With a Song in My Heart

Director: Walter Lang

Overview

With a Song in My Heart is the story of popular 1930s songstress Jane Froman, here portrayed by Susan Hayward. We first see Ms. Froman as a humble staff singer at a Cincinnati radio stations, but it doesn't take her long to rise to the uppermost rungs of network radio fame. Jane gratefully marries her agent (David Wayne), but soon both realize they're not truly in love. While touring with the USO during World War II, Jane is in a plane crash, which severely injures her. She nonetheless valiantly makes a professional comeback, and begins a relationship with the pilot (Rory Calhoun) who rescued her. Jane Froman herself provided the vocals for With a Song in My Heart, with Susan Hayward doing a topnotch miming job. Watch for Robert Wagner in his starmaking cameo as a shell-shocked GI.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2007
UPC:	0024543475200
Original Release:	1952
Rating:	NR
Source:	20TH CENT
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:57:00

Special Features

Holding the high notes: the life of Jane Froman featurette; Capturing a song: Bringing John Froman to the screen featurette; John Burn: a husband remembers featurette; Restoration comparison; Poster gallery; Still gallery; Original theatrical trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Susan Hayward	Jane Froman
Rory Calhoun	John Burn
David Wayne	Don Ross
Thelma Ritter	Clancy
Robert Wagner	Paratrooper
Una Merkel	Sister Marie
Helen Westcott	Jennifer March
Richard Allan	Dancer
Max Showalter	Guild
Lyle Talbot	Radio Director
Leif Erickson	General
Stanley Logan	Diplomat
Frank Sully	Texas
George Offerman Jr.	Muleface
Ernest Newton	Specialty
Bill Baldwin	Announcer
Carlos Molina	Doctor
Nestor Paiva	Doctor
Emmett Vogan	Doctor
Jane Froman	Herself [singing]
Maude Wallace	Sister Margaret
Ted Offenbecker	Muleface
Dick Ryan	Officer
Douglas Evans	Colonel
Beverly Thompson	USO Girl
Eddie Firestone	USO Man
Robert Easton	Kansas

Technical Credits

Lamar Trotti

Jacques Lanzmann

Lamar Trotti	Screenwriter,Producer
Jacques Lanzmann	Screenwriter
Fred Sersen	Special Effects
Ray Kellogg	Special Effects

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- With a Song in My Heart
1. Main Titles/Courageous Entertainer [3:32]
2. Radio Audition [10:12]
3. Staff Artist [:59]
4. Get Happy [:31]
5. Blue Moon [5:31]
6. Say Yes [4:49]
7. On the Gay White Way [3:52]
8. The Right Kind [:45]
9. Impasse [2:40]
10. With a Song in My Heart [4:04]
11. Transatlantic Crossing [5:09]
12. The Crash [1:10]
13. Recuperation [6:30]
14. Not a Pretty Picture [3:47]
15. In Love [4:13]
16. Montparnasse [2:01]
17. Despair [5:43]
18. Showdown [2:47]
19. Embraceable You [1:47]
20. Tea For Two [2:08]
21. Clancy's Advice [5:31]
22. It's a Good Day [3:17]
23. They're Either too Young or too Old [3:53]
24. I'll Walk Alone [3:00]
25. She's Yours [2:19]
26. To a Great Soldier [2:43]
27. American Medley [1:12]
28. With a Song in My Heart (Reprise) [2:05]

Menu

Disc #1 -- With a Song in My Heart
Play
Language Selection
Language and Audio: English Mono
Subtitles: English
Subtitles: Spanish
Subtitles: French
Subtitles: None
Scene Selection
Special Features
Holding the High Notes: The Life of Jane Froman
Capturing a Song: Bringing Jane Froman to the Screen
John Burn: A Husband Remembers
Restoration Comparison
Theatrical Trailers
Poster Gallery
Still Gallery

Editorial Reviews

Unashamedly tearjerking, With a Song in My Heart is also a little heavy on corn, but its manipulations are hard to resist. True, there are occasions when the dialogue gets to be a little much, but there also are any number of entertaining, snappy lines to help make up for this. And if the screenplay comes across as formulaic, it's repeating a formula that works -- as long as the cast and director take it at face value and believe in it. That's definitely the case here, with director Walter Lang never revealing that the work in question is anything less than top notch. The film's biggest asset, of course, is Susan Hayward's galvanizing performance. Hayward's Froman is a loveable hellcat, full of life even at her most morose and despondent; there's a crackle to everything Hayward does, which helps the film over many bumps. Jane Froman's own renditions of the songs also count for a great deal, particularly the title song and the pull-out-the-stops sentimental "Americana" medley. Add in a razor-sharp Thelma Ritter and a finely detailed David Wayne, not to mention an attention-grabbing Robert Wagner, wrap it in some gorgeous gowns, and you end up with an artificial but immensely enjoyable production.