Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

just watch it!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The dramatic part of the film is really rather dismal. When you have the mother in the cast played by a woman (Marsha Hunt, a later victim of the Hollywood blacklist, still alive at 95!) who, in real life was younger than her "son" (William Prince), it strains credibility even with Miss Hunt's "old" makeup.And the usual device of the hero's desire to play "modern"-music-rather-than-classical device is one that surely had whiskers even then! See "The Jazz Singer" for example. In this case, he wants to perform with the rather wooden singer, band leader and trumpeter Vaughn Monroe.Mr. Prince's character, Tony Salerno finally gets his predicable "big chance" at the end of the film when he "conducts", "plays" his own composition with trumpeter Harry James. It isn't clear who really wrote the music from the listed credits but the anonymity of the author is quite understandable. (Charles Previn?) And none of the other composers suffers from the competition, I have to say.However, the actual musical performances are as well done as possible with Rubenstein and Heifetz at somewhere near their peaks even with Rubenstein's inevitable Polonaise in Ab (Chopin). And their interactions with the actors is also very well done with, for example, Pinza's "prima donna" temper tantrum about his costume probably not exaggerated at all.Walter Damrosch's association with the actual opening of Carnegie Hall at which Tchaikovsky also conducted is another welcome reminder of the authenticity of the film as well as the actual hall being used rather than a studio fake and that right after its 1940's renovation.Though my last piano teacher, Nadia Reisenberg was also in the film in an ensemble, I turned it on too late to see her.A unique film for the music even with the cringe-making back story!

"Carnegie Hall" really deserves a 20 out of 10 stars simply because it is such a brilliant record of some of the greatest musical performers from about 1890 to about 1950.Most people reading this comment will not have had any other opportunity to see or hear in live performance such giants as Jan Peerce or Jascha Heifetz or, especially, the likes of Walter ("Good morning, my dear children") Damrosch.It would be easy to fill several paragraphs just listing and raving about those giants, those icons of great music, including Harry James and Vaughn Monroe, but I urge you to look at each name, follow the IMDb link and then Google each to learn about them.I must, though, mention the marvelous Marsha Hunt. For some function I don't remember, I was in her home when she was the Honorary Mayor of Sherman Oaks, around 1980, and have been an idolatrous fan ever since.She is recognized as a fine actress, but she deserved even more. She was also a beautiful woman, and probably never looked lovelier than in "Carnegie Hall." As her character ages, she goes gray, and her step slows and she dodders just a bit, just enough.It is, in short, a spell-binding characterization, a magnificent performance.I try not to be envious of people with more ability (which is most people) or more luck (which is nearly everyone) but I do envy Marsha Hunt for her opportunity, in this role, to interact with such musical heroes as Ezio Pinza and Artur Rodzinski.By the way, look for a very young Leonard Rose, who went on to well-deserved fame as one of the world's greatest cellists.One final note: The story was by the magnificent Seena Owen, probably best known for her role in "Intolerance." Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I will: I applauded and cheered and, yes, cried at the beauty of this film, at the glory of it.I urge, strenuously urge you not to miss this "Carnegie Hall."Added 19 June 2015: "Carnegie Hall" is available at YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvljAjzscg

I saw this film recently and couldn't quite get the point of it. In a two hour film made up almost entirely of music, a very weird and decidedly irrelevant plot can be found. But I'm not here to bin this film, some of the music is very engaging especially Arthur Rubinstein's energetic virtuoso piano playing, and it is interesting to see some classical music maestros perform. I recorded this film because I had heard that the fantastic trumpeter Harry James and his orchestra were in it, but what this review failed to mention was the fact that you have to wait a good two hours before James comes on, only to appear for about three minutes (which are, despite the long wait, quite good). No, "Carnegie Hall" is not a bad film, but you probably have to be well into the type of music played in it to truly enjoy watching this film. 7/10

Although the music segments are second to none (Rubenstein, Heifetz, Pinza, Lily Pons, Rise Stevens, and representing the more 'modern' era Harry James and the great Vaughn Monroe) the story, what little there is, is really dreadful. Nora is a selfish and pathetic person in whom we have little or no interest, her piano-playing son has the personality of a goldfish, and the film is the clunkier for them both. Tip - if you see this on video fast-forward to the musical bits. They are well worth it and amazingly, all still look great after 53 years!