Anyone have original Florence Foster Jenkins Melotone 78's ?

[De Soto Frank]

I now find myself, surprisingly, much more sympathetic to the lady than I ever was before I learned of her affliction with STD, and the terrible effects of both the disease and the attempted remedies. Surely these factors affected her judgement and behavior. Assuming that she was indeed a talented pianist in her youth, it is difficult for me to square her later performances with that background. But I know from my teaching and performing experiences that musical ability comes in all kinds of proportions and strengths. I once had a very talented and advanced instrumentalist in a music theory class, who was an absolute whiz on her instrument but who could not take a major scale from dictation; indeed, she was practically tone deaf. Another student, a pianist, had perfect pitch but "imperfect everything else," in the words of a colleague. I cite these two examples as relevant to the phenomenon that was Florence Foster Jenkins. In view of the good things that she did in support of the cause of promoting classical music by her other activities, and in consideration of her illness, I'm inclined to give the lady a pass.

Here-here.

[Henry]

Thanks, Frank. I saw the movie yesterday, and stand by what I said, times ten! This film is such a good representation of the person herself, showing all sides of her rather complex psyche, thanks to the masterful screenplay. The casting is perfect, and the acting flawless. The film is visually beautiful as well. The fact that Streep did all the singing, and Simon Helberg (Cosme McMoon) all the piano playing, is even more stunning. I can't say enough good things about the entire experience, and I plan to see it again ASAP.

[De Soto Frank]

I've seen it twice, and enjoyed it both times...

[Henry]

I've decided that the film is all about devotion, both artistic and personal. Or to put it more tritely, love.

[marcapra]

I just saw the movie Florence Foster Jenkins and was amazed at the high quality of the film. Hugh Grant, Meryl Streep, the guy playing the accompanist were superb in it. The settings were very high class as well. We record collectors will notice little details that are off, such as Toscanini bringing FFJ a new recording of him conducting Lily Pons on a Columbia record! Arturo never conducted Lily Pons and recorded exclusively for RCA Victor. Also the year of the movie is 1944 and we see a few 1950 era cars on the street. At first I thought is this now supposed to be several years later, and then realized no, the set designer didn't seem to care about the cars as long as they were old. Another thing I found a little off-putting, as a proud DeSoto owner, was that in New York City in 1944 most of the cabs would have been 1936-42 DeSotos, but all the cabs were Chevrolets! But other than that, this is a must see movie. I can see Meryl Streep winning Best Actress and Hugh Grant and the accompanist getting nominated for Oscars. Another must see movie, that most of you probably never saw was Mr. Turner. See it!

[De Soto Frank]

Marc,

I noted some postwar cars in the first few minutes of the film ('49-'50 Chevy, '48-49 pregnant Packard ?!), but decided not to be derailed by it.

I think the exterior / location scenes were filmed in England, which might also have put a cramp in finding truly 1944 NYC period vehicles. There would have been a lot more 1930's cars on the streets. And most cabs would have been De Sotos.

For those who indulge in present-day TV sitcom, the accompanist - Cosme` McMoon - is played by "Howard Wolowitz" (Simon Helberg), from the "Big Band Theory". Helberg does his own piano playing in the film, and does a very commendable job !


Probably my biggest personal regret of the film, was that there was no mention of her beginnings in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Probably not at all relevant to the time and setting of the events portrayed, but it would have been nice for W-B to get a shout-out, as it were.

Glad you saw it, it looks like its staying around for a third week here in Scranton !

[Henry]

When I lived in NYC in the late '50s, all of the cabs were still DeSotos! Or so it seemed. They must have gathered every "old" American car in the UK for those street shots!

[edisonplayer]

I didn't know about the STD Florence got from her husband,but I did hear about the accident she had while in a cab.In her day STD's were a thing people didn't talk about.edisonplayer PS;I always thought of FFJ's recording as CAMPY!I'd rank them up with Mrs.Miller.Mrs. Miller sang pop tunes,not opera.

[De Soto Frank]

Winston Churchill's father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a syphilitic, and eventually went mad from the disease, and was dead by age 45.

Similar history and fate for Scott Joplin, who died of syphilitic dementia in Manhattan State mental hospital at age 49.


That Mme. Jenkins lived a relatively normal life until the ripe old age of 76 is indeed remarkable.


It is worth pondering whether "the unmentionable disease" had any effect on her mind... it may have contributed to her eventual heart attack... or perhaps it was all that potato salad...

[OrthoFan]

I saw the movie yesterday, and thought it was one of the best I've seen in a decade. It's one of the few movies I've seen that's hilarious, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. There were some liberties taken in the plot for dramatic/comedic effect, but not enough to make an issue over.

This article -- http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelf ... r-jenkins/ -- does a good job of sorting the fiction from the fact.

OF