Wikipedia defines "torch song" this way: a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship.
The trick to this being the title of a movie about a hardened broadway singer and her new and blind pianist, is that the "torch" isn't being carried by the singer at all and the one who carries it is longing not for a lost love as much as a lost life, at least a lost piece of it.
If you can get past the distraction of Joan Crawford's performance as a singer and look at the two pricipal characters as people, you will find a diamond. Yes, Joan pulls of the role of a broadway star with ease, and wow is that "finale" with Joan and company in "black face" hard on the eyes and pretty stunning especially given the presence of minority actors, but the romance here feels real and compelling. Wilding is of course sensational as Tye Grahame and the reasons behind his actions are bittersweet yet gut wrenchingly honest.
I wish I'd have seen it years ago, but as a older Maximalist I bet I can appreciate it better.
The Billy Joel song is dumb really. The past always gets in the way. Always
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