Melody Native

When the early talkies weren't busily exploring the backstage area of theaters and night clubs --- which wasn't often, they displayed a remarkable diversity of settings that belies the popular and largely incorrect notion that they were all hopelessly static, claustrophobic productions. If anything, it's the films that would arrive in 1931 and 1932 that seem to me to always be set primarily in offices and apartments, --- or at least the vast majority of them do.

Audiences between 1929 and 1930 who desired something other than views of dancing legs, dressing rooms and city streets enjoyed a wealth of options. Those seeking far flung exotic locales could see films set in jungles, tropic isles, the Far East, atop the ocean and underneath it, and amidst polar glaciers. Equally exotic but no less picturesque were films entirely or partially set in prisons, airplanes, zeppelins, submarines, ships of the sail and steam eras, rail and subway trains, coal mines, the deep woods, snowy mountain ranges and just about every European city you can think of, ancient and modern.

The one setting that most easily lent itself to melody (although no setting or locale was beyond the ingenuity of film theme song composers) was the tropics. Irresistible to composers and lyricists, even what is thought to be the first modern era stage musical, "Florodora" (1900-1902) had a mythic tropical setting that allowed for at least two songs which celebrated that fact --- and countless tropical themed melodies would follow in the coming years, most rather undistinguished and sounding suspiciously much alike, but vastly popular nonetheless.

"The Pagan," an MGM feature released in April of 1929, hit the mark with escapist minded audiences and devout fans of its star, Ramon Novarro, alike. Although a silent film with a synchronized music, vocal and sound effects score, "The Pagan" had enough drawing power to succeed at a time when theaters were swelling with all-talkie product. Visually stunning, and containing what many justly believe to be Novarro's signature performance and perhaps even role of a lifetime, success of "The Pagan" was also due in no small way to the film's theme song, which swept the country and globe before, during and after the film's release. Despite the widespread popularity, it's always interesting to find one somewhat slightly dissenting voice, as it was with one unnamed reviewer in a July of 1929 newspaper:

"Novarro, who is said to be studying for the opera, sings the theme song --- and you are never in doubt deciding it to be the theme song. It is sung again and again, at opportune times and some not so opportune. This song is the only vocalization...."

While not the "only vocalization" in the film, "The Pagan Love Song" may arguably seem that it is. That aside, its first presentation in the film is incredibly memorable, with Novarro first hearing the melody as a siren song --- from a distance, wafting across water, seashore and greenery. Intrigued, he follows it --- slowly, then rushing forward through the underbrush, while "answering" it with his own vocalization of the tune until he reaches the source, thereby kicking off the film's plot-line. Far better seen and heard than described, the effect is dramatically lessened by an error in circulating prints that ruins the once careful synchronization, rendering the sequence more than a bit confusing and unintentionally clumsy. A few moments of a well placed someones time is all that's needed to fix the problem, but --- ah well, so it goes.

One of the purest and most faithful to the source period interpretations of the tune can be heard here by vocalist Annette Hanshaw. Epic in its simplicity.

"The Pagan Love Song" (1929)

1929 would also find Joan Crawford removed from a dance floor and placed in a jungle in "Untamed," but unlike "The Pagan," her character (given the chimp-ish name "Bingo" here) lost no time in hitching a ride back to civilization and, well --- dance floors. The film spawned two popular melodies, "That Wonderful Something" (which can be heard in numerous other 1929 and 1930 Metro films as background music) and the far more memorable, in my opinion, "Chant of the Jungle."

Here, two fine 1929 versions of "Chant of the Jungle" recorded just weeks apart. The first a strident, somewhat sensual rendition by Paul Specht and His Orchestra for the Columbia label, and the second a more playful, high spirited interpretation by Nat Shikret and the Victor Orchestra.

"Chant of the Jungle" (1929) Paul Specht & His Orchestra

"Chant of the Jungle" (1929) Nat Shilkret & His Orchestra

The only palm tree to be seen in Warner Bros. "Is Everybody Happy?" (1929) was one serving as a backdrop for a wonderfully tawdry song and dance number by Ann Pennington, the chirpy and risque tune "Samoa," which can be heard (although not seen --- the film is lost) in an early sequence where fresh from Budapest to New York City immigrant and saxophonist Ted Lewis happens upon his leggy girlfriend from the old country after spotting a poster outside a "follies" theater.

"Once they sail into the bay, then they never sail away,
from old Samoa --- Hello, Aloha!

It's the port of missing men, 'cause they won't come home again,
from old Samoa!

They say the native girls wear dresses there with leaves that are grown,
I've never seen a sailor yet who'll leave them alone ---

Once I heard a captain crack, as they danced around his shack,
'I want some more of some more of Samoa!'"

Simply because we have the rare luxury of being able to do so, here's the "Samoa" sequence from both the domestic release version of the film, and the foreign export version. The latter version gives fair indication of how these overseas release versions were prepared, with music and song being brought up front and center and dialogue being deleted altogether or bridged over with a newly prepared musical score. (The domestic release segment contains what's probably the most intentionally amusing dialogue exchange in the whole film. Listen for it!)

"Samoa" (1929) Domestic Release Version

"Samoa" (1929) Foreign Release Version

Lastly, although firmly out of the early talkie era, and for no reason other than I think you may enjoy it, a few moments of the Hawaiian themed melody, "Honolulu Baby," from the 1933 Metro-Roach film "Sons of the Desert," which --- for the uninitiated --- starred Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Not a soundtrack excerpt nor a commercial 78rpm recording (it was never recorded for that purpose, inexplicably) the following audio is that of a scoring session disc recorded prior to actual filming and then played back whilst the cameras rolled. For those familiar with the film, it's always a novelty to hear the melody without a dialogue overlay and other ambient effects. Roach Studio composer/musician Marvin Hatley supplies the tune, and Ty Parvis the vocal.

"Honolulu Baby" (1934)

Aloha!

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In the Land of Jazz

If there's such a thing as a Land of Jazz, then I imagine it's one of the few bright corners in the Land of Lost Films, which is where the motion picture to our right currently resides, holding nightly court with thousands of other movies that meekly claim this unhappy territory as their Country of Residence.

Victims of neglect, fire, mishandling, self-destruction, greed and folly, most lost films leave traces of themselves behind --- clues both plain and cryptic that while seldom leading to their discovery and rescue, at the very least serve to provide some idea of what they were like.

Although reading about a film we can no longer see can often be fascinating, doing so is ultimately frustrating and unsatisfying --- like someone describing a delicious meal in great detail that you could have partaken in had you arrived only a few hours earlier. But, we've no choice except to work with what we have --- and sometimes, we have more than just printed text and visual mediums --- much more, in fact.

In the case of early talking films, the Warner Brothers Vitaphone product in particular, although the picture (film) element may seem to have ceased to exist in either private or public hands, oftentimes what's left behind is the film's soundtrack --- which was recorded on discs that played in synchronization with the film. Such a film was "Is Everybody Happy?" a serio-comic musical released by Warner Brothers to theaters in late October of 1929, with bandleader, musician and recording artist Ted Lewis as it's star, and who's signature phrase prompted the film's title --- which must have looked rather jarring on theater marquees to a public as yet unsure of what to make of the odd circumstances occurring on Wall Street in the last week of that month.

Today, we have so much of the various elements of "Is Everybody Happy?" that at times the missing visual element, the film itself, seems almost besides the point. Almost. We've sheet music, printed contemporary reviews, a complete transcript of the film's dialogue script, 78rpm commercial recordings of tunes from the film, photographic stills, movie posters, countless newspaper ads and printed publicity items including colorful advertising heralds and posters.

Lastly, but not least, we have not one but two complete soundtracks for the film that were recorded on the aforementioned Vitaphone disc system. One is the soundtrack that would have been heard along with the film in any English speaking territory in the world, and the other was especially recorded for a slightly abbreviated version of the film that was prepared for release in countries where the English language wasn't widely understood or spoken. For this export version, most of the film's dialogue was removed and replaced with explanatory title-cards written in the appropriate foreign language and the resulting product was largely a silent film with a pre-recorded musical and sound effects score. Left intact, however --- and this was the case with virtually all musical films doctored for international export at the time --- was the music and song sequences as originally performed in the film, for these presumably needed no translation, although what the patrons of a Bolivian cinema made of flashy scenes of chorus girls prancing about in New York night clubs is something lost to time and memory.


The plot of "Is Everybody Happy?" isn't far removed from that of "The Jazz Singer," in that it's the old, old story of Tradition vs. Modern Society, Age vs. Youth --- and as always, the new wins out over the old. Here, Ted (Lewis) and his family emigrate to New York City from Budapest, where Ted's aged father was a renowned violinist. Ted happens upon his old girlfriend from Budapest, Lena (Ann Pennington) who has successfully shaken off both Europe and her accent as a shimmy dancer in a vaudeville house. Ted is smitten with jazz and displays brilliant talent on a borrowed clarinet, but lacks his own instrument. Without giving much thought to the consequences, Ted sells his father's prized violin (given to him personally by the Emperor Franz Joseph) and before long is a smash success. His father, crushed and heartbroken, leaves his home, wife and son to wander off to points unknown.

As could be expected, Ted's fantastic success (he has his own night club by now) means nothing without his father's love --- and to make matters worse, his own once hot relationship with Lena has now become a noose about his neck, for he has eyes only for a lovely blonde chorine is his new club, Gail (Alice Day.) Just when things look their blackest for Ted, at Christmas of course, Lena cuts Ted loose, his Father arrives on the scene (via the nightclub where he first confides in Lena who urges a reconciliation), and everyone gathers for a bountiful dinner --- Mom, Dad, Ted, Gail and even Lena --- as Ted serenades his extended family with the film's theme song, "Wouldn't It Be Wonderful."

Audio Addendum:

For this entry, I'm offering four representative audio excerpts from both the domestic and international release versions of the surviving Vitaphone disc soundtrack which you can listen to by clicking on the links, although right-clicking and saving will allow for far smoother playback.

1) It's a melancholy Christmas for Ted, but his Mother --- although seemingly abandoned by her husband, is curiously chirpy despite it all. (Ted Lewis, Julia Swayne Gordon - Incidental music: "Wouldn't It Be Wonderful?") : Excerpt 1

2) While Ted and the band perform "St. Louis Blues," his errant Father wanders into the nightclub where he meets up with Lena. (Lawrence Grant, Ann Pennington, Ted Lewis & his Band.): Excerpt 2

3) The same sequence as above, from the international release version, which includes introductory bridging music (heard over footage that originally contained dialogue) utilizing the tune "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain" from an earlier Warner Bros. Vitaphone film, "My Man" with Fannie Brice. We then hear "I'm the Medicine Man for the Blues" and "St. Louis Blues," (as in excerpt #2 but with much improved fidelity), and finally the titular "In the Land of Jazz.": Excerpt 3 - Foreign Release Version

4) "Dinner Is Served" announces Ted's Father, signaling the happy conclusion of the film and Ted's closing rendition of "Wouldn't It Be Wonderful," which is followed by an orchestral encore that would have served as Exit Music for presumably entertained... albeit somewhat bewildered, departing audiences. : Excerpt 4

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