Music for Millions

Music for Millions is a 1944 musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Margaret O'Brien, José Iturbi, Jimmy Durante, June Allyson, Marsha Hunt, Hugh Herbert, Harry Davenport, and Marie Wilson. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1946.

Plot

"Mike", age 6, arrives in New York to stay with her pregnant older sister Barbara Ainsworth, who lives together with a group of young women, her co-players in a symphony orchestra. As the orchestra prepares to go on a tour of army camps, a telegram is received informing them of the death of Barbara's soldier husband in the Pacific war theater. The girls decide to keep the tragic news from her until after her baby is born. The orchestra is shown playing several classical standards before various military audiences. The talented Iturbi variously conducts the group as well as effortlessly plays difficult piano pieces, while Durante sings comically and acts as a grandfather figure to Mike. In a surprise ending, shortly before giving birth, Barbara receives a letter from her husband saying he is in good spirits and convalescing in a military hospital.

Cast

Soundtrack

Clair de Lune
- Music by Claude Debussy
- Performed by Larry Adler on harmonica
- Also performed by José Iturbi on piano
Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 4th movement, conducted by José Iturbi
Piano Concerto in A Minor
- Music by Edvard Grieg
- Performed by José Iturbi
The March of the Toys
- from Babes in Toyland
- Music by Victor Herbert
Waltz in E Minor
- Music by Frédéric Chopin
- Performed by José Iturbi
Hallelujah Chorus
- from The Messiah
- Music by Georg Friedrich Händel
Toscanini, Iturbi and Me
- Written by Harold Spina, Walter Bullock and Jimmy Durante
At Sundown
- Written by Walter Donaldson
Umbriago
- Written by Jimmy Durante and Irving Caesar
Jam Session
- Music by Calvin Jackson