''With a Song in My Heart'' is a 1952 American
biographical musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film that tells the story of actress and singer
Jane Froman, who was crippled by an airplane crash on February 22, 1943, when the
Boeing 314 Pan American
Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to:
* Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean
* Something of, from, or related to the Americas
* Pan-Amer ...
Clipper flying boat she was on suffered a crash landing in the
Tagus River
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...
near
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal. She entertained the troops in World War II despite having to walk with crutches. The film stars
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
,
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...
,
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
,
Thelma Ritter,
Robert Wagner,
Helen Westcott, and
Una Merkel. Froman herself supplied Hayward's singing voice.
The film was written and produced by
Lamar Trotti
Lamar Jefferson Trotti (October 18, 1900 – August 28, 1952) was an American screenwriter, producer, and motion picture executive.
Early life and education
Trotti was born in Atlanta, US. He became the first graduate of the Henry W. Grady Co ...
and directed by
Walter Lang. The title song, "
With a Song in My Heart" (Rodgers and Hart, 1929), became famous in the United Kingdom as the theme to the long-running
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
radio show ''
Family Favourites''.
Plot
Jane Froman (
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
) is a humble staff singer at a
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
radio station, but in no time she rises to the uppermost rungs of network radio fame. Jane gratefully marries her agent Don Ross (
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
), but soon both realize they're not truly in love. Jane's popularity soars, and she leaves on a European tour. When her plane crashes, she is partially crippled. Unable to walk without crutches, she nonetheless goes on to entertain U.S. troops during World War II.
Cast
*
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
as
Jane Froman
*
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...
as John Burn
*
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
as Don Ross
*
Thelma Ritter as Clancy
*
Robert Wagner as GI paratrooper
*
Helen Westcott as Jennifer March
*
Una Merkel as Sister Marie
* Richard Allan as dancer / tenor
*
Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...
as Harry Guild
* Ed Oliver as bandleader
Singing groups the Four Girl Friends, the
Modernaires
The Modernaires was an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s alongside Glenn Miller.
Career
The Modernaires began in 1934 as "Don Juan, Two and Three," a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New Yo ...
, the Melody Men, the Sklyarks, and the
Starlighters
The Starlighters were an American singing group of the mid 20th century.
The group was formed in 1946, the members being Pauline Byrns, Vince Degen, Tony Paris, Howard Hudson, and future star Andy Williams, all alumni of Six Hits and a Miss. W ...
appear in the film.
Production
The rights to Jane Froman's life story were sought by a variety of production companies, including MGM, Warner Bros, Sam Goldwyn, 20th Century Fox, and Wald-Krasna (at
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
).
In September 1950 Fox announced that Lamar Trotti would write and produce ''The Jane Froman Story''. Froman says she decided to go with Fox after talking to Trotti even though MGM offered $25,000 more. She says the price paid was "mid six figures".
In March 1951 Fox announced that the male leads would be played by David Wayne and
Dale Robertson and that the film would be called ''I'll See You in My Dreams''. In April 1951, Jean Peters was announced as the star. In May, the lead went to Susan Hayward.
The title was changed to ''You, the Night and the Music''. Rory Calhoun replaced Robertson in June.
In July 1951 Robert Wagner was added to the cast.
Joyce McKenzie was cast as the woman (in reality singer and actress
Tamara Drasin, who died in the crash) who took Froman's seat
Froman acted as technical adviser, but refused to watch the sequence involving the airplane crash.
Soundtrack recording
As per the times, the soundtrack album for ''With a Song in My Heart'' was a studio recording, and it initially included eight songs and a shorter version of the "American Medley" sung by
Jane Froman, with a short orchestral introduction by
George Greeley, who conducted the orchestra and chorus. The
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
album was released in multiple formats: Capitol L-309 (LP), DDN-309 (4 record 78rpm-Box Set); KDF-309 (4 record 45rpm singles Box-Set); and FBF-309 (2 EP Box-set). This album was the best-selling album of 1952 and spent 25 weeks at the top of the
''Billboard'' chart. Jane Froman also released a single of the title song with Capitol Records.
Reception
The film was a box office success. Wagner's small role received a lot of acclaim, resulting in 3,000 fan letters a week arriving at the studio – this encouraged Fox to build him up as a star.
Awards and honors
The film was also nominated for inclusion on
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers list of the most inspiring films in American film history, but did not make the final list.
Soundtrack songs from the film
Although the film won the Academy Award for the Best Original Score, there were a number of American standards represented. All except three songs featured the voice of
Jane Froman; and were performed by
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
.
Soundtracks from Film, IMDb
/ref>
* "Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
" – 1859 song by Daniel Decatur Emmett
Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie" ...
* " With a Song in My Heart" – Music by Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
; lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...
* "Hoe That Corn" – Music by Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...
; lyrics by Jack Woodford
Jack Woodford (1894–1971) was an American novelist and non-fiction writer, author of successful pulp novels and non-fiction of the 1930s and 1940s. He wrote unique books on writing and getting published. Most famously, Woodford authored ...
(performed by Max Showalter and David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
)
* " That Old Feeling" – Music by Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...
; lyrics by Lew Brown
* "I'm Through With Love" – Music by Fud Livingston & Matty Malneck; lyrics by Gus Kahn
* " Get Happy" – Music by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...
; lyrics by Ted Koehler
Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
Life and career
Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C.
He started out as a photo-engraver, but w ...
* "Jim's Toasty Peanuts" – Music and lyrics by Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...
* "The Right Kind" – Music by Alfred Newman
Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...
; lyrics by Don George
Don R. George (August 27, 1909 – 1987) was an American lyricist of popular music. His songs include " The Yellow Rose of Texas" " I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues" (1937), "I'm Beginning to See the Light" (1944) and " Everything but You" (1945 ...
& Charles Henderson
* "Montparnasse" – Music by Alfred Newman
Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...
; lyrics by Eliot Daniel (Sung by David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
)
* "Blue Moon
A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season.
The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon a ...
" – Music by Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
; lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...
* "On the Gay White Way" – Music by Ralph Rainger; lyrics by Leo Robin
* " Home on the Range" – Music by Daniel E. Kelley; lyrics by Brewster M. Higley
* "Embraceable You
"Embraceable You" is a jazz standard song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named ''East Is West''. It was published in 1930 and included in that year's Broadway m ...
" – Music by George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
; lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...
* " Tea for Two" – Music by Vincent Youmans; lyrics by Irving Caesar
* "It's a Good Day
"It's a Good Day" is a popular song written by Peggy Lee and her husband Dave Barbour and published in 1946. Peggy Lee's recording reached the Billboard charts in January, 1947 peaking at No. 16.
Other Recordings
The song has been recorded by m ...
" – Music and lyrics by Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
and Dave Barbour
* "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" – Music by Arthur Schwartz; lyrics by Frank Loesser
* " I'll Walk Alone" – Music by Jules Styne
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...
; lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Songs included in an "American Medley"
* " America the Beautiful" – Music by Samuel A. Ward
Samuel Augustus Ward (December 28, 1848 – September 28, 1903) was an American organist and composer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of a shoemaker, he studied under several teachers in New York and became an organist at Grace Church (Newar ...
; lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates
* "Wonderful Home Sweet Home" – Music and lyrics by Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award. He provided vocals for ...
* " Give My Regards to Broadway" – Music and lyrics by George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
* "Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
" – Music and lyrics by Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher.
Biography
Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenba ...
* "California Here I Come
"California, Here I Come" is a song interpolated in the Broadway musical ''Bombo'', starring Al Jolson. The song was written by Bud DeSylva, Joseph Meyer, and Jolson. Jolson recorded the song on January 17, 1924, with Isham Jones' Orchestra, ...
" – Music by Joseph Mayer; lyrics by Al Jolson & Buddy G. DeSylva
* " Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" – Music and lyrics by James A. Bland
James Alan Bland (October 22, 1854 – May 5, 1911), also known as Jimmy Bland, was an American musician, song writer, and minstrel performer. He is best known for the song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" which was the official State Song o ...
* " Stein Song" (University of Maine)" – Music and lyrics by E.A. Fenstad & Lincoln Colcord
* " Back Home Again in Indiana" – Music by James F. Hanley
James Frederick Hanley (February 17, 1892 – February 8, 1942) was an American songwriter and author.
Biography
Hanley was born in Rensselaer, Indiana on February 17, 1892. He attended Champion College and the Chicago Musical College.
He serve ...
; lyrics by Ballard MacDonald
* "Alabamy Bound
"Alabamy Bound" is a Tin Pan Alley tune written in 1924, with music by Ray Henderson and words by Buddy DeSylva and Bud Green. It was popularized by Al Jolson and included in the musical ''Kid Boots'', where it was sung by Eddie Cantor. Successful ...
" – Music by Ray Henderson
Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter.
Early life
Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was o ...
; lyrics by Bud Green & Buddy G. DeSylva
* " Deep in the Heart of Texas" – Music by Don Swander; lyrics by June Hershey
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:With A Song In My Heart (Film)
1952 films
1952 drama films
1952 musical films
1950s biographical drama films
1950s English-language films
1950s musical drama films
20th Century Fox films
American aviation films
American biographical drama films
American musical drama films
Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners
Biographical films about singers
Cultural depictions of American women
Cultural depictions of pop musicians
Films directed by Walter Lang
Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance
Films scored by Alfred Newman
Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
Films with screenplays by Lamar Trotti
Jukebox musical films
Musical films based on actual events
Photoplay Awards film of the year winners
1950s American films