This was supposed to be my post on the Katie-Bar-The-Door Nominees of 1932-33, but rather than leave you without anything to chew on while I'm finishing that mammoth essay, I'm jumping ahead in my notes and letting you vote on the "Best Original Song Of 1932-33."
Yes, you get to tell the Monkey where to put it when he hands out the award for best song of 1932-33. And you just know you've been waiting for the chance.
In choosing, you'll have to decide what you think we should mean by "best" when we talk about "best song"—is it a song so successful everybody knows it ("Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf"); a beautiful standard recorded by anybody worth talking about ("Isn't It Romantic"); the memorable wedding of sound and imagery ("We're in the Money" and "Remember My Forgotten Man"); or a pivotal moment in film history ("42nd Street").
The nominees:
"Forty-Second Street" music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin (42nd Street)
"The Gold Diggers Song (We're In The Money)" music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin (Gold Diggers Of 1933)
"Isn't It Romantic" music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart (Love Me Tonight)
"Remember My Forgotten Man" music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin (Gold Diggers Of 1933)
Watch remember my forgotten man in News | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
"Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf" music and lyrics by Frank Church and Ted Sears (Three Little Pigs)
Remember, democracy only works when everyone participates, so get voting!
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6 comments:
Democratic? As democratic as the day is long!
I like what you've done recently haven't been around for awhile to comment!
Best song: We're in the money!! for sure, a great catchy tune to open on for gold diggers.
Having a tough time with this decision . . . but as I ponder, wanna say that Joan Blondell should've gotten an Oscar just for being able to 'talk' a song so beautifully, completely without schmaltz. It's great material, but that's got to be incredibly difficult.
Joan Blondell should've gotten an Oscar just for being able to 'talk' a song so beautifully, completely without schmaltz.
I think Gold Diggers Of 1933 was one of Joan Blondell's best performances. And the song, "Remember My Forgotten Man," is such a unique blend of Busby Berkeley choreography and angry political protest that I had to nominate it.
But I can write essays about any one of these songs.
Actually, my initial list contained ten songs, including "Hot Voodoo" from Blonde Venus, "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It" from Horse Feathers, "That's The Song of Paree" from Love Me Tonight, "Shanghai Lil" from Footlight Parade and "Carioca" from Flying Down To Rio. But to pass muster, the song had to meet three criteria: (1) it has to be a great song, in and of itself (2) it has to be performed in a memorable way, and (3) the movie it's from has to be top-notch -- in this case, preserved in the National Film Registry.
It was a very deep year for music, which is amazing considering that just a year before, the musical had been considered box office poison. In fact, the only way Darryl Zanuck could get Warner Brothers to make 42nd Street was to lie and tell them it was a drama without songs or dances. Fortunately, they believed him.
I like what you've done recently haven't been around for awhile to comment!
Welcome back, Zoe! I knew you'd been busy with school, which always takes priority around here. 'Cause if you don't go to school, you can't grow up to write blogs about mythical movie awards!
Best song: We're in the money!! for sure, a great catchy tune to open on for gold diggers.
It's a song like "Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf" and "Isn't It Romantic" that I'll bet nearly everybody has heard without necessarily knowing where it comes from. Plus it features Ginger Rogers just before she hit it big and a whole chorus of women wearing big gold coins in lieu of clothes.
You should also check out Footlight Parade, the third of three Busby Berkeley movies from 1933 to be preserved in the National Film Registry. He went completely nuts with the choreography in that one, with close-up crotch shots of women in bathing suits that must have inspired the dream sequence in The Big Lebowski where Jeff Bridges and a bowling ball go sailing down the lane between the legs of a bevy of beauties.
And if that's not reason enough to check it out, it stars James Cagney in a pre-Yankee Doodle Dandy dancing and singing role. Great stuff if you like shameless excess.
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