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Words and Music

Play trailer Poster for Words and Music Released Dec 31, 1948 1h 59m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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14% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In this fictionalized account of the partnership of songwriting legends Richard Rogers and Lorenz "Larry" Hart, Richard (Tom Drake), a well-mannered composer, teams up with eccentric but talented wordsmith Larry (Mickey Rooney). After years of failure, they finally manage to hit it big on Broadway. Meanwhile, Richard tries to win over the mature Joyce (Ann Sothern), and Larry, who is attempting to romance vocalist Peggy (Betty Garrett), struggles with depression and a debilitating illness.
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Words and Music

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Bob Thomas Associated Press Stuffed with star names, too many tunes and an inane story. Jul 23, 2019 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Words and Music may be a musical celebration of the two Jewish songwriters with its beautiful staging of songs, but it's a sanitary version of their actual story and not much truth to it. Rated: 2/5 Apr 9, 2025 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy You don’t have to know a single detail about Hart to guess that he was gay in real life -- the movie handles that for you with its jittery, all-over-the-map characterization of the songwriter. Rated: 2.5/4 Sep 25, 2024 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jun 11, 2005 Full Review Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television some good song numbers Rated: 2/5 May 28, 2005 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Appallingly sanitized biopic of Rodgers and Hart. Rated: 2/5 Apr 11, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (26) audience reviews
David K It sounds like just being able to watch 22 Rodgers & Hart songs played out would be entertaining enough, but it just doesn't work that way. There is a story there and it just hangs there without any vested emotions, slogging stuff down. And, yet, a lack of a story wouldn't be any better, and I'm just not smart enough to figure out why with the star-studded cast. Oh, well. On another note, it is the last pairing of Mickey & Judy. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/08/25 Full Review Horror fan 4 It's a nice story filled with many great cameo performances. The ones I enjoyed the most were Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. Rooney gives a great leading performance and Janet Leigh was a breathe of fresh air. Tim Treakle Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/04/25 Full Review camille l Au milieu d'une hagiographie sans aucun intérêt de deux compositeurs du Hollywood des années 40s se cache un ensemble de numéros musicaux réjouissants, réunissant les monstres de l'époque (Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland et autre Perry Como). Words and Music ne sert qu'à cela. Il n'y aurait quasiment rien à sauver à part la guirlande de performances remarquables et clairement, le film n'a été fait que pour ça. Mickey Rooney est d'ailleurs particulièrement nul dans un des rôles principaux. Mais il est pourtant impossible de bouder son plaisir devant une telle générosité narcissique que représente Words and Music. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Shari H I found it brilliant, once again I am on the wrong side of the critics. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/15/19 Full Review Audience Member Wildly inaccurate account of Rodgers and Hart, bad portrayals by the actors. The songs, while sounding refreshing to ears of the 1940s, are very outdated. Many of them were re-done to great acclaim, which shows the team really had great talent. But this film gets everything wrong. It is a travesty to treat a talented team like Rodgers and Hart like this. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member The best musical movie ever made! With the best movie song ever sung: The Lady Is a Tramp! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Words and Music

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Cast & Crew

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Norman Taurog

Director

Mickey Rooney

Lorenz Hart

Tom Drake

Richard Rodgers

June Allyson

Alisande La Carteloise

Perry Como

Eddie Lorrison Anders

Ann Sothern

Joyce Harmon

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Words and Music

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this fictionalized account of the partnership of songwriting legends Richard Rogers and Lorenz "Larry" Hart, Richard (Tom Drake), a well-mannered composer, teams up with eccentric but talented wordsmith Larry (Mickey Rooney). After years of failure, they finally manage to hit it big on Broadway. Meanwhile, Richard tries to win over the mature Joyce (Ann Sothern), and Larry, who is attempting to romance vocalist Peggy (Betty Garrett), struggles with depression and a debilitating illness.
Director
Norman Taurog
Producer
Arthur Freed
Screenwriter
Fred F. Finklehoffe
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Musical
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 31, 1948, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2012
Runtime
1h 59m
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