Rhythm on the River (1940)

This is a very nice film from 1940. I have commented on it somewhat previously. It stars Mary Martin and Old Golden Tonsils Crosby. However, the two who steal the movie are Basil Rathbone and Oscar Levant. Levant was a wonderful pianist, and also a composer. But what made him such a hit in this show is his natural wit and sarcasm. In many of the scenes it is obvious that he is playing the piano live (and he was really good), and it appears in some of them where Bing or Mary sing and they also are live, which was not the norm in such movies. Rathbone plays a composer of musicals who has lost his touch and has to hire a ghost writer for both music (Bing) and lyrics (Mary), neither of whom is supposed to know that Basil is not writing the other part. Naturally, they eventually discover each other and fall in love. Some great music in the movie. Levant is on the right in the picture below.