"If You Knew Susie" is the title of a popular song written by

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...

and Joseph Meyer. It was published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. in 1925. In the largely comic song, a man sings that he knows a certain woman named Susie to be much wilder and more passionate than most people realize. The song, which was originally written for

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

, became Eddie Cantor's best-known success of the 1920s, recorded on April 6, 1925 and the bestseller for five weeks during the year. Years later, Jolson told Cantor "If I knew it was that good, you dog, I'd never have given it to you!".

In popular culture

* Eddie Cantor (Buddy Doyle) sings this in ''

The Great Ziegfeld ''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and ...

'' (1936). * The melody is used as a musical theme in the film ''

The Affairs of Susan ''The Affairs of Susan'' is a 1945 American romantic comedy drama film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Joan Fontaine, Walter Abel, George Brent, Dennis O'Keefe and Don DeFore. It is also known as ''Chameleon''. Plot Susan Darel ...

'' (1945). * The song is sung as ''If You Knew Susie As We Know Susie'' by Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in the film ''

Anchors Aweigh "Anchors Aweigh" is the fight song of the United States Naval Academy and unofficial march song of the United States Navy. It was composed in 1906 by Charles A. Zimmermann with lyrics by Alfred Hart Miles. When he composed "Anchors Aweigh", Zim ...

'' (1945) with more scandalous lyrics where "She's not choosy". * The song is sung in ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

'' (1946). * A film by the same name, starring Cantor, was released in 1948. * The song is sung in the biopic '' The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953). * The song is arranged and performed by John Serry Sr. and his ensemble for RCA Victor on "

RCA Thesaurus thumb RCA Thesaurus, a brand owned by RCA Victor, was a supplier of electrical transcriptions. Efforts were made as early as 1936 to consolidate The RCA Victor Transcription service with NBC's independent transcription service within the NBC radio ...

" (1954). * The song was used in the 1966 film ''

The Silencers ''The Silencers'' is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, the fourth in a series of books featuring assassin Matt Helm. Plot summary When a female agent in Mexico is killed before Helm can complete his mission to extract her, he f ...

'', the first of several spy thriller/spoof films starring Dean Martin as Secret Agent Matt Helm. In the opening scenes of the movie, Martin’s character “thinks” an altered version of the lyrics, as he imagines romancing one of the film’s several lovely ladies. Martin’s rendition of the song (with the accurate lyrics) also appeared on the movie’s soundtrack album. * In the film ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

'', Dudley Moore sings the trope “If you knew Susan like I know Susan...”. Susan was Moore’s character’s unfated bride. *

Ruth Cracknell Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as we ...

sings the song in several episodes of the television series ''

Mother and Son ''Mother and Son'' is an Australian television sitcom that was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. It ...

''. * The song is sung by

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...

in the film ''

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' is a 2018 adventure- comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, loosely based on the 1605/1615 novel ''Don Quixote'' by Miguel de Cervantes. Gilliam tried to make the film m ...

'' (2018).

References

External links

Album cover
an
sheet music
for the song 1925 songs 1925 singles Songs with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva Songs written by Joseph Meyer (songwriter) Eddie Cantor songs {{1920s-song-stub