The Great American Songbook (2003), 7

Great Performances (1971– )

2h 54min | Music | Episode aired 11 March 2003

Documentary assembling film clips of musical numbers from songwriters considered significant contributors to pop culture before the advent of rock and roll.
Director: Andrew J. Kuehn
Stars: Michael Feinstein.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352382/

An impossible task executed well.

What bugs me: IMDb has nothing in the Soundtracks and only 3 films in the Connections. And the film does not list the films, a deliberate decision (per the partial c.track) because it would be TMI onscreen. Ugh.

I don't love the structure of the film: overview then historical context, because it felt like they started over within the first part of the film.

Songs performed, all partial; next time maybe add songwriters.
(List in sequence by appearance; numbered for fun. DVD has 38 chapters):

1. Yankee Doodle Dandy (MF at piano)
2. Star Spangled Banner (Stephen Foster biopic in color)
3. minstrel number (b/w stage has letter H over proscenium)
4. Oh Susanna, Camp Town Races, Swanee River (b/w Stephen Foster biopic portrayed by Craig Stephens)
5. Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Green Pastures? Hallelujah?)
6. Dixie (color film)
7. Battle Hymn of the Republic (color film lots of black singers, Clifton Webb as Sousa?)
8. (transportation montage)
9. Shine on Harvest Moon (Ann Sheridan, b/w period costume)
10. Maple Leaf Rag (Scott Joplin photos, black musicians playing - not generating what we hear)
11. St. Louis Blues (Bessie Smith short of same name ('29))
12. Am I Blue (Ethel Waters, probably On with the Show! ('29))
13. ?song (Nina Mae McKinney dancing, likely Hallelujah ('29))
14. ?song (Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra, ?film)
15. After the Ball (Alice Faye, Lillian Russell ('40))
16. speaking part (Spencer Tracy as Edison the Man ('40))
17. Yankee Doodle Dandy (James Cagney in film of same name ('42))
18. Sweet Mystery of Life (Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy, Naughty Marietta ('35))
19. Donkey Serenade (Allan Jones, The Firefly ('37))
20. Stouthearted Men (Nelson Eddy, New Moon ('40))
21. Till the Clouds Roll By (Ray McDonald, film of same name ('46))
22. Alexander's Ragtime Band (Alice Faye, film of same name ('38))
23. A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (Dennis Morgan dubbed by Allan Jones, The Great Ziegfeld ('36))
24. Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (Gordon MacRae, On Moonlight Bay ('51))
25. Over There (Frances Langford & James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy ('42))
26. Swanee (Al Jolson, likely from Rhapsody in Blue ('45))
27. Rhapsody in Blue (MF at piano, then Oscar Levant & orchestra in film of same name ('45))
28. Ol' Man River (Paul Robeson, Show Boat ('36))
29. Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Al Jolson, The Jazz Singer ('27))
30. My Man (Fannie Brice, The Great Ziegfeld ('36))
31. Some of These Days (Sophie Tucker, Broadway Melody of 1938 ('37))
32. Makin' Whoopee (Eddie Cantor, likely from Whoopee! ('30))
33. Lady Be Good (montage from film of same name ('41))
34. (I'll Take) Manhattan (looks old enough to be from the short Makers of Melody ('29))
35. Isn't It Romantic? (Maurice Chevalier, Love Me Tonight ('32))
36. Star Dust (Meredith Blake, likely the short Hoagy Carmichael ('39))
37. Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller, Stormy Weather ('43))
38. Brother Can You Spare a Dime (MF at piano)
39. We're in the Money (Ginger Rogers, Gold Diggers of 1933 ('33))
40. Lullaby of Broadway (Wini Shaw, Gold Diggers of 1935 ('35))
41. I Only Have Eyes for You (Dick Powell, Dames ('34))
42. Stormy Weather (Lena Horne, film of same name ('43))
43. Takin' a Chance on Love (Ethel Waters, Cabin in the Sky ('43))
44. Blue Again (Dorothy Fields, ?film)
45. A Fine Romance (Fred Astaire, Swing Time ('36))
46. You Do Something to Me (Bob Hope, Paree, Paree ('34))
47. Let's Do It (MF at piano)
48. You're the Top (Ethel Merman & Bing Crosby, Anything Goes ('36))
49. I Get a Kick Out of You (Ethel Merman, Anything Goes ('36))
50. Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries (?singer, montage of people listening to radio)
51. Happy Days Are Here Again (?singer, montage of people drinking, Prohibition repealed)
52. Summertime (Anne Brown, Rhapsody in Blue ('45))
53. Let's Face the Music and Dance (danced by Fred & Ginger, Follow the Fleet ('36))
54. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland, mostly over montage of non-Oz footage, then The Wizard of Oz ('39))
55. --------part 2 marker, ch20, 1h 25min---------
56. Hooray for Hollywood (Johnnie Davis & Frances Langford, Hollywood Hotel ('37))
57. Puttin' on the Ritz (Harry Richman, film of same name ('30))
58. Cheek to Cheek (Fred Astaire, Top Hat ('35))
59. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (Fred Astaire, Shall We Dance ('37))
60. Just One of Those Things (Doris Day, Lullaby of Broadway ('51))
61. I Wish I Were in Love Again (Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney, Words and Music ('48))
62. Blue Moon (Mel Torme, Words and Music ('48))
63. ?song cut from B'way's Pal Joey (MF at piano)
64. September in the Rain (MF at piano, then James Melton, Melody for Two ('37))
65. ?song (MF at piano)
66. Jeepers Creepers (MF at piano)
67. 42nd Street (Ruby Keeler then Dick Powell, film of same name ('33))
68. Chattanooga Choo Choo (Dorothy Dandridge & The Nicholas Brothers, Sun Valley Serenade ('41))
69. medley of Freed/Brown hits (MF at piano)
70. Singin' in the Rain (Arthur Freed, ?short?)
71. If I Only Had a Brain (MF at piano with some footage from The Wizard of Oz ('39))
72. Lydia the Tattooed Lady (Groucho Marx, At the Circus ('39))
73. They Can't Take That Away From Me (MF at piano)
74. Our Love is Here to Stay (MF at piano)
75. The Blues in the Night (Cab Calloway, probably from short Blues in the Night ('42))
76. Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning (Irving Berlin, This is the Army ('43))
77. God Bless America (Kate Smith, This is the Army ('43))
78. Over There (cast, Yankee Doodle Dandy ('42))
79. Minnie's in the Money (Benny Goodman, The Gang's All Here ('43))
80. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (The Andrews Sisters, Buck Privates ('41))
81. The Last Time I Saw Paris (Ann Sothern, Lady Be Good ('41))
82. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis ('44) over real WW2 footage, including George Stevens' color reels)
83. Accentuate the Positive (Johnny Mercer, over WW2 victory footage)
84. Time After Time (Frank Sinatra, It Happened in Brooklyn ('47))
85. It's Magic (Doris Day, Romance on the High Seas ('48))
86. Puttin' on the Ritz (danced by Fred Astaire, Blue Skies ('46))
87. The Best Things in Life Are Free (June Allyson, Good News ('47)
88. On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe (Ben Carter, then Judy Garland, The Harvey Girls ('46))
89. Easter Parade (Judy Garland & chorus, film of same name ('48))
90. They'll Never Believe Me (Robert Walker on piano, then Dina Shore, Till the Clouds Roll By ('46))
91. I Wanna Be Loved By You (Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Debbie Reynolds, Three Little Words ('50))
92. Hooray for Captain Spaulding (Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Three Little Words ('50))
93. It Had to Be You (Danny Thomas , I'll See You in My Dreams ('51))
94. Night and Day (Cary Grant, film of same name ('46))
95. Manhattan (Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake (dubbed), Marshall Thompson, Words and Music ('48))
96. Where or When (Lena Horne, Words and Music ('48))
97. Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' (Gordon MacRae, Oklahoma! ('55))
98. There's Nothin' Like a Dame (Ray Walston & company, South Pacific ('58))
99. New York, New York (Jules Munchen, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, On the Town ('49))
100. True Love (Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly, High Society ('56)
101. The Night They Invented Champagne (Leslie Caron (dubbed), Hermione Gingold, Louis Jordan, Gigi ('58))
102. Once in Love with Amy (Ray Bolger, Where's Charley ('52))
103. You Can't Get a Man with a Gun (Betty Hutton, Annie Get Your Gun ('50))
104. There's No Business Like Show Business (Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, ensemble, Annie Get Your Gun ('50))
105. The Man That Got Away (Judy Garland, A Star is Born ('54))
106. Swanee (Judy Garland, A Star is Born ('54))
107. Jailhouse Rock (Elvis Presley, film of same name ('57))
108. As Time Goes By (MF on piano)

Rated 7.6 (56)

KQED, dir. Kuehn; 7