By Violet LeVoit
Break of Hearts
Brief Synopsis
An unknown composer tries to save the conductor she loves from his drinking problem.
Cast & Crew
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Philip Moeller
Director
Katharine Hepburn
Constance Dane Roberti
Charles Boyer
Franz Roberti
John Beal
Johnny Lawrence
Jean Hersholt
Professor Thalma
Sam Hardy
Marx
Film Details
Also Known As
The Music Man
Genre
Romance
Drama
Release Date
May
31,
1935
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 16 May 1935
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Synopsis
Brought together by their old music teacher, Professor Thalma, successful playboy orchestra conductor Franz Roberti and struggling composer Constance Dane fall in love and marry. Although Constance knows about Franz's prior love affairs, she is shocked when she runs into her husband and another woman in the Ritz dining room after having overheard the woman discussing Franz with a friend in the powder room. Embarrassed, though innocent, Franz lies to Constance about the situation, which humiliates her to the point of leaving. Under a false name, Constance takes a job auditioning new compositions at a music publishing house, while Franz, too proud to go after his wife, leaves for Europe on a tour. After collapsing with exhaustion at work, Constance is cared for by Franz's old friend, Johnny Lawrence, who has secretly loved her for months. Fresh from Europe, a still mournful Franz accidentally meets Constance at a wild New Year's Eve party and immediately proposes that they reunite. Constance rejects the suggestion, implying that she is now as "experienced" as he in matters of love. Ravaged by jealous melancholy, Franz turns to drink and, after falling off his podium during a benefit concert, is fired from his conducting post. Soon after, Constance travels to Reno for a divorce and is about to marry Johnny when Professor Thalma begs her to see Franz one last time. Finding him haggard and drunk in a cafe, Constance plays the piano piece she had written as a tribute to their love and inspires him for a moment before he collapses. After telling Johnny goodbye, Constance dedicates herself to healing Franz, who soon returns to his beloved orchestra.
Director
Philip Moeller
Director
Cast
Katharine Hepburn
Constance Dane Roberti
Charles Boyer
Franz Roberti
John Beal
Johnny Lawrence
Jean Hersholt
Professor Thalma
Sam Hardy
Marx
Inez Courtney
Miss Wilson
Helene Millard
Sylvia DeWitt
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Enrico Pazzinni
Susan Fleming
Elise
Lee Kohlmar
Schubert
Jean Howard
Didi Smith-Lennox
Anne Grey
Phyllis
Lowden Adams
Albert
Adrian Rosley
Bierbauer
Dick Elliott
Florist
Torben Meyer
Head waiter
Alexander Schonberg
Michael Visaroff
Gavin Gordon
Ray Mayer
Rafaela Ottiano
George Webb
Eddie Kane
Cornelius Keefe
Crew
Pandro S. Berman
Company
Joseph Biroc
Camera Operator
Carroll Clark
Art Director Associate
Lester Cohen
Story
Charles Darwin
Stand-in for John Beal
Robert De Grasse
Photography
Pat Doyle
Stand-in for Katharine Hepburn
P. J. Faulkner Jr.
Music rec by
William Hamilton
Editing
Victor Heerman
Screenwriter
Newton House
Stand-in for Charles Boyer
Edward Killy
Assistant Director
Vincent Lawrence
Contr to trmt
Jane Loring
Associate Director
Sarah Y. Mason
Screenwriter
Elizabeth Mcgaffey
Research
Jane Murfin
Cont
Bernard Newman
Gowns
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Max Steiner
Music Director
C. C. Thompson
Assistant Director
John Tribby
Recording
Anthony Veiller
Screenwriter
C. J. White
Production Manager
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
The Music Man
Genre
Romance
Drama
Release Date
May
31,
1935
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 16 May 1935
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Articles
Break of Hearts (1935) -
This on-again, off-again love story between a promising composer (Katharine Hepburn) and a moody symphonic conductor (French actor Charles Boyer) had a rocky production history. Hepburn was set to play against John Barrymore, but he was replaced with Francis Lederer, who was then swiftly replaced with Boyer. The male lead's casting is right -- Boyer, in his bedroom-eyes prime, is a paragon of tormented savoir faire, and it's easy to see what makes the women around him swoon --but the story was not a good vehicle for Hepburn's strengths, requiring her to be worshipful and timid in the presence of a "great man". She's atypically submissive as she weathers one indignity after another in the name of love, and the unconditional surrender doesn't flatter her. (Hepburn felt the same way, remembering this picture in one of her biographies as "a very dull movie" she was eager to get over with, so as to focus her attention on Alice Adams (1935) a project that excited her more.) Dismissed by critics and ignored at the box office, Break of Hearts is nevertheless a great opportunity to see Hepburn playing radically against type with competence, sensitivity, and sincerity.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Break of Hearts (1935) -
This on-again, off-again love story between a promising composer (Katharine Hepburn) and a moody symphonic conductor (French actor Charles Boyer) had a rocky production history. Hepburn was set to play against John Barrymore, but he was replaced with Francis Lederer, who was then swiftly replaced with Boyer. The male lead's casting is right -- Boyer, in his bedroom-eyes prime, is a paragon of tormented savoir faire, and it's easy to see what makes the women around him swoon --but the story was not a good vehicle for Hepburn's strengths, requiring her to be worshipful and timid in the presence of a "great man". She's atypically submissive as she weathers one indignity after another in the name of love, and the unconditional surrender doesn't flatter her. (Hepburn felt the same way, remembering this picture in one of her biographies as "a very dull movie" she was eager to get over with, so as to focus her attention on Alice Adams (1935) a project that excited her more.) Dismissed by critics and ignored at the box office, Break of Hearts is nevertheless a great opportunity to see Hepburn playing radically against type with competence, sensitivity, and sincerity.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
After completing one scene in the role of Franz Roberti, Francis Lederer refused to shoot a particular set-up, complaining it showed his "bad" side. Katharine Hepburn and assistant director Edward Killy complained to studio head J.P. MacDonald, who fired Lederer, replacing him with 'Boyer, Charles' .
Notes
Break of Hearts, which was originally titled The Music Man, was Theatre Guild director Philip Moeller's second and last film and was the second and last time he collaborated on directing with film editor Jane Loring. The film was also the third consecutive film that Katharine Hepburn made with writers Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman. According to an October 1933 Film Daily news item, John Cromwell was originally slated to direct Hepburn, Gregory Ratoff and John Barrymore in the picture. Charles Boyer replaced Francis Lederer, who was fired after a few days of filming because of "differences of opinion" with the director, according to Hollywood Reporter and RKO production files. Daily Variety claimed that Lederer felt that Hepburn was "getting all the breaks in camera angles" and that he was playing "second fiddle." Modern sources state that Lederer, who was recommended for the part by Heerman and Mason after they saw him play a musician in a stage production, infuriated Hepburn because he was "rude" and "slow" to learn his lines and then infuriated assistant director Eddie Killy when he refused to shoot a particular set-up because it showed his "bad" side. Killy and Hepburn took their complaints to studio head J. P. MacDonald, who then fired Lederer, according to modern sources. Lederer had completed only one scene, which was subsequently reshot with Boyer. RKO borrowed Boyer from Walter Wanger's production company.
According to Hollywood Reporter production charts, Inez Palange was a cast member, but her participation in the final film cannot be confirmed. A number of music hall interiors were shot on location at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, according to production files. Music numbers in the film included excerpts from Antonín Dvorák's Ninth Symphony, From the New World, and Robert Schumann's piano piece "Träumerie" from Kinderscenen. According to Film Daily, Leopold Stokowski, then the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, wrote music "especially" for the film. However, he is not credited on screen or in reviews. Modern sources also state that Hepburn interviewed musicians in preparation for her role. Modern sources list Jason Robards and Egon Brecher as cast members and credit Mel Berns with makeup.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1935
Released in United States on Video August 30, 1989
Released in United States 1935
Released in United States on Video August 30, 1989
