  a song to remember is a 1945 columbia pictures biographical film which tells a fictionalised life story of polish pianist and composer frÃ©dÃ©ric chopin. directed by charles vidor, the film starred cornel wilde (as chopin), merle oberon (as george sand), paul muni (as jÃ³zef elsner), stephen bekassy (as franz liszt), and nina foch. ==plot== vidor romanticizes chopin's patriotism in the film, which was produced during world war ii. chopin, played by cornel wilde, is first presented to the audience as a child prodigy playing a piece by mozart, but suddenly starts to bang on the piano keys when he notices out the window that polish people are being taken prisoners by the russian authorities. the film also shows chopin taking part in secret meetings to work on saving poland with his young friends. vidor depicts  patriotism as a major motive for chopin playing the piano. he attends a secret meeting instead of showing up on time for his concert in front of a count and distinguished guests. in addition, when he finally performs at the concert, he stops playing when he sees the russian governor of poland enter the room. chopin stands up and announces, "i do not perform for czarist butchers." he storms out of the room as his famous revolutionary Ãtude starts in the background. before leaving poland for paris, chopin clutches polish earth in his hands. when he arrives in paris, he says: "iâm thinking of my people back home. you see, there was a purpose in coming to paris." the first work of chopin's that is heard in paris is his "heroic" polonaise, a song for poland. the appearance of george sand, played by merle oberon, alters chopin's life. vidor portrays george sand as a disruptive figure in chopin's life, who seduces him and distracts him from poland. at the end of the film, he gives a passionate concert tour around europe, despite his failing health. in one of his concerts, chopin starts bleeding. the pianist josÃ© iturbi played the piano music, and also orchestrated part of the b minor sonata for the sce
1940s_drama_films 1945_films American_films Columbia_Pictures_films English-language_films Film_scores_by_MiklA3s_RA3zsa Films_about_classical_music_and_musicians Films_about_pianos_and_pianists Films_directed_by_Charles_Vidor Musical_films_based_on_actual_events