I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 5, 2014

Borden Chase was a journeyman writer who churned out a huge amount of short stories for then popular periodicals like The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s, and who further adapted many of his stories for the screen. In what might be termed going from the ridiculous to the sublime, in 1946 Chase wrote the screenplay for I’ve Always Loved You, a pretty silly melodrama built around the world of classical music, and then went on a couple of years later to pen one of the all time classics in the western genre, Red River. Chase’s workmanlike approach yields a few dividends in this earlier piece, but it’s a fairly predictable and lightweight offering from an author who sometimes seemed to favor quantity over quality.

Myra Hassman (Catherine McLeod) is a promising young concert pianist who also happens to be the daughter of the mentor of famous conductor Leopold Goronoff (Philip Dorn), a demanding impresario who takes the young woman under his wing in the hopes of shaping her into a major classical music artist (the iconic Artur Rubinstein provided the piano playing that McLeod “finger syncs” to throughout the film). (Eagle eyed music lovers will spot a very young Andre Previn as an actor, albeit one probably playing his own piano, in the film's early audition scene.) Goronoff has romantic designs on Myra, but she is drawn toward humble farm boy George (William Carter), especially after Goronoff’s Svengali tactics and harridan personal demeanor get in the way of any kind of romantic relationship. However, Myra can’t help but think what might have been after she settles down with George, leading to a predictable climax where Myra not only gets to fulfill her concert pianist dreams but also declare her undying devotion to her husband. It’s all patently formulaic, without much emotional impact or drive. If this were a movement in a piano concerto, it would be a decided adagio, slow and stately but not especially memorable.

I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I've Always Loved You is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. This is an actual Technicolor presentation for the usually struggling Republic Studios, but there are manifest issues with the elements used here, including near ubiquitous fringing, registration issues and layer separation which causes a quasi-ringing around objects within the frame. Colors have faded noticeably, but there's still a hint of that awesome Technicolor peacock blue on display at times. Blacks are often kind of a smeary purplish color. The overall image is drab and soft looking, with only close-ups providing much in the way of fine detail.

I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately the film's soundtrack is in about the same condition as the image quality, and the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix struggles to overcome rampant distortion and crackling, something that interrupts virtually every musical performance. Dialogue fares at least a little better and is clearly presented.

I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements on this Blu-ray disc.

I've Always Loved You Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Classical music lovers may get some passing pleasures out of the various pieces on display here (including lots of Rachmaninoff), but the drama is pretty turgid and predictable, and the cast largely uninspiring.