Rhapsody

The idea of Elizabeth Taylor as an aspiring classical musician is improbable enough, but when it is presented as poorly as here it falls somewhere between the ridiculous and the inane.

Rhapsody is 1950s Hollywood at its worst – tacky soap opera-ish fol-de-rol with not a scintilla of credibility. Taylor was, amazingly, only 21 at the time she played Louise Durant, the spoiled daughter of some rich old goat (Louis Calhern). She sets her cap at career violinist Paul Bronte (Vittorio Gassman) who is about to start studying at the Zurich conservatory. Lulu finds it impossible to outfox the fiddle and when ex-GI James Guest (John Ericson) an aspiring piano student lands on her Zurich doorstep and falls for her, the rest is history.

The plot, with its conflict between love and ambition and the growing pains of poor little rich kids has been seen many times before and in a much better light. Vidor does nothing interesting with his material and whilst Taylor is remarkable for her age, the male leads, Gassman and Ericson are undistinguished, and only the scenes between Taylor and Calhern are worth any of the time spent on this nonsense.

 

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