"Unfinished Symphony." At the Curzon Cinema
One effect of the Hitler regime in Germany has been an exodus of Jewish film-workers to Vienna, and the Austrian film industry is enjoying a sudden revival. Unfinished Symphony—chosen by the Marquis of Casa Maury to inaugurate the modernistic little theatre he has built in Mayfair—is probably a product of this revival ; its decora- tive style and romantic atmosphere, characteristic of the best period of the German cinema, are a refreshing contrast to the harsh efficiency of Hollywood.
The story is legendary, but—save for its regrettable Ave Maria ending—it may not be altogether false to the spirit of Schubert's music. It associates the composition of his B minor Symphony with his hopeless passion for a daughter of Count Johann Esterhazy—a passion hinted at by several of his biographers, though historical evidence for it seems to be weak. Schubert in the film is a little too shy and delicate—not quite convivial enough—but he is an attractive figure, and the other characters are all well cast and well acted. The film has, too, one rare and important merit : a musical quality pervades the story and its human relationships, and is not felt only during the musical inter- ludes. These, however, are varied, effective, and very well rendered ; and there are delightful glimpses of Hungarian landscape—spacious plains and sunny cornfields.
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