Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern (portrayed by Robert Walker (actor)) who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed.

Production

Till the Clouds Roll By contained a large cast of well-known musical stars of the day who appear in cameo roles performing Kern's songs. The first 15 minutes of the film consist of a condensed adaptation of Act I of Show Boat, with the order of some of the songs shifted - "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is sung after "Life upon the Wicked Stage", and "Ol' Man River" was used as an Act I Finale, dissimilar to the show. "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" as sung by Lena Horne was filmed, like many of her other musical numbers in MGM films, so that it could be easily eliminated by sensitive Southern distributors.
Perhaps to appeal directly to teen audiences of the day, the film included two versions of "Ol' Man River" - the first a straightforward version sung by African-American actor-singer Caleb Peterson and a black chorus as part of the "Show Boat" medley, and the second a "crooner version" performed by Frank Sinatra (then wildly popular with Bobby soxers), featured as the film's grand finale.
When the film started production in the fall of 1945, Judy Garland was signed as Broadway singer-dancer Marilyn Miller. Garland, who had just returned to California after a long New York honeymoon with her new husband, director Vincente Minnelli, had just discovered that she was pregnant. MGM decided that all of Garland's scenes and musical numbers would be directed, supervised, and completed by Minnelli as soon as possible. During this time, Jerome Kern regularly visited the set and was photographed with Minnelli and Garland while they were filming the musical number Who? (song). Soon after, Kern returned to New York towards the end of October and died in November, 1945. Garland's work on the film was finished by December, 1945.
Famed circus performer Barbette (performer) consulted on the creation of the film's circus sequence.<></>
Upon its release in December, 1946, Till The Clouds Roll By received mixed reviews, but was a huge box-office success.
File:TillCloudsRollBy01.jpg
Till the Clouds Roll By is one of several MGM musicals (another being Royal Wedding) that List of films in the public domain in the United States on their 29th anniversary due to failure to renew the copyright registration.<></> As such, it is one of the most widely circulated MGM musicals on home video. Warner Home Video gave the film its first fully restored DVD release on April 25, 2006.
Till the Clouds Roll By is also credited as one of the first motion pictures to have a soundtrack album released concurrent with the film arriving in theaters. The soundtrack was produced by MGM Records. The album originally contained four 78-rpm records featuring various artists and songs from the movie and front-cover artwork by Lennie Hayton. Later this album was released on LP album. No official authorized version has yet been released on CD, but several unauthorized versions have (Rhino Entertainment currently owns the rights to issue an authorized CD of the soundtrack, under license from Turner Entertainment; in the past, MCA Records and Sony Music Entertainment held such rights). This is due to MGM allowing the film to fall into public domain.

Cast

• June Allyson as Jane Witherspoon (in Leave It to Jane) and Lou Ellen Carter (in Oh, Boy! (musical))
• Lucille Bremer as Sally Hessler
• Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller
• Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia Hawks in Show Boat / Specialty
• Van Heflin as James I. Hessler
• Lena Horne as Julie LaVerne in Show Boat / Specialty
• Van Johnson as Bandleader in Elite Club
• Tony Martin (entertainer) as Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat / Specialty
• Dinah Shore as Una Trance (in The Girl from Utah) / Specialty
• Frank Sinatra as Finale Specialty

• Robert Walker (actor) as Jerome Kern
• Gower Champion as Specialty Dancer in Roberta
• Cyd Charisse as Specialty Dancer in Roberta
• Angela Lansbury as London Specialty, singing "How'd Ya Like to Spoon With Me"
• Ray McDonald as Specialty in Oh, Boy! and Leave It to Jane
• Virginia O'Brien as Ellie Mae in Show Boat / Specialty
• Joan Wells as Sally Hessler as a little girl
• Esther Williams as Cameo appearance
• Harry Hayden as Charles Frohman
• Paul Langton as Oscar Hammerstein II
• Paul Maxey as Victor Herbert

Gallery

<gallery>
File:Bruce Cowling in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Bruce Cowling
File:TillTheClouds3.jpg|Judy Garland
File:Judy Garland in Till the Clouds Roll By 3.jpg|Judy Garland
File:Lena Horne in Till the Clouds Roll By 2.jpg|Lena Horne
File:Angela Lansbury in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Angela Lansbury
File:Dorothy Patrick in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Dorothy Patrick
File:Dinah Shore in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Dinah Shore
File:Frank Sinatra in Till the Clouds Roll By.jpg|Frank Sinatra
</gallery>

Songs

• "Cotton Blossom" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Where's the Mate for Me" - Tony Martin
• "Make Believe (Jerome Kern song)" - Kathryn Grayson / Tony Martin
• "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" - Virginia O'Brien / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus Girls
• "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" - Lena Horne
• "Ol' Man River" - Caleb Peterson / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Ka-Lu-a" - MGM Studio Orchestra
• "How'd You Like to Spoon with Me" - Angela Lansbury / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "They Didn't Believe Me" - Dinah Shore
• "Till the Clouds Roll By" - June Allyson / Ray McDonald / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Leave It to Jane" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus / June Allyson / Ray McDonald
• "Cleopatterer" - June Allyson / Ray McDonald / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Leave It to Jane" (Reprise) - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus / June Allyson / Ray McDonald
• "Look for the Silver Lining" - Judy Garland
• "Sunny (musical)" - Judy Garland / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Who? (song)" - Judy Garland / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "One More Dance" - Lucille Bremer (Dubbed by Trudy Erwin)
• "I Won't Dance" - Van Johnson / Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin)
• "She Didn't Say Yes" - Lyn Wilde / Lee Wilde
• "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" - Cyd Charisse / Gower Champion
• "The Last Time I Saw Paris (song)" - Dinah Shore
• "The Land Where the Good Songs Go" - Lucille Bremer (dubbed by Trudy Erwin)
• "Yesterdays (1933 song)" - MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus
• "Long Ago (and Far Away)" - Kathryn Grayson
• "A Fine Romance" - Virginia O'Brien
• "All the Things You Are" - Tony Martin
• "Why Was I Born?" - Lena Horne
• "Ol' Man River" (Reprise/Finale) - Frank Sinatra / MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus

Reception

The film was a big hit, earning $4,748,000 in the US and Canada and $1,976,000 elsewhere, but because of its high cost the profit was only $732,000.< name="Mannix"/>

See also

List of films in the public domain

Category:American films
Category:English-language films
Category:1940s musical films
Category:1946 films
Category:Biographical films
Category:Films directed by Richard Whorf
Category:Films about music and musicians
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Category:Jukebox musicals
Category:Films produced by Arthur Freed