The film "They Shall Have Music" seems to have hit at last on the right formula for putting a great man of music on the screen. The solution: putting him on the screen. Heifetz and more Heifetz, superbly recorded, is the main element of this film; all others are kept subordinate. And yet, the theme of a children's music school struggling to get along, though it sounds impossible, provides a moderately interesting plot. It also affords the chance to show off some truly remarkable child musicians and singers, of a breed quite distinct from Shirley Temple. A lad with a strikingly handsome face, Gene Reynolds, turns in one of the best juvenile performances to be seen of late. Joel McCrea and Andrea Leeds are in evidence too, but their duties are light.

As for the great Jascha, he plays fast, plays slow, plays alone, and plays with orchestra. He is called on for almost no acting, which seems a shame, for he has a very pleasant manner. With his $70,000 Stradivarins tucked firmly under his chin, Heifetz produces a kind of beauty that puts this movie in a class by itself.