Rhapsody In Blue

Robert Alda stars alongside musical greats Al Jolson, Paul Whiteman, and Oscar Levant in this lavish fictionalized biography of composer George Gershwin. The film traces Gershwin's rise from a "song plugger" for a Manhattan music publishing company to the heights of international fame and fortune. Gershwin's first big hit is "Swanee," introduced on Broadway by Al Jolson (playing himself). In collaboration with his lyricist brother, Ira (Herbert Rudley), George pens hit after hit in show after show. But George's kindly old music teacher wants his prize pupil to aspire to something more artistic. Gershwin responds with "Rhapsody in Blue," which debuts at Aeolian Hall in 1924 under the baton of bandleader Paul Whiteman (also playing himself). As his fame and workload grows, George finds he has no time at all for romance; the two ladies in his life both eventually realize that they'll always have to play second fiddle to Gershwin's muse. Newly remastered from 4K scans of nitrate materials, this new Blu-ray disc restores over 12 minutes of footage never before seen by the general public, and also includes the outstanding overture of Gershwin melodies which only accompanied the film during its New York and Hollywood premiere engagements.

• musical biography