A Song Is Born

A musical-comedy remake of Ball of Fire from Howard Hawks, A Song Is Born is a film that I probably enjoyed more than the average viewer. By no stretch of the imagination is it an improvement on the original, or even a worthy successor, but it is harmlessly entertaining. And it is fascinating to watch Hawks literally try to transform his actors into the original performers.

Unlike Alfred Hitchcock who proclaimed his 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much the superior film, Hawks dogged A Song Is Born until the very end. To be entirely honest, Hawks admitted to only taking the work for the paycheck and had essentially checked out of the proceedings. “I never thought anything in that picture was funny. It was an altogether horrible experience.” Hawks’ consensus opinion on the film is the majority view, and I understand why.

Kaye was going through a contentious separation from his wife, Sylvia Fine. Fine was largely responsible for writing his songs, and she refused to participate on the grounds that he had left her for Eve Arden. Kaye and Fine would eventually reconcile, but A Song Is Born is fascinating to watch because Kaye cannot hide behind his song-and-dance man background. He must play a character and he brought a level neurosis to the part that is dynamic and interesting to watch.

Virginia Mayo doesn’t fare better as Hawks requires her to merely mimic Barbara Stanwyck’s iconic work. Mayo was much better as brazen hussies in films like White Heat and The Best Years of Our Lives than she was as the timid good girls of her earlier Kaye films, but she’s not a tough dame. Where Stanwyck brought a core of steel and near volcanic sexuality to her part, Mayo seems like a young girl playing dress-up throughout.

So why on earth did I enjoy this one so much? It’s nearly impossible to entirely screw up Billy Wilder and Thomas Moore’s story. It’s a solidly constructed riff on the story of Snow White, and it is fun to see Tommy Dorsey and Louis Armstrong, for instance, guest star. It’s also fascinating to watch as something of a noble failure, and god knows how much I enjoy watching those.