The nominees were ...
(Scoring)
- The Hurricane, Samuel Goldwyn Studio Music Department, Alfred Newman, head of department (score by Alfred Newman)
- In Old Chicago, 20th Century-Fox Studio Music Department, Louis Silvers, head of department (no composer credit)
- The Life of Emile Zola, Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Leo Forbstein, head of department (score by Max Steiner)
- Lost Horizon, Columbia Studio Music Department, Morris Stoloff, head of department (score by Dimitri Tiomkin)
- Make a Wish, Principal Productions, Hugo Riesenfeld, musical director (score by Hugo Riesenfeld)
- Maytime, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Music Department, Nat W. Finston, head of department (score by Herbert Stothart)
- One Hundred Men and a Girl, Universal Studio Music Department, Charles Previn, head of department (no composer credit)
- Portia on Trial, Republic Studio Music Department, Alberto Colombo, head of department (score by Alberto Colombo)
- The Prisoner of Zenda, Selznick International Pictures Music Department, Alfred Newman, musical director (score by Alfred Newman)
- Quality Street, RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Roy Webb, musical director (score by Roy Webb)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney Studio Music Department, Leigh Harline, head of department (score by Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, and Paul J. Smith)
- Something to Sing About, Grand National Studio Music Department, C. Bakaleinikoff, musical director (score by Victor Schertzinger)
- Souls at Sea, Paramount Studio Music Department, Boris Morros, head of department (score by W. Franke Harling and Milan Roder)
- Way Out West, Hal Roach Studio Music Department, Marvin Hatley, head of department (score by Marvin Hatley)
- "Remember Me" from Mr. Dodd Takes the Air. Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin
- "Sweet Leilani" from Waikiki Wedding. Music and Lyrics by Harry Owens
- "That Old Feeling" from Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938. Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Lew Brown
- "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "Whispers in the Dark" from Artists and Models. Music by Frederick Hollander; Lyrics by Leo Robin
(Scoring)
- The Hurricane, Samuel Goldwyn Studio Music Department, Alfred Newman, head of department (score by Alfred Newman)
- In Old Chicago, 20th Century-Fox Studio Music Department, Louis Silvers, head of department (no composer credit)
- The Life of Emile Zola, Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Leo Forbstein, head of department (score by Max Steiner)
- Lost Horizon, Columbia Studio Music Department, Morris Stoloff, head of department (score by Dimitri Tiomkin)
- Make a Wish, Principal Productions, Hugo Riesenfeld, musical director (score by Hugo Riesenfeld)
- Maytime, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Music Department, Nat W. Finston, head of department (score by Herbert Stothart)
- One Hundred Men and a Girl, Universal Studio Music Department, Charles Previn, head of department (no composer credit)
- Portia on Trial, Republic Studio Music Department, Alberto Colombo, head of department (score by Alberto Colombo)
- The Prisoner of Zenda, Selznick International Pictures Music Department, Alfred Newman, musical director (score by Alfred Newman)
- Shall We Dance, RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Nathaniel Shilkret, musical director (score by George Gershwin)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney Studio Music Department, Leigh Harline, head of department (score by Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, and Paul J. Smith)
- Something to Sing About, Grand National Studio Music Department, C. Bakaleinikoff, musical director (score by Victor Schertzinger)
- Souls at Sea, Paramount Studio Music Department, Boris Morros, head of department (score by W. Franke Harling and Milan Roder)
- Way Out West, Hal Roach Studio Music Department, Marvin Hatley, head of department (score by Marvin Hatley)
- "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" from Shall We Dance. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "Nice Work If You Can Get It," from A Damsel in Distress. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "They All Laughed" from Shall We Dance. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Music by Frank Churchill; Lyrics by Larry Morey
And the Oscar went to ...
(Scoring)
One Hundred Men and a Girl, Universal Studio Music Department, Charles Previn, head of department (no composer credit). Determined to find work for her unemployed musician father, Adolphe Menjou, and ninety-nine of his closest friends, Deanna Durbin persuades conductor Leopold Stokowski to hire them for a concert. It seems improbable today, when even Durbin's brand of light-classical music is caviar to the general, but this kind of improbable but enjoyable nonsense made her a star -- and in doing so helped rescue her studio, Universal, from financial disaster. Previn had been a theater orchestra conductor in New York before coming to Hollywood in 1936. He helped bring his cousin, André Previn, to Hollywood after his family was forced by the rise of the Nazis to leave Germany.
(Song)
"Sweet Leilani" from Waikiki Wedding. Music and Lyrics by Harry Owens.
Bandleader and songwriter Owens, though born in Nebraska, began to specialize in Hawaiian music when he played the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu in 1934. "Sweet Leilani" was written for the birth of his daughter, and Bing Crosby insisted that it be included in Waikiki Wedding -- wisely, as it became a huge hit for Crosby. But the song's Oscar win set off something of a mini-scandal when it defeated George and Ira Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me," not only a much better song but also one that many considered, because it's a song about parting from a loved one, a kind of memorial to George Gershwin, who had died in 1937. The blame for the win by Owens's song fell on the voting participation, for the first time in the history of the awards, of all members of the film industry's guilds and unions -- an expansion of the potential electorate from a handful to twelve thousand people. The idea for the enfranchisement of so many people came from Frank Capra, the Academy's president, who was trying to erase the stigma of the Academy's early role as an anti-union organization. The participation of the members of the Screen Extras Guild in particular was blamed for the win by "Sweet Leilani," and the extras were henceforth excluded from voting for the best song, though they were allowed to vote in other categories until 1944, when voting was restricted to Academy members.
Bandleader and songwriter Owens, though born in Nebraska, began to specialize in Hawaiian music when he played the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu in 1934. "Sweet Leilani" was written for the birth of his daughter, and Bing Crosby insisted that it be included in Waikiki Wedding -- wisely, as it became a huge hit for Crosby. But the song's Oscar win set off something of a mini-scandal when it defeated George and Ira Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me," not only a much better song but also one that many considered, because it's a song about parting from a loved one, a kind of memorial to George Gershwin, who had died in 1937. The blame for the win by Owens's song fell on the voting participation, for the first time in the history of the awards, of all members of the film industry's guilds and unions -- an expansion of the potential electorate from a handful to twelve thousand people. The idea for the enfranchisement of so many people came from Frank Capra, the Academy's president, who was trying to erase the stigma of the Academy's early role as an anti-union organization. The participation of the members of the Screen Extras Guild in particular was blamed for the win by "Sweet Leilani," and the extras were henceforth excluded from voting for the best song, though they were allowed to vote in other categories until 1944, when voting was restricted to Academy members.
... when it should have gone to ...
(Scoring)
Shall We Dance, RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Nathaniel Shilkret, musical director (score by George Gershwin).
Under the Academy rules, each studio or production company was allowed to nominate a film score for the award, and RKO chose as its nominee music director Roy Webb's score for Quality Street. But Gershwin's score was obviously superior, including not only his songs but also some incidental music, such as the promenade that became known as "Walking the Dog," which segued nicely into the song "Beginner's Luck." Shilkret, a composer and arranger under contract to RKO and later to MGM, is listed as the film's musical director, with Robert Russell Bennett, a celebrated arranger of Broadway musicals, as one of the score's arrangers.
Under the Academy rules, each studio or production company was allowed to nominate a film score for the award, and RKO chose as its nominee music director Roy Webb's score for Quality Street. But Gershwin's score was obviously superior, including not only his songs but also some incidental music, such as the promenade that became known as "Walking the Dog," which segued nicely into the song "Beginner's Luck." Shilkret, a composer and arranger under contract to RKO and later to MGM, is listed as the film's musical director, with Robert Russell Bennett, a celebrated arranger of Broadway musicals, as one of the score's arrangers.
(Song)
"They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance. Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
The Gershwins were relative latecomers to Hollywood -- Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen had already established themselves there. But with a Pulitzer Prize for Of Thee I Sing and the immense prestige of works like Porgy and Bess and "Rhapsody in Blue" behind them, they were eagerly sought after. George liked California, and might have settled there if he hadn't been struck down by a brain tumor in 1937. The brothers composed song scores for two other films, A Damsel in Distress and The Goldwyn Follies, but the one for Shall We Dance, perhaps because it featured Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is the best. In a way, this song about parting lovers is appropriate: Astaire and Rogers had already begun to go their separate ways, with Astaire making A Damsel in Distress and Rogers starring in Stage Door. They would make three more films together: Carefree and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle for RKO, and, several years later, The Barkleys of Broadway at MGM. It's worth noting that they don't dance to "They Can't Take That Away From Me" in Shall We Dance, but they remedy that in their reunion movie, The Barkleys of Broadway.
The Gershwins were relative latecomers to Hollywood -- Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen had already established themselves there. But with a Pulitzer Prize for Of Thee I Sing and the immense prestige of works like Porgy and Bess and "Rhapsody in Blue" behind them, they were eagerly sought after. George liked California, and might have settled there if he hadn't been struck down by a brain tumor in 1937. The brothers composed song scores for two other films, A Damsel in Distress and The Goldwyn Follies, but the one for Shall We Dance, perhaps because it featured Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is the best. In a way, this song about parting lovers is appropriate: Astaire and Rogers had already begun to go their separate ways, with Astaire making A Damsel in Distress and Rogers starring in Stage Door. They would make three more films together: Carefree and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle for RKO, and, several years later, The Barkleys of Broadway at MGM. It's worth noting that they don't dance to "They Can't Take That Away From Me" in Shall We Dance, but they remedy that in their reunion movie, The Barkleys of Broadway.
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