Overrated

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

In fact, for me, a close second best to 1950's 'Three Little Words', which just gets the edge for having a little more energy pace-wise and never giving the impression that it should have been shorter.Despite pretty much all of them being heavily fictionalised, with some like 'Till the Clouds Roll By' and 'Words and Music' really coming to life in the musical numbers and losing interest pretty significantly in the biographical sections, all of the 1940s-1950s composer musical biopics (titles being 'Till the Clouds Roll By', 'Rhapsody in Blue', 'Night and Day', 'Words and Music', 'Three Little Words' and this) are worth watching at least once.Based on the life of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg, whose magnificent tunes often paired with librettos that could be silly and thin but with enough elegance and charm, 'Deep in My Heart' is very loose biographically but as a piece of entertainment in its own right it does excel. It is let down only really by the story dragging pretty badly in the middle section where there's less emphasis on song and more on biography, with the biographical sections despite being nicely written and excellently played lacking the momentum shown when the music/dancing takes centre stage. At over 2 hours, with parts dragging, it does feel like a long haul at times and did feel like it could have been 15-20 minutes shorter.However, 'Deep in My Heart' is a beautiful-looking film, photographed with elegance and lavishly designed. Can't get enough of Jane Powell and Cyd Charisse's dresses either. The music is magnificent (more on the highlights later), with none of the singers and dancers not doing justice to it, while the script has some cute, witty and sometimes sophisticated humour and also some emotional moments like the very moving Carnegie Hall finale.Jose Ferrer gives a bravura performance in the title role, essential for being the one holding everything together. He is very well supported by a lovely Merle Oberon and a fine Walter Pidgeon. Stanley Donen directs beautifully in the first and last thirds, if plodding a little in the middle act. The choreography in "It" and "One Alone" is on the same level as the music, electrifying in "It" and erotic in "One Alone".There are many musical/performing highlights here. A big standout is the Cyd Charisse/James Mitchell dancing in "One Alone", sensuous doesn't describe it, while Ann Miller electrifies in "It" and Jane Powell and Vic Damone make hearts swoon in "Will You Remember". Helen Traubel also sounds great, and 'Deep in My Heart' offers rare and delightful chances of seeing Ferrer and real life wife Rosemary Clooney together in "Mr and Mrs" and brothers Fred and Gene (yes that Gene) Kelly in "I Love to Go Swimmin with Wimmen". Tony Martin sounds glorious in "Lover Come Back to Me" as does Howard Keel in "Your Land and My Land".In conclusion, flawed but with so many wonderful things. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The MGM musical biopic, or biography picture. For a lot of movie lovers, enough said. The term brings to mind many things. Great musical numbers. Star-studded cast. Prestige. But one that doesn't come to mind is factual accuracy. Most people who love musicals take biopics with a grain of salt. A lot of people know that the musicals numbers are more times than not the best thing about the movie. And at least 50% of them were about songwriters who wrote some of America's most beloved songs. Some are about classical composers. This film, "Deep in My Heart," is about one composer of serious music who wrote what he called dribble for the masses as a mean to an end, so he could realize his dream of writing his "Maytime" – Sigmund Romberg, as played by Jose Ferrer. Merle Oberon costarred as a collaborator in writing the words to his melody. The film centers on the cream of his prolific years and his meeting and romancing his future wife. The musical numbers features Rosemary Clooney (Jose's wife in real life), Gene Kelly, and Ann Miller, along with a few other major names. All of the numbers seem pleasant at the time, some more inspiring at the time, but, on the whole, one would think that gathered together in one place they would make an upbeat and successful collection of entertainment. But, save for one or two numbers, they don't really deliver any real punch. Not that I am trashing them, but they were just nothing to really brag about. The numbers that did stand out to me is an energetic number Ann Miller did, Jane Powell and Vic Damone's "Maytime" interlude, and the sensuous dance of Cyd Charisse and James Mitchell. And, even Jose Ferrer is quite the entertainer and showman as he put on a one-man rehearsal show, and Helen Traubel as a friend of the family sang a moving rendition of "Softly,", the way he wrote it and not the way the backers and producers butchered it. What really hurts the film is the length of 130 minutes. If you have seen other musicals, biopics or not, then you will see that this film is really not one of the best, despite the talented stars involved.

Sigmund Romberg was a composer whose career spanned the transition from opera to operettas to musical revues to stage musicals and film musicals. This biopic covers a substantial portion of his life, pausing to present musical numbers from his shows from his earliest success ("Maytime") to his work with Oscar Hammerstein.Jose Ferrer portrays Romberg with a light hand. The dark days of Romberg's life are discussed but little dramatized, which is a good choice, keeping the narrative light, and centered on his music.The music, by the way, is enjoyable, purely as entertainment and also from a historical perspective. But what really makes this film shine is the all-star cast that work in support of the major roles. Blink and you might miss the identity of a major talent.Speaking of talent, for me the highlight of the film--a scene that in itself makes the film recommendable--is the "Desert Song" dance scene featuring Cyd Charisse. I am not belittling the other dance performances, which are numerous and notable. But Cyd's elegance and talent outshine the rest of the film they are so prodigious. A huge measure of respect must go to Eugene Loring, the man responsible for the choreography. And Helen Rose drapes the women with great style, as usual. One wonders if some set designers felt they had to step up the quality of their work to keep pace with her brilliance. The "Desert Song" set, by the way, is beautifully designed.This is an undervalued film with plenty of hidden charms that reveal themselves as the film unspools.

This is a decent film and has some really nice numbers by some of the great MGM stars of the day. Mel Ferrer stars and does a nice job of filling in the time between the numbers. It is a little slow in parts and probably could have used 20 minutes cut out, but it's still worth a look. Other stars include Walter Pidgeon, who does a nice job in a smaller part. My favorite musical number comes from Jane Powell and Vic Damone. They were perfectly matched in this film because they had the two best voices. Jane looks simply stunning in her long, ruffled, white dress. My other favorite has to be the song and dance number by Gene and Fred Kelly. This is the only time they appeared on film together and they don't disappoint. Howard Keel rounds out the great numbers near the end with a nice number backed by male vocals. Overall not perfect, but the three musical numbers I mentioned are worth watching.