''Song Without End'', subtitled ''The Story of Franz Liszt'', is a 1960

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

film romance about

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

made by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. It was directed by Charles Vidor, who died during the shooting of the film and was replaced by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...

. The film stars

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

, Capucine, and Geneviève Page.

Plot

Franz Liszt is living in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

with Countess

Marie d'Agoult Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (born de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a French romanticism, romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern. Life Marie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, w ...

, the mother of his children, when

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

and

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

visit him. They tell him about all the things he has missed since he left

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and how a new piano virtuoso,

Sigismond Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. Thalberg asserted that he ...

, is captivating audiences. The Countess wants him to remain in seclusion and compose. She views performing as a tawdry occupation. Liszt cannot stand the lack of an audience and agrees to a recital in Paris, which is a sensation. In the audience is Princess Carolyne Wittgenstein, and Liszt is smitten. He travels to Russia to perform for the Tsar. He resumes his performing career and avoids the Countess while he pursues the married Princess.

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

approaches Liszt after a performance with a score for '' Rienzi''. Liszt brushes him off, but when he later hears a rehearsal of the overture, he becomes a champion of his music. He agrees to premiere '' Lohengrin'' for Wagner after the composer has to flee an arrest warrant. Liszt is shown conducting the finale of '' Tannhäuser''. The composer begins an affair with the Princess. She asks her husband for a divorce. After it is granted the couple are happily on the verge of marriage. When the Church discovers the Princess lied about her husband marrying her when she was underage, they prevent her divorce. Liszt wills his estate to his children and retreats to a monastery.

Cast

* Capucine as Princess Carolyne Wittgenstein * Geneviève Page as Countess

* Patricia Morison as

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitsky; , 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a French actor of Russian Chinese origin. He had a lengthy career in French and German cinema, appearing in over 200 film and television roles over 50 year ...

as Prince Nicholas *

Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havis ...

as Grand Duchess * Lou Jacobi as Potin * Albert Rueprecht as Prince Felix Lichnowsky *

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) ...

as Chelard * Lyndon Brook as

* Walter Rilla as Archbishop * Hans Unterkircher as Tsar * Erland Erlandsen as

(as E. Erlandsen) *

Alexander Davion Alexander Davion (March 31, 1929 – September 28, 2019) was a French-born British actor. He was perhaps best known in the UK for his starring role in ''Gideon's Way'' as Detective Chief Inspector David Keen. He was born in Paris, France. He die ...

(as Alex Davion) * Katherine Squire as

Anna Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

Production

The success in 1945 of Charles Vidor's '' A Song to Remember'' about

was the germ for a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about Franz Liszt. By 1946, Columbia had three spec scripts from musician Theodore Kolline, but serious production did not begin until studio head

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

announced the project in 1952. The film went through a kind of

development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...

for the next seven years as the script went from one writer to another and had to be edited extensively to please the censors. Cohn initially hired his friend Oscar Saul to write the screenplay and

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...

to direct. When the studio delayed going forward with the project due to production and casting issues for three years, Saul backed out, and Columbia announced in 1955 that

Gottfried Reinhardt Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer. Biography Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), mana ...

had been commissioned to write a new screenplay. In 1958, veteran producer William Goetz took over the project with Oscar Millard as his screenwriter. Charles Vidor was finally assigned to direct using elements of all three screenwriters' scripts.Miller, Frank.
Song Without End
.

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

. August 3, 2007. It was continuously revised even as filming was underway.Bogarde, Dirk.
Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Autobiography
'. Octopus Books, 1988. On June 4, 1959, Charles Vidor died of a heart attack. Bogarde was initially relieved because he thought it meant the film would be cancelled. Everyone had been miserable, particularly Capucine who was acting for the first time. Vidor was extremely harsh towards her and difficult for everyone on set. George Cukor was flown in to finish the production. He set everyone at ease and made major changes to the entire film. He replaced

James Wong Howe Wong Tung Jim, A.S.C. (; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976), known professionally as James Wong Howe (Houghto), was a Chinese-born American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the most so ...

with Charles Lang, changed the costumes, and even had Anna Lee dub Patricia Morrison's dialogue. Cukor also abandoned Liszt's famous long hair, opting to make Dirk Bogarde look more like

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Despite the fact that Vidor only shot about 15% of the film, Cukor refused a directing credit.

Music

As nearly 40 musical selections were heard in the film, Morris Stoloff, head of Columbia's music department, began immediate work on the soundtrack. After selecting the pieces to be played, he engaged piano virtuoso Jorge Bolet, the

Roger Wagner Chorale The Roger Wagner Chorale is an American choir founded by choral musician and educator Roger Wagner in 1946. History In 1937, Roger Wagner joined the MGM chorus in Hollywood and was subsequently appointed Music Director of St. Joseph's Churc ...

, and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

to perform the score. Harry Sukman was in charge of the music editing and adaptations that were required of the scores. Musicologist Abram Chasins was a musical consultant on the film.Chasins, Abram.
Song Without End
, Colpix Records, 1960,(LP), Liner notes. The piano pieces were recorded before filming so Bogarde could learn the finger movements necessary to make him appear to be realistically playing piano. Bogarde had never played one. Victor Aller coached him for weeks before filming and was present on set to help with miming. Bogarde worked out a code for the keys that made sense only to him and flummoxed Aller. He frequently bled on the piano keys during filming, particularly when he had to mime the virtuosic '' La Campanella''. Two soundtracks were released for the film. Colpix Records, a division of Columbia Pictures released Song Without End: Original Soundtrack Recording featuring Bolet on piano. In their first soundtrack recording, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Morris Stoloff. The album include works by Liszt, Paganini, Handel, and Wagner. Liberty Records released The Franz Liszt Story to showcase the arrangements Harry Sukman made for the film. Sukman plays the piano and leads the orchestra. Liszt's music is given alternative titles on several tracks.

Reception

''New York Times'' critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

praised the music: “A little bit of everything reflective not only of the talent of Liszt but also of most of the great composers of his highly romantic age—Wagner, Paganini,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Verdi, Chopin—artists whose work he respected, assisted, embellished and often played, is packed into this picture. And it is brilliantly and beautifully performed...” However, he observed that “the host of characters were brushed in so superficially that they carry little conviction or emotional strength, and the performances of the actors are, by necessity, more elaborate than they are deep... However, as we say, the music thunders; the settings and costumes are superb—such Viennese concert halls and palaces and lush romantic trappings have never been surpassed in a color film—and, indeed, the sheer posing of the actors by the late Charles Vidor and George Cukor is so suave that anyone moved by musical richness and pictorial splendor should go quite nutty over this film.” ''Song Without End'' has been praised as "among the finest biopics in terms of its musical content" because of its seamless incorporation of classical pieces throughout the film.Mitchell, Charles P. ''The Great Composers Portrayed on Film, 1913 Through 2002''. McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers, 2010. 114.

Awards

The film won the Best Music score Academy Award for Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman and the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Motion Picture (Musical). Both Bogarde and Capucine were nominated for

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

. ''Song Without End'' won Best Film - Musical at the 18th Golden Globe Awards.

References

External links

* * *
Article on the difficult history of the production
(from the

website) {{Authority control 1960 films 1960s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners Biographical films about musicians Columbia Pictures films CinemaScope films Cultural depictions of Franz Liszt Cultural depictions of Frédéric Chopin Cultural depictions of George Sand Cultural depictions of Richard Wagner Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Films about pianos and pianists Films directed by Charles Vidor Films directed by George Cukor Films scored by Harry Sukman Films scored by Morris Stoloff Films set in France Films set in Germany Films set in Italy Films set in Russia Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Austria Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award 1960 drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language biographical drama films