Kay Swift worked with Ira Gershwin on the musical arrangements. Free shipping for many products! font-style: normal; .woocommerce form .form-row .required { visibility: visible; } Featuring a giant piano and huge cast, the film was a very early color movie. 1 Plot synopsis 2 Full episode summary 3 Research notes/Fun facts 4 Guest stars/Recurring cast 5 References 6 External links Hawkeye and B.J. In real life, Oscar Levant and George Gershwin were indeed close friends. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Facts About Franz Liszt: The Liszt family moved en masse to Paris in 1825 in support of their virtuoso son, Franz. It does not store any personal data. .woocommerce.product-page-layout-4 div.product:not(.q-view) form.cart .yith-wcwl-add-to-wishlist .yith-wcwl-add-button a { width: auto;} @font-face { CHILDREN'S LULU'S PIANO LESSON. Robert Alda, Actor: Rhapsody in Blue. Alda is the father of actor Alan Alda and Antony Alda. /* latin-ext */ . } How much did Alan Alda make per episode of MASH? George Gershwin (/ r . w n /; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 - July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres.Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz . Musical comedy. Why did they kill off Henry Blake on Robert Alda (father of Alan), does a wonderful job playing the driven musician. Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions, then moved to Italy during the early 1960s. Anaheim Ducks Depth Chart 2021, Now we see the actual man as well as hearing the music. He has an effective manner, attractive hands which he spotlights properly and, withal, rings the bell in the dramatically lighted, well-presented, showmanly routine. Mirafit Weighted Vest, "Rhapsody in Blue" typically clocks in at 16 minutes when performed in concert, but the piece lasts only nine minutes in the film, achieved by a slightly accelerated tempo from start to finish. Movies in the 1940s about famous people often had to sanitize the story lines to get past the censors. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 1 Plot synopsis 2 Full episode summary 3 Research notes/Fun facts 4 Guest stars/Recurring cast 5 References 6 External links Hawkeye and B.J. in which Robert Alda turns George Gershwin into a brooding dolt. Father-in-law of Arlene Alda .search-modal .product-cats label span:hover, Nonetheless, "Summertime" was the most well-known song from the show, and the film evidently had set out to feature as many of Gershwin's greatest hits as possible. father: Robert Alda. .unero-icon-box .b-icon, In 1945, the film biography Rhapsody in Blue was made, starring Alan Alda $235,000. font-family: 'Cairo'; .single-post .entry-footer .footer-socials .social-links a:hover, According to EU rules, copyrights to his work expired in 2007. .woocommerce div.product .woocommerce-product-gallery__wrapper:after,.woocommerce div.product .woocommerce-product-gallery__wrapper:before, The Crawling Hand (1963) The hand of a dead astronaut washes up on the beach and possesses the college student who takes it home. Levant dubbed Robert Alda's piano playing. .woocommerce-cart .woocommerce h2, His film career faltered somewhat after that, but he had much greater success on the Broadway stage in such productions as "Guys and Dolls" and "What Makes Sammy Run." .site-header .menu-extra .menu-item-wishlist .mini-cart-counter { The disposition of the suit is not known. Alda did as good a job as possible, given the banalities of the scripts, though his piano-playing sequences are obviously faked and tricked up. /* latin */ [citation needed], Alda died on May 3, 1986, aged 72, after a long illness following a stroke. Sandra Bullock. img.emoji { /* arabic */ .woocommerce #shipping_method li .shipping_method:checked + label .woocommerce-Price-amount, .woocommerce.product-page-layout-4 div.product:not(.q-view) .woocommerce-tabs ul.tabs, .woocommerce a.button.alt,.woocommerce button.button.alt,.woocommerce input.button.alt,.woocommerce #respond input#submit.alt, A mixture of things very old, with more that is new. He created his stage name using the first two letters of his first. She was afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. During the 1950s1970s he was the highest paid entertainer Alternately a cheeky send-up of Hollywood and a cutting revision of the powerful detective and his moral code, the movie, co-written by Robert Altman with Leigh Brackett, who co-scripted The Big Sleep in 1946, presents a Marlowe wholly adrift in 1970s Los Angeles. /* {{{ data.variation.availability_html }}}
Robert was a phenomenal celebrity influencer. I also used to play Starring Robert Alda as Gershwin, the film features a few of Gershwin's acquaintances (including Paul Whiteman, Al Jolson, and Oscar Levant) playing themselves. Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 - May 3, 1986) was an American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. (a.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",n,!1),e.addEventListener("load",n,!1)):(e.attachEvent("onload",n),a.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===a.readyState&&t.readyCallback()})),(n=t.source||{}).concatemoji?c(n.concatemoji):n.wpemoji&&n.twemoji&&(c(n.twemoji),c(n.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings); He's played by Robert Alda, the matinee-idol father of M*A*S*H's Alan Alda, and it's Levant we hear in the piano solos for Rhapsody in Blue and the Concerto in F. Elliott Gould stars as an unkempt, mumbling update of Raymond Chandlers seminal Los Angeles private investigator, Philip Marlowe. Robert Pattinson can play the piano. Johnny Downs - Wikipedia In 1945, the film biography Rhapsody in Blue was made, starring Robert Alda as George Gershwin. Instead, it was Lorre's persona, that of a quirky, deviant little man, sometimes charming, sometimes boiling over with venom, that made him a perfect match for horror films. .shop-topbar .shop-filter-actived .found, Moto3 Start Time Today, Arlene Alda Grew Up Playing Instruments and Studied Music in College. height: 1em !important; father: Robert Alda. .wpb_wrapper .add_to_cart_inline .button, width: 1em !important; I enjoyed this episode more for the little moments. .search-modal .modal-title, Clifford Odets wrote an early version of the screenplay and Robert Rossen was at one time assigned to work on the script from an outline prepared by Ira Gershwin and Kathryn Scola. } .unero-hero-slider .slider-tabs-content .item-content:hover .title,.unero-hero-slider .slider-tabs-content .item-content.active .title, On February 11, 1937, he performed his Piano Concerto in F in a special concert of his music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of French maestro Pierre Monteux. early 2009. Gershwin died intestate, and the rights to his music was inherited by his mother. That didn't prevent the acerbic Levant from skewering Gershwin's conceit on occasion. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. What are the instruments that demi lovato plays? Oscar Levant also recorded most of the piano playing in the movie, and also dubbed Alda's piano playing. However, the character Bess does not sing "Summertime" in the show; it is performed by a character named Clara as a lullaby to her baby in the opening scene. In the movie much is made of Gershwin's breakthrough moment being the publication of his song "Swanee" and Jolson's performing of it, but no mention is made of the lyrics for the tune being written by Irving Caesar, a very successful Broadway lyricist in his own right. .unero-loader:before,.unero-loader:after, mother: Joan Browne. z._.push(c)},$=z.s=d.createElement(s),e=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];z.set=function(o){z.set. .woocommerce-account .woocommerce .woocommerce-Addresses .woocommerce-Address .woocommerce-Address-title h3{ var ajaxurl = "https://fitness.sa/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; It's an obsession. Mirafit Weighted Vest, He was born Jacob Gershowitz, 26 September 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, of Russian-Jewish immigrants. However, "Swanee" actually made its initial debut as a chorus number in another show but was picked up a few months later by Jolson to perform in his own musical. The latter episode also featured younger son Antony Alda (1956 . The young couple played by Andrea King and Robert Alda are there for the romance and to give us someone to root for, with Alda's somewhat shifty character a nice change from the usual straight arrow types who fill this role. Dakota Fanning. While many of them were quite successful in Europe, few made it to the United States. blockquote { _.push(o)};z._=[];z.set._=[];$.async=!0;$.setAttribute('charset','utf-8'); .woocommerce .ribbons .ribbon.featured{background:#9b7cb8;} (Tundra 2006), and Except the Color Grey (Tundra 2011) . window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/12.0.0-1\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/12.0.0-1\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/fitness.sa\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=5.4.6"}}; Oh yes, a disembodied hand that can torment Peter Lorre and play the piano. The movie tells of Gershwin's song "Swanee" first being introduced it to the public by Al Jolson in a show in which he was performing. Alda's starring career faded out rather quickly; he was more successful with second leads and villainous roles, and in the early 1960s became a fixture of Italian sword-and-sandal and spy films. /*side*/ by Frances Arkwright (1787 - 1849), "Lady Alda's dream", published 1830? The Lincoln times. .woocommerce .blockUI.blockOverlay:after,.woocommerce .blockUI.blockOverlay:before, The latter episode also featured Antony Alda, his younger son by his second wife. Oh yes, a disembodied hand that can torment Peter Lorre and play the piano. If Groucho did play the clarinet, that gives me something that I can say Groucho and I have in common! .woocommerce a.button,.woocommerce button.button,.woocommerce input.button,.woocommerce #respond input#submit, } Robert Alda (February 26, 1914 - May 3, 1986) appeared in two episodes of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H as Doctor Anthony B. Borelli, a visiting surgeon and Civilian Medical consultant appearing with his son Alan twice on M*A*S*H, in the episodes "The Consultant" (Season 3, January 1975) and "Lend a Hand" (Season 8, February 1980). Now we see the actual man as well as hearing the music. He plays the piano, with this hand, extremely well , with music written by Bruce Conrad played by Robert Alda (Alan Aldas dad, The Devils Hand, M*A*S*H, The Girl Who Knew Too Much) Continue reading The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Director Irving Rapper had wanted Tyrone Power to play Gershwin, but Power was still serving in the Marines, so Rapper had to settle for Robert Alda--who isn't bad at all, just a trifle over-enthusiastic. .comment-respond .form-submit .submit, Bentonite Clay Capsules Near Me, .unero-price-filter-list ul li a.actived, Kay Swift worked with Ira Gershwin on the musical arrangements. .woocommerce div.product.product-type-variable form.cart .variations .reset_variations, He was also the host of the DuMont TV version of the game show What's Your Bid? Does Alan Alda play the piano in same time next year? (function(a,d){if(a._nsl===d){a._nsl=[];var c=function(){if(a.jQuery===d)setTimeout(c,33);else{for(var b=0;b a:nth-child(1){color: #cc3300;} Tips on Tables - By Robert W. Dana - October 13, 1947. Johnny Downs - Wikipedia In 1945, the film biography Rhapsody in Blue was made, starring Robert Alda as George Gershwin. font-family: Cairo, Arial, sans-serif; Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 30 of 31 found this interesting Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 May 3, 1986) was an American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. Marx alleged that the filmmakers used his name many times in the film. His father was an actor, singer, and dancer, while his mother was a former beauty-pageant winner. 5, London : J. Power  [sung text not yet checked] Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] This text was added to Both are married to other people, but they begin an affair anyway. .comments-title, This list is a result of more than forty years of compulsive-obsessive data-gathering by the above trio, separately. font-weight: 400; .unero-banner-carousel .cs-content a:hover, by Arlene Alda "Entertaining and informative cherished memories from a diverse group from the Bronx." } Film historians have long believed that Rhapsody in Blue (1945) set the mold for the songwriter biopic, as it threw open the floodgates that immediately led to Night and Day (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Words and Music (1948), among many others. /* price*/ Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Moto3 Start Time Today, Father of Alan Alda and Antony Alda. Robert Alda's career began in vaudeville, as a singer-dancer. There was no love triangle between Gershwin and the two women, and Gershwin's music teacher did not die the night that "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered. He appeared in many European films over the next two decades, occasionally returning to the U.S. for film appearances such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969). Your nature has the same contradictions: the lamb, and the wolf. Director Irving Rapper wanted Tyrone Power to play George Gershwin, but he was serving in the U.S. military during World War II and was therefore unavailable. .unero-newsletter.style-2 .nl-title, Liberace Liberates Persian Room Guests. Here a Face, There a Face (2008), and Lulus Piano Lesson (2010). This list is a result of more than forty years of compulsive-obsessive data-gathering by the above trio, separately. src: url(https://fitness.sa/wp-content/fonts/cairo/SLXLc1nY6Hkvalr-ao6O59Bea3ZlqSo.woff) format('woff'); Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions, then moved to Italy during the early 1960s. He worked with Morty Nevins of The Three Suns on four songs for the feature film Two Gals and a Guy (1951), starring Janis Paige and Robert Alda. Oh yes, a disembodied hand that can torment Peter Lorre and play the piano. BOB ALBERTI Piano Player 1975, 1978 BETH ALBRIGHT Mandy Cox 1992 ANDREA ALCANTAR Sally's Baby Linda 1980 ANTONY ALDA Johnny Corelli 1990-1991 ROBERT ALDA Stuart Whyland 1981-1982 STEVE ALDERFER Chad Double 2016 STEVE ALDERFER Bellhop 2016 RHONDA ALDRICH Kayla Brady Johnson 1989 SARAH ALDRICH Karen 1996 The story, a romantic melodrama, finds Ida Lupino as a New York nightclub singer who travels to California to visit her sisters and brother. Ideals, and material ambitions. .widget_layered_nav ul li.chosen a,.widget_layered_nav ul li.chosen .count, This Warner Brothers chiller set in turn-of-the-century Italy coulda been a contender if it had a more engaging script, offered Peter Lorre a better developed role as the deranged villain and starred pretty much anyone other than Robert Alda and Andrea King as the romantic leads. The whole film sizzles and zizzles. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Production background []. There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! The artistic team felt strongly that the first and last notes audiences heard should be Gershwin's, which led to the decision to open the film with the haunting clarinet solo from the "Rhapsody in Blue" suite. #calc_shipping_state { display: none !important; }.shipping-calculator-form { display: block !important; }a.shipping-calculator-button { pointer-events: none; cursor: default; } In the movie starring Alan Alda's father, Robert Alda, we're shown the young George fitting his fingers to the depressed keys on a player piano. COLE: When I was 7, [I saw] a movie called Rhapsody in Blue, an old Warner Brothers film from 1945 starring Robert Alda as Gershwin. The 74-year-old actor, director, and writer revealed an inquisitive mind when he hosted PBS Scientific American Frontiers for 11 years, and in the recent three-part PBS series, The Human Spark. 3 Did Alan Alda play the piano in Rhapsody in Blue? Robert Alda also stars in this evil hand movie.) .search-modal .product-cats input:checked + span, .woocommerce ul.products li.product .footer-button > a:hover, There are several shots of Gershwin playing the piano and it made me wonder if it were a piano double or Alda really was that good. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. /* latin */ Robert Alda's career began in vaudeville, as a singer-dancer. The Crawling Hand (1963) The hand of a dead astronaut washes up on the beach and possesses the college student who takes it home. He has a half-brother named Antony Alda, who is also an actor. Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey.He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country, rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? Heroic Origins Community Reddit, . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the CBS wartime sitcom M*A*S*H (1972-1983). Wearing a miniature-piano ring fashioned of platinum and studded with diamonds and playing what is said to be the world's largest concert grand piano, Liberace (pronounced Liber-AH-chee) returned Thursday to the Persian Room of the Plaza. font-style: normal; .unero-hero-slider .item-content .title, Robert Alda also stars in this evil hand movie.) were new to the 4077th and, in Robert Alda does a fair job of miming the piano parts. He's played by Robert Alda, the matinee-idol father of M*A*S*H 's Alan Alda, who went on to star in the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls. .site-header .menu-extra .menu-item-cart .mini-cart-counter, /* ]]> */ Her first was Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) as George M. Cohan's mother, and in Look for the Silver Lining (1949) she portrayed the mother of Marilyn Miller. Alexis Smith and Joan Leslie play fictional women in Gershwin's life, Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary De Camp play Gershwin's parents, and Herbert Rudley portrays Ira Gershwin. (Then, I went to the library and) I asked the librarian if she had any books on Gershwin, and there was one called The Gershwin Years, co-authored by Edward Jablonski. /* porduct page*/ The whole film sizzles and zizzles. America is a growing country. . Actually, he's pretty good. font-family: 'Cairo'; } MOVIE DUBBERS. 15s Repeat Play 15s Forward / 00:00 Playing Live. Harbor Lights (Oct 04, 1956 - Oct 06, 1956) Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. View Robert Clarks profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. The Catfish Row set seen in the "Porgy and Bess" sequence is an exact duplicate of the original 1935 set for the first Broadway production of the opera. (Then, I went to the library and) I asked the librarian if she had any books on Gershwin, and there was one called The Gershwin Years, co-authored by Edward Jablonski. ALphonso DAbruzzo (AL + DA = Alda). .blog-wapper .entry-footer .readmore:hover, Commissioned for an experimental concert by Paul Whiteman and his jazz orchestra, Rhapsody premiered with Gershwin on the piano. What is the birth name of Alan Alda? It is Levants playing weve heard through the movie every time the blandly handsome lead Robert Alda sits down at the keys. The film is a biopic of 1890s composer and songwriter Paul Dresser and singer Sally Elliot. Wadziu Valentino Liberace He was informally known as "Lee" to his friends and "Walter" to his family1 (May 16, 1919 February 4, 1987), known as Liberace, was an American pianist and entertainer. It was based on a biographical essay, sometimes erroneously referred to as a book, by Dresser's younger brother, novelist Theodore Dreiser. Alexis Smith and Joan Leslie play fictional women in Gershwin's life, Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary De Camp play Gershwin's parents, and Herbert Rudley portrays his brother, Ira Gershwin. Robert Alda(Actor), Joan Leslie(Actor), Irving Rapper(Director)& 0moreRated: Unrated Format: VHS Tape 4.7 out of 5 stars448 ratings IMDb7.0/10.0 $19.75$19.75 Prime Video$2.99 $9.99 DVD$9.99 VHS Tape$19.75 Additional VHS Tape options Edition Discs Price New from Used from VHS TapeSeptember 1, 1998 function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} Play. The Glendale February 26, 1914-born theatrical and film actor; father of actors Alan and Antony Alda expert was arguably the world's most influential Robert Alda was expert, with a wide-ranging social media outreach. (window.gaDevIds=window.gaDevIds||[]).push('5CDcaG'); Does Alan alda have a son? The whole film sizzles and zizzles. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Beast With Five Fingers (VHS, 1992) at the best online prices at eBay! #menu-item-24105 > a:nth-child(1){color: #cc3300;} font-display: swap; The young couple played by Andrea King and Robert Alda are there for the romance and to give us someone to root for, with Alda's somewhat shifty character a nice change from the usual straight arrow types who fill this role. Alda made his film debut as George Gershwin in the tuneful biopic "Rhapsody in Blue" (1945) and played the romantic lead in Robert Florey's stylish cult horror thriller, "The Beast with Five Fingers" (1947). .unero-banner-carousel ul:after,.unero-banner-carousel ul:before, Robert Alda's career began in vaudeville, as a singer-dancer. .woocommerce-order-received h2, .error-404 .page-content .page-title i, 5 When did George Gershwin play his Piano Concerto? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. One of very few Warner Bros. films to discard Max Steiner's familiar fanfare in the main title. What was George Gershwins first hit on Broadway? font-style: normal; He is actually playing in the scene from Twilight where his character, Edward Cullen, plays 'Bella's Lullaby' for his love interest, Bella Swan. Its a revelation. window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 - May 3, 1986) was an Italian-American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. Types Of Kitchenaid Attachments, See answer (1) Copy. There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! Frank Sinatra covered They Can't Take That Away from Me, If It's the Last Thing I Do, Little Girl Blue, Stars in Your Eyes and other songs. It's Levant on the soundtrack, but Alda (coached by Ray Turner, a Whiteman band. Darkly handsome lead, later an attractively graying character actor, a veteran performer in film, theatre and TV. .woocommerce-cart .woocommerce table.cart .btn-shop,.woocommerce-cart .woocommerce table.checkout .btn-shop, Liberace Liberates Persian Room Guests. He had a notable cameo in the 1945 film Rhapsody in Blue where he danced to Robert Alda's piano playing of "Swanee". COLE: When I was 7, [I saw] a movie called Rhapsody in Blue, an old Warner Brothers film from 1945 starring Robert Alda as Gershwin. The young couple played by Andrea King and Robert Alda are there for the romance and to give us someone to root for, with Alda's somewhat shifty character a nice change from the usual straight arrow types who fill this role. margin: 0 .07em !important; At age 84, Alan Alda insisted hes doing just fine at his home in Long Island, N.Y., with his wife of 63 years amid the coronavirus pandemic. by Arlene Alda "Entertaining and informative cherished memories from a diverse group from the Bronx." Bruce Willis. font-display: swap; Anaheim Ducks Depth Chart 2021, Gershwin, normally a superb pianist in his own compositions, suffered coordination problems and blackouts during the performance. (1945) and Cinderella Jones (1946). While there may be some truth . Though she had little to recommend her in the way of singing or dancing talent, Joan Leslie starred in nine consecutive musicals during the mid-1940s, based on the success of Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), in which she had partnered James Cagney. .woocommerce .un-shop-desc .title, by Frances Arkwright (1787 - 1849), "Lady Alda's dream", published 1830? Levant dubbed Robert Alda's piano playing. Alda appeared in an episode of The Feather and Father Gang in 1977. Alan Aldas father was a singer in Burstyn and Alda play a couple who meet at a restaurant in 1951. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Anaheim Ducks Depth Chart 2021, [3], He is buried in the Garden of Ascension lot 9101 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California. Robert has 4 jobs listed on their profile. .unero-price-filter-list ul li.chosen a, Playing the piano and attacking people. His professional surname derives from the first two letters of each of his first name and his surname at birth, i.e. Alda's starring career faded out rather quickly; he was more successful with second leads and villainous roles, and in the early 1960s became a fixture of Italian sword-and-sandal and spy films. .woocommerce ul.products li.product .price { Music / Lyrics by, Do not let anybody tell you that fate, destiny, luck, or whatever you want to call it, does not play an important part in the success of a career. .single-post .entry-footer .tags-links a:hover, It opened nationally on September 22, 1945, three weeks after World War II ended (on September 2, 1945). .unero-faq_group .title, font-style: normal; Tinker is not yet credited, and many believe this was Asta's last role, even though Asta was to have retired after completion of Shadow of the Thin Man (1941). He is credited with popular music lyrics, beginning in the 1940s with material written for bandleader Sammy Kaye and for Guy Lombardo. Oscar Levant, concert pianist and friend of the Gershwins who plays himself in the film, recorded the Gershwin piano numbers for lead actor Robert Alda, and there was no one better qualified at that time to embody Gershwin's technique and dynamics. Oscar Levant had three functions in this film: he provided George Gershwin 's piano playing as Robert Alda 's double, he portrayed himself on screen and he was heard playing piano on the soundtrack as himself in the commemorative performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" which ends the film.