The Eddie Duchin Story (US, 1956)


Figure 1.--Two boys play the roll of Peter. The first is 5-year old Mickey Maga who plays Peter as a younger boy. We Duchin with Peter in Central Park. Peter is having a icecream treat at an open air cafe. The boy wears a peaked cap and a short pants suit with black ankle socks. This seems an accurate depiction of what a well-to-do boys mighht have worn at the time.

"The Eddie Duchin Story" is set in New York City during the the Big Band Era. We see the Big Bands, grand ballrooms, and casino nightlife in the 1930s abnd 40s. Eddie Duchin waas an important part of the era. He was both a gifted pianist and bandleader who according to one observer, "set New York society on its ear". The star is Tyrone Power who plays Duchin. He came to New York dreaming of the high life which he saw as a "red Stutz bearcat and a bankroll as big as the Ritz." The film heartrob is society girl Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak) who is won over by his music. She teaches the moral lesson that personal relationships not money that truly brings happiness. But then Marjorie dies tragically and Duchin is left aloned with a newly born son--Peter. Duchin without Marjorie is disconsolate and no longer interested in life. The musical score is true to the period: Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Frederic Chopin, and Oscar Hammerstein. Two boys play the roll of Peter. The first is 5-year old Mickey Maga who plays Peter as a younger boy. We Duchin with Peter in Central Park. Peter is having a icecream treat at an open air cafe. The boy wears a peaked cap and a short pants suit with black ankle socks. This seems an accurate depiction of what a well-to-do boys mighht have worn at the time. Rex Thompson played Peter at age 12 years. He wears an English school type of uniform indicating that the economic affluence of Eddy Duchin him enroll the boy in the best private schools New York City could offer.





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Created: 8:25 PM 1/9/2011
Last updated: 8:25 PM 1/9/2011