''Music in My Heart'' is a 1940

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

romantic musical starring Tony Martin and

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

. Hayworth's first musical for the studio, the film was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for the song, "It's a Blue World", performed by Martin and

Andre Kostelanetz Andre Kostelanetz (russian: Абрам Наумович Костелянец; December 22, 1901 – January 13, 1980) was a Russian-born American popular orchestral music conductor and arranger who was one of the major exponents of popular orch ...

and His Orchestra.

Production

Production on ''Music in My Heart'' (alternate title ''Passport to Happiness'') began in October 1939. The film was released January 10, 1940.

Cast

Credits for ''Music in My Heart'' are listed in the AFI Catalog of Feature Films. * Tony Martin as Robert Gregory *

as Patricia O'Malley *

Edith Fellows Edith Marilyn Fellows (May 20, 1923 – June 26, 2011) was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her ...

as Mary *

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in Wo ...

as Charles Gardner *

Eric Blore Eric Blore Sr. (23 December 1887 – 2 March 1959) was an English actor and writer. His early stage career, mostly in the West End of London, centred on revue and musical comedy, but also included straight plays. He wrote sketches for and appe ...

as Griggs *

George Tobias George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...

as Sascha *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Mark C. Gilman * George Humbert as Luigi * Joey Ray as Miller *

Don Brodie Don L. Brodie (May 29, 1904 – January 8, 2001) was an American film and television actor. Early years The son of Mrs. Lottie Brodie, he attended Hughes High School in Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati. Before becoming a profess ...

as Taxi Driver * Julieta Novis as Leading Lady *

Eddie Kane Eddie Kane (August 12, 1889 – April 30, 1969) was an American actor who appeared in over 250 productions from 1928 to 1959. Biography Kane was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His early career was in vaudeville as a member of the two-man te ...

as Blake *

Phil Tead Phillips Tead (September 29, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American character actor in film and television, sometimes billed as Phil Tead. Biography Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1893, among his many roles, Tead might be best reme ...

as Marshall * Marten Lamont as Barrett *

and His Orchestra

Soundtrack

Chet Forrest and Bob Wright's original songs for ''Music in My Heart'' include "Oh What a Lovely Dream", "Punchinello", "I've Got Music in My Heart", "It's a Blue World" (a hit record for Tony Martin), "No Other Love" and "Hearts in the Sky". The film also features

Ary Barroso Ary de Resende Barroso (1903–1964), better known as Ary Barroso, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV. He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th centur ...

's samba, "

No Tabuleiro da Baiana "No Tabuleiro da Baiana" (English: "On the Baiana's Tray") is a samba written in 1936 by Ary Barroso and recorded by Carmen Miranda. Notable recordings * Carmen Miranda and Luiz BarbosaOdeon 11402BRecorded September 29, 1936; released November 1 ...

", performed by Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra.

Accolades

"It's a Blue World", a song by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright, was nominated as

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

13th Academy Awards The 13th Academy Awards were held on February 27, 1941, to honor films released in 1940. This was the first year that sealed envelopes were used to keep the names of the winners secret. The accounting firm of Price Waterhouse was hired to coun ...

. The song is performed in the film by Tony Martin and Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra.

Reception

Film historian

Clive Hirschhorn Clive Hirschhorn (born February 20, 1940) is a South African writer and critic known for his long tenure as film and theater critic for the British ''Sunday Express'' newspaper and as the author of several books. Early life and journalism Born i ...

describes ''Music in My Heart'' as "a lightweight Irving Starr production" with "serviceable words and music" and "unremarkable direction". Biographer Barbara Leaming characterized the film as one of the "dreadful mistakes" Columbia Pictures made with Rita Hayworth as the studio tried to figure out how to use her to advantage. ''Music in My Heart'' was one of five pictures Hayworth appeared in that year, none of which caught on with the public.Leaming, Barbara, ''If This Was Happiness: A Biography of Rita Hayworth''. New York: Viking, 1989 Reviewing the 2004 DVD release,

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

called ''Music in My Heart'' "a fun, charming, and unpretentious little musical which illustrates very well what an ordinary Hollywood entertainment of 1940 was like. … In the end, it's Martin's voice and Hayworth's overall presence which makes this a nice little winner, though Eric Blore, Alan Mowbray and George Tobias provide solid support as always."

Home media

* 2004: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, DVD.

References

External links

* * *
It's a Blue World
by Tony Martin ( Decca Records 2932B, 1939) at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Music in My Heart 1940s romantic musical films 1940 films Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Joseph Santley American romantic musical films 1940s American films