Wow! Such a good movie.

Overrated

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The Glenn Miller Story, The Eddy Duchin Story, and Young Chopin are all biopics from the 1950s that show audiences a true story of a famous musician's life. Biopics have always been a popular genre, and in the golden age of musicals, the 1950s produced many true-to-life stories of musicians and singers. Rhapsody is based off of a novel, not real life, so keep that in mind when you watch it.Vittorio Gassman, who made a big splash in the previous year's Glass Ceiling, is placed in the difficult position of having to choose between two passions: the violin and Elizabeth Taylor. Tough decision. In the same Zurich music conservatory, a piano player falls in love with Liz, adding another love triangle to the mix. If you like these types of movies, with lots of classical music in the background and lots of violin and piano playing scenes, you'll probably want to add Rhapsody to your list. It doesn't have the same feel as a biopic, and sometimes the love stories get a little tiresome, but it's not the worst movie to come out of the decade.

This movie is nothing but a marvelous concert of marvelous pieces of music held together by a bit of film.I have it on in the background while I do other stuff, like a radio.They could just as well have shown any other film material as the music plays, like the Marx Brothers or something, totally inconsequential.So not much of a movie really, but like I said : great music. And given a choice between this and any other Modern product coming out of Hollywood I'll pick this anytime.There was obviously some sort of contractual obligation somewhere, the studios had to produce so much in so much time.Seems like a project put together over a quick lunch somewhere.

Sometimes it is not the movie itself, or the actors, that draw the attention, but rather the photography, or in this case the music. "Concerto #2 In C Minor For Piano And Orchestra" from Sergei Rachmaninoff by the famous French pianist Claudio Arreau and "Concerto In D Major For Violin And Orchestra" from Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky by the violinist Michael Rabin from New York. Most directors do not want to spend time for that. The movie is dull, and so is Elizabeth Taylor's acting. Hardly any intrigue or adventure. But it is a tribute to the genius of Michael Rabin. In fact the biography of this genial violinist is worth a movie in itself, not in the least because of his too early, tragic death. So, although this movie is not worth watching twice, it can certainly be listened to, over and over again.

Yes, Rapshody is somewhat tedious and quite melodramatic, but let me mention the positive offsets: 1. The dazzlingly beautiful, voluptuous Elizabeth Taylor.2. Adult themes, and must have been considered quite risqué at the time.3. Emotionally charged classical music.4. Generally quite well acted.5. Good direction, cinematography, settings, and costumes.Whether or not the positive offsets overcome the somewhat tedious, melodramatic plot depends on one's tolerance for melodrama and how strongly one values the various offsets.