Humoresque (film)
| Humoresque | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Jean Negulesco |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Written by |
Novel: Fannie Hurst Screenplay: Clifford Odets Zachary Gold |
| Starring |
Joan Crawford John Garfield |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
| Edited by | Rudi Fehr |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,164,000 |
| Box office | $3,399,000 |
Humoresque is a 1946 American showbiz melodrama by Warner Bros. starring Joan Crawford and John Garfield in an older woman/younger man tale about a violinist and his patroness. The screenplay by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold was based upon a story Humoresque in a collection of stories entitled Humoresque: A Laugh on Life with a Tear Behind It (1920) by Fannie Hurst. Humoresque was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Jerry Wald.
In New York City, a performance by noted violinist Paul Boray (John Garfield) is cancelled. At his apartment, Boray is at rock bottom emotionally. His manager Frederic Bauer (Richard Gaines) is angry with him for misunderstanding what a performing career would be like, and for thinking that music is no longer part of his life. To the more sympathetic Sid Jeffers (Oscar Levant), Boray says he has always wanted to do the right thing, but has always been "on the outside, looking in," and cannot "get back to that happy kid" he once was.
In the past, young Paul (Bobby Blake) is choosing a birthday present in a suburban New York Variety store run by Jeffers (Harlan Briggs). He rejects as childish the suggestions of his father "Papa" Rudy (J. Carrol Naish), a grocery store owner, but settles on a violin, which his father rejects as unsuitable; his price limit is $1.50. Esther, his mother (Ruth Nelson), sympathetic at this stage, buys the $8 violin for the boy.
A transition from his faltering first steps to being a gifted young violinist follows. On 15 October 1930, he overhears his father Rudy's dismissal of his chances, and the frustration of his brother Phil (Tom D'Andrea) in finding a job. He resolves to go out on his own and not be dependent on his family. He finds a job with locally broadcast orchestra in which Sid Jeffers is the pianist.
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Wikipedia