''The Eddy Duchin Story'' is a 1956

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

film

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

of band leader and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Eddy Duchin. It was directed by

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...

, written by Samuel A. Taylor, and starred

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...

and

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

Harry Stradling Henry A. Stradling, A.S.C. (September 1, 1901 – February 14, 1970) was an American cinematographer with more than 130 films to his credit. His uncle Walter Stradling, son Harry Stradling Jr. and godson Gerald Perry Finnerman were also cine ...

received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for his

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

in the

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

film. The film received four nominations in total and was one of the highest-grossing films of 1956. Incorporating signature elements of Duchin's style into his own original style,

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

performed the piano music for the film. Some of the film's box office success can be attributed to the appearance of Novak in ads for No-Cal diet soda. Novak became one of the first celebrities to be featured in

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

for soft drinks, and each ad also featured a reminder to see Novak in ''The Eddy Duchin Story''. Musician Peter Duchin, whose relationship with his father is a major subject of the film, has written very negatively about the script, saying there was too much unnecessary fictionalization of his parents' lives and deaths.

Plot

Fresh out of pharmacy school, young Eddy Duchin travels to New York in the 1920s to take a job playing piano for bandleader

Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ...

's orchestra. But upon arrival, Eddy learns there is no such job. A wealthy socialite, Marjorie Oelrichs, overhears his playing and takes a personal interest in Eddy. When he is invited to the home of her wealthy aunt and uncle, the Wadsworths, for a party, Eddy is disappointed to discover that he has been asked there merely to entertain. Having fallen in love, Marjorie goes so far as to propose marriage to Eddy rather than the other way around. She has secret fears that she expresses on their wedding night, and tragedy strikes when Marjorie dies giving birth to their child. An anguished Eddy abandons his baby boy, Peter, leaving him in the Wadsworths' care, and goes away from New York for many years. He serves on a warship in the war. Finally persuaded to visit his son, he meets Peter's governess, a British woman named Chiquita, who grows on him after an uneasy start. Peter is learning to play the piano. Eddy has an engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, but his hand freezes while at the keyboard. He eventually is diagnosed with a fatal illness and has no more than a year to live. After he marries Chiquita, he can't bring himself to tell Peter about his illness, so he simply says that soon he'll be "going away." Peter ultimately learns the truth.

Cast

as Eddy Duchin *

as Marjorie Oelrichs * Victoria Shaw as Chiquita Wynn *

James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two ...

as Lou Sherwood *

Larry Keating Lawrence Keating (June 13, 1899 – August 26, 1963) was an American actor best known for his roles as Harry Morton on ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', which he played from 1953 to 1958, and next-door neighbor Roger Addison on '' Mist ...

as Leo Reisman

Soundtrack recordings

In 1956 and 1957 respectively, two musical "soundtrack" recordings, that is, studio recordings of songs from the film, were issued. Twelve of the film's songs were released in ''The Sound Track Album, The Eddy Duchin Story,'' with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano. This recording was issued by Decca in 1956 (mono) as DL 8289 and reissued in stereo in 1965 as Decca DL 78289 (which was also issued in Mexico and Canada).The Eddy Duchin Story on Discogs.com
Retrieved February 16, 2014 In 1957, Capitol Records issued an LP album entitled, '' Selections from The Eddy Duchin Story'' (Capitol T-716), featuring nine of the original album's twelve soundtracks. Accompanied by the Harry Geller Orchestra, pianists

George Greeley George Greeley (born Georgio Guariglia; July 23, 1917 – May 26, 2007) was an Italian-American pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, recording artist and record producer who is known for his extensive work across the spectrum of the entertainm ...

and Harry Sukman performed the selections. Somewhat ironically, both pianists imitated (usually quite closely and rather ably) Cavallaro's beloved interpretations of the songs rather than Duchin's. Given the extraordinary commercial success of the original soundtrack, it is no wonder.

Other soundtrack recordings

There was a musical tribute soundtrack, played by

Al Lerner Alfred Lerner (May 8, 1933 – October 23, 2002) was an American businessman. He was best known as the chair of the board of credit-card giant MBNA and the owner of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was also a past presid ...

, ''A Tribute to Eddy Duchin''. Released by Tops Records in 1957, this release featured the following tunes: * "

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

" * "Nocturne in E Flat" * "Starlight Concerto" * "Gee, Baby, I Ain't Too Good to You" * " Shine" * "Night Dreams" * "

My Heart Belongs to Daddy "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is a song written by Cole Porter, for the 1938 musical '' Leave It to Me!'' which premiered on November 9, 1938. It was originally performed by Mary Martin, who played Dolly Winslow, the young " protégée" of a rich ...

" * "It Must Be True" * " I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" * "

Bésame Mucho "Bésame Mucho" (; "Kiss Me A Lot") is a bolero song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was re ...

" * "

Love Walked In "Love Walked In" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The tune was composed in 1930, but the lyric was not written until 1937, for the movie musical ''The Goldwyn Follies'' (1938), where it was sung by Kenny Baker. H ...

" * "

Whispering Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains th ...

" (A special detail from the vinyl record of this tribute is that it is not black, but is made of yellow translucent material, with some brown figures in veneer)

Awards

The film was nominated for four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. * Cinematography (Color) -

* Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) -

Morris Stoloff Morris W. Stoloff (August 1, 1898 – April 16, 1980) was a musical composer. Stoloff worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore, Al Jolson and Frank Sinatra. Life and career Stoloff worked as music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936 to 1962. ...

George Duning George Duning (February 25, 1908 – February 27, 2000) was an American musician and film composer. He was born in Richmond, Indiana, and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where his mentor was Mario Casteln ...

Sound Recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording ...

- Columbia Studios Sound Department - John P. Livadary * Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Leo Katcher

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy Duchin Story, The 1956 films 1950s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Biographical films about musicians Columbia Pictures films Films about pianos and pianists Films directed by George Sidney Films scored by George Duning Films scored by Morris Stoloff Films with screenplays by Samuel A. Taylor Cultural depictions of jazz musicians Cultural depictions of American men 1956 drama films CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films