Thanks, miliosr. The whole point of these songwriter bios was to provide an excuse for showcasing a bunch of great songs, but if the numbers and performers weren't absolutely top-of-the-line they could be painful. This one was good. I didn't know it had been intended for Kelly and Sinatra, who would have been better as stars if no better casting as the two principals.
When the writer was gay a whole new layer of fictionalization was called for, the most notorious example being the Cole Porter biopic starring Cary Grant, "Night and Day," with Grant uneasily nuzzling Alexis Smith as Linda. I always liked this story: One of the screenwriters, I think it was William Bowers, rang Porter to apologize for his part in making the movie. Porter told him he loved the movie, thought it was wonderful. A mystified Bowers consulted Oscar Hammerstein II, who asked him how many songs were in the picture. Twenty-plus, Bowers said. "Well, of course he loved it. You don't think he noticed that stuff that went on between his songs, do you?"
Fun fact: For a time Balanchine lived with Lorenz Hart (no, not what you're thinking). Balanchine said Hart taught him English,