Shipton goes on to note that at the time Fields wrote this lyric both she and her long time writing partner Jimmy Mchugh were under "joint contract" to RKO, the studio that produced the movie, and so his name, by contract, appears on "Lovely to Look At" along with hers as co-lyricists - despite the fact that the lyric was written entirely by Fields. One day at lunch I asked him why "Lovely to Look At" had only sixteen bars, and he replied, "Because that was all I had to say" (Alyn Shipton, I Feel a Song Coming On: The Life of Jimmy McHugh, pp. I heard he was very severe and critical, he was a dream. Kern? It took a lot of guts to put one over on a man as eminent and discriminating as Jerome Kern. Would you believe that Berman had the temerity to film the new number and then send the sixteen bar song to Mr. She complied but with reticence and astonishment because Kern was not told about this. But Berman needed another song for the movie, one to accompany models parading in a fashion show, so he asked lyricist Dorothy Fields who was already on board to write the words for Kerns new music, to provide a lyric for Kern's previously unused tune. He also knew that Otto Harbach, lyricist for the Broadway show had never written words for Kern's 16 bars. Pandro Berman, the movie's producer, knew, however, that Jerome Kern's original score for the Broadway show contained that wordless sixteen bar melody.
#Barney kessel 1952 transcriptions movie#
The lyric for "Lovely To Look At" was finally written two years later by Dorothy Fields, who had been hired to write lyrics for new music by Kern for songs to be added to the score of the 1935 movie version of Roberta. Nevertheless and not surprisingly, Kern was unmoved by these arguments and refused to change anything and so the music that eventually became "Lovely To Look At" was left wordless on the shelf. It's abbreviated size made it relatively unsalable as sheet music or a good candidate for singers to record. It was only sixteen bars long, one half the length of the typical AABA song format of the day, to which the Broadway producers objected. The music for "Lovely To Look At" was written by Jerome Kern for R oberta the show, but it was discarded even before it was given a lyric. The Movie Roberta was first released Main New York City.
Roberta opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam theater November 18, 1933, and ran for 295 performances, closing on July 21, 1934. The show starred George Murphy, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, and Sydney Greenstreet all of whom were soon to make their reputations in Hollywood. The music for the Broadway show was written by Jerome Kern and the book and lyrics by Otto Harbach. The 1933 Broadway show Roberta was based on the 1933 Alice Duer Miller novel titled Gowns by Roberta. On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields, (foreward by Betty Comden) University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 2009 I Feel a Song Coming On: The Life of Jimmy McHugh, More Performances of "'Lovely To Look At" in the Cafe SongbookĬafe Songbook Reading Room "Lovely To Look At" Finally, Oscar adds a few compositions of his own to the mix.įrom the album Complete Norman Granz Sessions, December, 1952 ( See notes below video for complete personnel). An extra treat: Fred adds some tapping to a few of his vocals, and, as if that weren't enough, plays piano on several tracks.
The songs, written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Johnny Mercer, and the Gershwin brothers, are selected from Astaire's movies and stage shows. The Video above is from the recording Oscar Peterson and Fred Astaire Complete Norman Granz Sessions (December, 1952) with Fred Astaire, (vocals and tap) and the Jazz at the Philharmonic All Stars: Charlie Shavers, trumpet Flip Phillips, tenor sax Oscar Peterson, piano and celeste Barney Kessel, guitar Ray Brown, bass Alvin Stoller, drums.
Main Stage || Record/Video Cabinet || Reading Room || Posted Comments || Credits (song, words and music together, used in movie only) Music written for show, Roberta,1933, (not used in show, used only in movie, 1935), words written for movie, Roberta, 1935) 3) When searching for a song title on the catalog page, omit an initial "The" or "A". Search Tips: 1) Click "Find on This Page" button to activate page search box. Home || Songs || Songwriters || Performers || Articles and Blogs || Glossary || About Cafe Songbook || Contact/Submit Comment Welcome to Cafe Songbook Internet Home of the "Lovely to Look At": Song history, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video
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