This is a good and interesting short documentary about the making of the 1952 musical biopic, "With a Song in My Heart." It's a video that was made to accompany the DVD release of the movie in 2007. Film professors, historians, writers and actors talk about the film and its subject, pop singer Jane Froman (1907-1980).
The short has some movie clips and interviews with Ilene Stone, Drew Casper, Rick Jewell, Miles Kreuger, Larry Billman, Valerie Lemon and Robert Easton. Here are some highlights of this documentary.
Ilene Stone, who wrote a biography of Froman in 2003 ("Jane Froman: Missouri's First Lady of Song") says that when the singer returned to Europe to entertain the troops in 1945, she became the pinup girl of the MASH units. She was still in a wheelchair and using crutches from the severe injuries of a plane crash on her way to entertain the troops in 1943.
Larry Billman, a historian on dance in the movies, says that "Using Jane Froman's real voice as the sound track was very important, because it was a very distinctive voice. She was heard by millions of Americans on the radio.... I'm not sure that half of those people could identify her by looks. By her great radio career and then her recording career, she was a voice that you heard at home that you were comfortable about. So, that was a very, very wise choice on the producer's part."
Drew Casper, a film professor at the University of Southern California, praised Susan Hayward's portrayal of Froman. "During the recording, Susan sat through all her recordings and watched her." Singer and actress Valerie Lemon says that Froman "had a way of using her hands and arms that Susan Hayward captures beautifully." She says that Hayward sat and talked with Froman a lot "to understand the depth of despair and sadness about her life."
Robert Easton (1930-2011) was an actor who played the Kansas GI in a hospital performance Jane gave. He says Froman "had a lot of input into the film, as the technical adviser." He says that if something didn't seem just right, she would make a suggestion to Walter Lang, the director, but "always in a very loving way." Easton says, "She was a superb musician, craftsman, singer and a very inspiring person."
Miles Kreuger, President of the Institute of the American Musical, praises the movie. "I think it's one of the very best of all the film biographies of entrainment personalities. It's just a marvelous biography, and Susan Hayward could not be better."
Casper noted the success of the film and the album. "The soundtrack from the film was the best-selling album of 1952," he says. Speaking in 2007, Casper notes that the movie was made over 50 years ago. He says it "can still touch me, and make inroads into my heart and make me cry."
The short has some movie clips and interviews with Ilene Stone, Drew Casper, Rick Jewell, Miles Kreuger, Larry Billman, Valerie Lemon and Robert Easton. Here are some highlights of this documentary.
Ilene Stone, who wrote a biography of Froman in 2003 ("Jane Froman: Missouri's First Lady of Song") says that when the singer returned to Europe to entertain the troops in 1945, she became the pinup girl of the MASH units. She was still in a wheelchair and using crutches from the severe injuries of a plane crash on her way to entertain the troops in 1943.
Larry Billman, a historian on dance in the movies, says that "Using Jane Froman's real voice as the sound track was very important, because it was a very distinctive voice. She was heard by millions of Americans on the radio.... I'm not sure that half of those people could identify her by looks. By her great radio career and then her recording career, she was a voice that you heard at home that you were comfortable about. So, that was a very, very wise choice on the producer's part."
Drew Casper, a film professor at the University of Southern California, praised Susan Hayward's portrayal of Froman. "During the recording, Susan sat through all her recordings and watched her." Singer and actress Valerie Lemon says that Froman "had a way of using her hands and arms that Susan Hayward captures beautifully." She says that Hayward sat and talked with Froman a lot "to understand the depth of despair and sadness about her life."
Robert Easton (1930-2011) was an actor who played the Kansas GI in a hospital performance Jane gave. He says Froman "had a lot of input into the film, as the technical adviser." He says that if something didn't seem just right, she would make a suggestion to Walter Lang, the director, but "always in a very loving way." Easton says, "She was a superb musician, craftsman, singer and a very inspiring person."
Miles Kreuger, President of the Institute of the American Musical, praises the movie. "I think it's one of the very best of all the film biographies of entrainment personalities. It's just a marvelous biography, and Susan Hayward could not be better."
Casper noted the success of the film and the album. "The soundtrack from the film was the best-selling album of 1952," he says. Speaking in 2007, Casper notes that the movie was made over 50 years ago. He says it "can still touch me, and make inroads into my heart and make me cry."
