay Kanin, after the novel by Henry Handel Richardson.
PRODUCED BY
Lawrence Weingarten.
MUSIC
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Felix Mendelssohn, Pablo Sarasate.
PRODUCTION DATES
between June to August 1953.
RELEASED
April 1954.
COLOR
Technicolor.
DURATION
115 minutes.
GENRE
drama, romance, music, adventure, adults.

TRIVIA
- Elizabeth Taylor began shooting immediately after she finished production at "Elephant Walk;
- the film was a great box-office worldwide success.

Watch TRAILER here.