Insipid version of the composer's life filled with his fantastic music. They didn't really need to add fictional love iterests (based on Kay Francis? Am I getting the name right?) to make a life like Gershwin's interesting, and the script is really cheezy. Very nice production values, though, and some musical specialties to liven things up -- Jolson singing "Swanee", Levant's versions of the Rhapsody and Concerto in F (excerpted).
In this film's world, unfortunately, the Astaires (Fred and Adele) and so many others who brought Gershwin's music into popularity, don't exist -- presumably because it would have cost WB more than it was worth to them. Thus, very important pieces of Gershwin's artistic life are left gaping open. Other things are misrepresented, like the placement of "Somebody Loves Me" much later in G's life (it was in fact written for George White's Scandals of 1924, I believe), presumably just because the songs were available or were the ones the producers wanted.
Many episodes in this complex artist's life are presented in a way that is overly sentimental, has no bearing on facts or reality, and don't even make particularly good film. But the main problem here is that people who in fact had very little bearing on Gershwin's development, like "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman and Jolson, are emphasized (simply because at this faded point in their careers, WB could afford them), while others who profoundly influenced or were affected by him are simply left out (like the previously mentioned Astaires, or Gertrude Lawrence, or DuBose Heyward, or any number of other important people simply not mentioned). This makes it seem like G lived in the teens and the early 20s, since they wouldn't pay for any of his associates from the 30s -- a very lopsided picture of the composer's life and his work that does not impress.
In this film's world, unfortunately, the Astaires (Fred and Adele) and so many others who brought Gershwin's music into popularity, don't exist -- presumably because it would have cost WB more than it was worth to them. Thus, very important pieces of Gershwin's artistic life are left gaping open. Other things are misrepresented, like the placement of "Somebody Loves Me" much later in G's life (it was in fact written for George White's Scandals of 1924, I believe), presumably just because the songs were available or were the ones the producers wanted.
Many episodes in this complex artist's life are presented in a way that is overly sentimental, has no bearing on facts or reality, and don't even make particularly good film. But the main problem here is that people who in fact had very little bearing on Gershwin's development, like "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman and Jolson, are emphasized (simply because at this faded point in their careers, WB could afford them), while others who profoundly influenced or were affected by him are simply left out (like the previously mentioned Astaires, or Gertrude Lawrence, or DuBose Heyward, or any number of other important people simply not mentioned). This makes it seem like G lived in the teens and the early 20s, since they wouldn't pay for any of his associates from the 30s -- a very lopsided picture of the composer's life and his work that does not impress.