As its fortunes grew in the mid-1940s, Republic Pictures occasionally strayed from its usual manifest of westerns and serials, hoping to produce something of "class." Filmed on a lavish budget in glorious Technicolor, Republic's I've Always Loved You stars
Philip Dorn as a tyrannical symphony conductor and
Catherine McLeod as his gifted young pianist protegee. In his own way, Dorn loves McLeod, but it is he who destroys her career by browbeating her mercilessly during her Carnegie Hall debut. Effortlessly stealing the film from the leads are
Maria Ouspenskaya as one "Mme. Goronoff" and comedy relief
Fritz Feld. The plot of I've Always Loved You is rather derivative of several like-vintage British "concerto" films, but the classical music passages, performed by piano virtuoso
Artur Rubinstein, are well worth the admission price. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide