Torch Song (1953 film)

Torch Song
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Walters
Screenplay by
Based onWhy Should I Cry?
by I.A.R. Wylie
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRobert H. Planck
Edited byAlbert Akst
Music byAdolph Deutsch
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's, Inc.
Release date
  • October 23, 1953 (1953-10-23)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million
Box office$1.7 million

Torch Song is a 1953 American Technicolor musical drama film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Joan Crawford and Michael Wilding in a story about a Broadway star and her blind rehearsal pianist. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes and Jan Lustig was based upon the story "Why Should I Cry?" by I.A.R. Wylie in a 1949 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The film was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sidney Franklin, Henry Berman and Charles Schnee. Crawford's singing voice was dubbed by India Adams.

Crawford lip-syncs to the recording Adams originally made for Cyd Charisse in a number discarded from the 1953 film, The Band Wagon. That's Entertainment III includes a segment presenting the two numbers side-by-side, in split screen.

The film marked Crawford's return to MGM after leaving the studio to join Warner Bros. in 1944. Her original recordings for the soundtrack, which were not used in the film, have survived and have been included in home video releases.