Song without End (1960)

By 1960, the kind of old fashioned classical composer bio that is Song Without End was a strange anomaly. Like countless Hollywood biopics before it, Song plays fast and loose with the truth in its retelling of the life and loves of the brilliant Franz Liszt. As is usually the case with these rewrites, the "new" story isn't so very new and isn't really an improvement on what actually happened, but Song does manage to be one of the better examples of this genre (and a far sight better than the still-to-come Ken Russell take on Liszt, the bizarre Lisztomania.) Song benefits from a lovely and intelligent performance from Dirk Bogarde as Liszt, who even manages to fake the piano playing convincingly. He's not given a lot of character depth to explore, but Bogarde makes the surface characteristics quite interesting enough by themselves to carry things along nicely. Capucine looks elegant and composed; she doesn't contribute a great deal of acting to the role, but her physical presence helps a great deal. The film is more than a bit choppy, most likely due to the fact that it was directed by two different people after the original director died; this lack of a cohesive feel is damaging, but not fatal. And the film benefits from the thrilling performances of Liszt's music, of which there is plenty. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide