Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie Review

Rapturous in Blu.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 9, 2025

An early example of a soundtrack being better than the actual movie, Irving Rapper's Rhapsody in Blue celebrates the life and musical career of one George Gershwin (Robert Alda, dad of Alan) in this lengthy but decently engaging biopic. Featuring supporting performances by the likes of Joan Leslie, Charles Coburn, and Rosemary DeCamp, not to mention "as themselves" appearances by musicians and performers such as Oscar Levant, Paul Whiteman, Al Jolson, George White, and Hazel Scott, it feels genuine even if we know the details have been polished to a Hollywood shine.

Playing things straight with a chronological narrative, Rhapsody in Blue begins with a piano delivery and forced lessons for little Ira Gershwin (Herbert Rudley), who's not entirely interested in either one. His younger brother George (Alda) shows a lot more enthusiasm, however, so parents Morris and Rose (Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp) decide to sign him up instead. Showing both natural talent and an interest in composing, George goes through a few teachers before finally sticking with Professor Franck (Albert Bassermann), the first of several fictional characters and eyebrow-raising "facts" presented during Rhapsody in Blue; these continue through his rise to fame during a short but meteoric music career that ended with Gershwin's death in 1937, only eight years prior to the film's theatrical debut.

Like most biopics, Rhapsody plays it fast and very loose with history but aims to capture an accurate spirit instead, which it does through the copious use of Gershwin's deep music catalogue which includes Broadway hits, orchestral works, and his groundbreaking opera Porgy and Bess. It's at least partially concerned with accuracy in some respects, such as Gershwin's genre-blending fusion of jazz and symphonic music, not to mention the presence of a few real-life figures playing themselves. Yet Hollywood being Hollywood, several additions have been made to spice up the story (a split romantic subplot involving Gershwin, Julie Adams [Joan Lesli], and Christine Gilbert [Alexis Smith]) while other items are basically smoothed over or ignored (two Gershwin siblings are omitted, and George's close relationship with Ira is dialed back quite a bit), which gives the film a slightly bitter aftertaste. Luckily, the supporting players and music save the day here, bringing Rhapsody to at least modest heights during its ambitious runtime of 161 minutes.

Speaking of which, the slightly longer version of Rhapsody in Blue included on Warner Archive's new Blu-ray represents director Irving Rapper's original cut; this version was reportedly shown to key members of the military in late 1943 and 1944 before its wide theatrical debut, and includes 12-13 minutes of additional footage including a much longer version of the Porgy and Bess sequence. Now fully restored from two different primary sources mentioned below, the brand-new reconstruction of this flawed but fascinating film will make WAC's Blu-ray an essential purchase for fans.

Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It may not look flat-out flawless to the untrained eye, but enough behind-the-scenes care was given to this recent restoration by Warner Archive that I have no choice to award it perfect marks. For starters, it must be repeated that, since 1945, most fans have only ever been able to see the shorter theatrical cut of Rhapsody in Blue, whose original negative (held by the Library of Congress) already suffered from various types of damage. This new presentation was constructed with the help of a composite fine grain print of the longer 161-minute cut (found deep within Warner Bros.' nitrate holdings at UCLA) to replace sections of the negative where scenes were trimmed for its wide theatrical release. Both elements were scanned in 4K, manually cleaned, and carefully bridged to produce this new 1080p transfer, which marks the full-length film's first public appearance in 80 years. The end result is about as consistent as possible under the circumstances, showing various fluctuations in quality but, as these screenshots suggest, it's an overwhelmingly great presentation that's not only the best that Rhapsody in Blue has ever looked, it's basically the worldwide debut of a version that's been hiding for decades. Add in the studio's excellent quality control, which includes solid encoding on this dual-layered disc, and you've got yet another five-star feather in the boutique label's cap.

For more information on this new restoration and lots of other neat little tidbits about Rhapsody in Blue, please listen to this recent interview between Tim Millard and Warner Archive's George Feltenstein, and by all means seek out every other WAC-related video and podcast from The Extras while you're at it.

Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio follows suit, as this lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track advances on Warner Archive's 2012 DVD edition with solid fidelity that wavers ever-so-slightly here and here but overall remains a suitably impressive effort with very little age-related wear and tear remaining. Slight levels of hiss are present, but likely left alone so as not to disturb the film's dynamic range with noise reduction. As expected, Gershwin's numerous hits -- some of them mentioned by name below -- remain an ever-present highlight during countless stand-alone scenes and montages.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the film only, not the bonus features.

Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork and a few extras.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:19) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

• Song Selection - Instant access to more than two dozen songs, and medleys during the film such as "S'Wonderful", "Somebody Loves Me", "Rhapsody in Blue", "The Man I Love", "Yankee Doodle Blues", "Embraceable You", "An American in Paris", "Summertime", "Love Walked In", and many more.

Rhapsody in Blue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In many ways, Irving Rapper's Rhapsody in Blue is a by-the-numbers biopic stretched to near-epic length, featuring copious amounts of historical inaccuracies all done in the name of dramatic interest. I can't say that these changes are equally effective, but the end result is nonetheless intriguing and Gershwin's music, along with a handful of supporting performances, carry most of the weight. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is one of their best reconstructive efforts in recent memory, serving up a longer 161-minute version of the film that hasn't been available in at least 80 years. That alone makes this a release worth celebrating, whether you're a fan or not. Firmly Recommended to the right crowd.