Alexander’s Ragtime Band

(Henry King, US 1946, 106 min., 16mm)

With a score of Irving Berlin songs as backdrop, this Twentieth-Century Fox musical (with their biggest musical star, Alice Faye) charts the growth of ragtime through the 1910s. Roger Grant (Tyrone Power), a classical violinist, disappoints his family and teacher when he organizes a jazz band, but he and the band become successful. Roger falls in love with his singer Stella (Faye), but his reluctance to to lose her leads him to thwart her efforts to become a solo star. When the World War separates them in 1917, one pines for their relationship while the other moves on.

Post-film discussion with Michael Lasser.