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Kirk Douglas played a very eager musician who just adored music--particularly when he was able to cut loose from convention and just put his heart into the music. Throughout much of the film, his one abiding love was his trumpet and only towards the end of the film is this love shaken.

I really enjoyed this film, as it was quite a departure for Kirk Douglas to play a jazz-loving trumpet player. The supporting performances were very good (particularly the performances by Hoagy Charmichael and Juano Hernandez) I also found myself enjoying the music quite a bit even though I have never liked jazz.

Yet despite my liking this movie very much, there was a problem with the film and that was that the film lasted a bit too long. The last 2 minutes of the film could easily been condensed, as the long "I'm depressed and feel sorry for myself" routine just seemed to drag and was so atypical of the rest of the film.

By the way, for 1950 this was an amazing film in the way it handles race. Unlike other films of the time, Whites and Blacks interact more or less as equals and there is friendship between Douglas and Hernandez--something you take for granted in films nowadays, but for 1950 it was a amazing and very much appreciated.

By the way, though it often goes by without mention, but the cinematography in this black & white film was amazing--very, very artistic and just beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Film Noir combined with the sensibilities of Ansel Adams.