The Melody Lingers On
Cast & Crew
David Burton
Josephine Hutchinson
George Houston
John Halliday
Mona Barrie
Helen Westley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1917, Carlo Salvini, an opera singer and captain in the Italian army, returns home to participate in a performance of Carmen for a Red Cross benefit. Afterward, Carlo meets Franceska Manzoni and her niece, pianist Ann Prescott. When German troops move closer to the village, Carlo and his fellow soldiers help Franceska, Ann and the other villagers evacuate. Before Carlo can get away, however, the German troops invade and Ann hides him in the attic. During the ensuing months, Ann and Carlo fall in love and marry. Carlo returns to the front line, and later Ann gives birth to their son, whom she names Carlo. Then, Franceska, who was her piano instructor too, dies, and her final wish is for Ann to dedicate young Carlo's life to music. In order to save her baby from the enemy concentration camp, Ann turns him over to the custody of a Dominican convent. After Ann learns that Carlo has died, she returns to the convent, but the Mother Superior informs her she cannot have custody of Carlo without a husband. Desperate, Ann decides to enter the convent as a nun, and is able to ascertain which child is her own. Ann is forced to leave the order, however, when she is caught trying to leave with the baby. Ann returns to her family villa, immerses herself in the piano, and becomes an acclaimed concert pianist. Years later, after hiring an agency to track her son, Ann learns that Carlo was adopted by diplomat Marco Turina and his wife Sylvia. A friend, Groce, helps Ann get invited to a party at the Turina home, and there Ann sees Carlo, who is now called Guido Turina and is a young college student. A bond between Guido and Ann develops, and he confides to her that he feels a strange calling to become a musician, although his father plans for him to follow the long line of Turina men and become a diplomat. In order for Ann to continue to see Guido and coerce Marco to allow the boy to sing, she develops a friendship with Marco, but Sylvia misconstrues the relationship, and a desperate Ann is forced to confront her. Ann reveals Guido's parentage to Sylvia so that Sylvia will help the young man fulfill his true destiny. Ann agrees to leave, but receives her life's wish when Guido becomes an opera star.
Director
David Burton
Cast
Josephine Hutchinson
George Houston
John Halliday
Mona Barrie
Helen Westley
Laura Hope Crews
William Harrigan
David Scott
Walter Kingsford
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Grace Poggi
Inez Palange
Frank Puglia
Gennaro Curci
Francesco Maran
Eily Malyon
Marion Ballou
Adele St. Maur
Eddie Conrad
Nina Campana
William Von Brincken
Julian Rivero
Crew
Silvano Balboni
Georges Bizet
Ralph Block
Philip Dunne
Harry M. Goetz
Ludovic Halévy
Reginald Le Borg
Duncan Mansfield
Henri Meilhac
Alfred Newman
Robert Planck
John Ducasse Schultz
Edward Small
Eric Stacey
Helen Taylor
Howard C. Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Preview running times for this film were listed as 85 and 93 minutes. The Motion Picture Herald reviews noted that the film was to be cut.
