Jesse Green: When Hollywood Depicts Broadway Genius, the Results Rarely Sing
Posted: 10/25/25 at 8:06pm
Thanks for the shared link! As often I find with Jesse Green, my reaction after this article was kinda an and?" If those 1940s bio-musicals get watched any more (and I particularly do like Yankee Doodle Dandy) I don't think ANYONE watches them for the facts (I kinda doubt anyone did in the 1940s either.) So there's no danger of that--and of course any modern bio-film about musical composers is going to have a more accurate (at least according to those making the film) take...
Updated On: 10/26/25 at 08:06 PM
Posted: 10/25/25 at 8:26pm
I agree, Eric. The premise- comparing a film released in 2025 to films from 80 years ago, a totally different era of filmmaking and sensibility- is just odd.
Posted: 10/25/25 at 8:59pm
Odd and totally pointless -- that's what Jesse Green;s article is. Regrettably, after this piece of worthless drivel on "Blue Moon" and his astonishingly wrong assessment of "Smash the Musical". I have to conclude that Green must be something close to a complete idiot. Maybe it was attending all the garbage he sat through while serving as theater critic that done him in. But I digress.. I had the utter misfortune to sit through "Blue Moon" on Thursday night in an empty theater save for me and one other poor soul. God, what a wretched mess the movie is. It's 1 hour and 40 minutes of Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley spouting totally uninteresting nonsense.. Most of the movie is just Hawke yacking away set to the backdrop of a tinkling piano -- a directorial choice that drove me nuts. Qualley has no acting ability whatsoever -- which made her smalll portion of the film just as unbearable as what Hawke delivered. It astounds me that Linklater could round up the money to make this thing. Two days later I am still furious that I was sucker enough to think this movie would be something worth seeing. All I have to say to those who believe this movie might be worth checking out is: You have been warned ..
Posted: 10/25/25 at 11:22pm
First of all, I agree that Jesse Green is not being objective when he criticizes old movies biographies for inaccuracies and painting rosy pictures. Those were different times with different perspectives. It’s like Stephen Sondheim in his book on lyric writing where he criticize W.S.Gilbert, regardless of what Gilbert did achieve.
But BLUE MOON is an exceptionally fine movie. Full disclosure: I am a Lorenz Hart aficionado—he’s my favorite lyricist and I was skeptical about the casting of Ethan Hawke. I also know people who did not care for the film. But, having seen it, I’m so happy that a majority of the reviews have been excellent and mirror my reaction to it. Here is what I’ve posted on other online sites:
My heart stood still—again and again. Tonight I was a guest at the NY premiere screening of BLUE MOON at Lincoln Centre. BLUE MOON is the exquisite Richard Linklater film about Larry Hart, miraculously embodied by Ethan Hawke. Given my close relationship to the Hart family, Robert Kaplow’s screenplay had me crying from the first minutes—underscored by the melody to “This Funny World”, perhaps the most bittersweet Rodgers and Hart song ever. What followed was swell, witty, literate and haunting. This could have been a sensationalized story but focused instead on a very human portrait. We witnessed the joy and pain of a genius whose persona teetered from being the life of the party to what Mabel Mercer described as “the saddest man I ever knew.” His sexuality is beside the point. I’ve previously mentioned that regardless of where Hart was on the sexual spectrum—based on what his family and friends told me first-hand—he wanted to be married. He idealized women in his songs (“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”). And he was a great romantic who just longed to be loved for. himself; Dorothy Hart told me his favorite lyric was “Falling In Love With Love.”
He was also a very lonely and insecure man whose sense of pride hinged deeply on the accomplishment of his lyrics and musicals. Imagine then, what it must have been like for him at the opening night of OKLAHOMA!, whose success and acclaim eclipsed all Rodgers and Hart shows. And that includes the musical of which Hart was especially proud: PAL JOEY, a ground-breaker that nonetheless was crushingly dismissed by The New York Times critic. In this movie, you see the crumbling of his relationship with Richard Rodgers—whom he obviously reveres—and Hart's lady friend echoing what was said to him when he proposed to actress Vivienne Segal, “I do love you. Just not that way.”
But I don’t want to make the movie just sound bleak. It is more often a musical lover’s treasure chest, full of “Easter Eggs,” history in the making, and delicious bits. There’s a precocious portrait of the young Stephen Sondheim telling Hart that Hart’s lyrics “sloppy” (an actual Sondheim quote). There are lines like Larry Hart analyzing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning:,” Hart saying “One of the dumbest lyrics I’ve ever heard is ‘The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye’—now what would an elephant be doing in a cornfield?” There are inside and textually ingenious usages of famous and not so famous Hart lyrics.
And, for me as a writer, my heart broke as Larry listened to people who didn’t know who he was, sounded dismissive of his work, and made him feel like he was being superseded by other writers. That’s when he beats himself up, knowing that his personal failings (like not curbing alcoholism) diminish his hopes, as ironically, he relapses into those very failings.
I can’t wait to see this movie again.
- Michael Colby (Researcher, Dorothy Hart's "Thou Swell, Thou Witty: The Life and Lyrics of Lorenz Hart")
Posted: 10/26/25 at 10:18am
Isn't he just reporting the obvious. Seems like he is struggling finding his voice after losing his critic job.
