By Jessica Pickens
When it comes to the Great American Songbook, composer and songwriter Irving Berlin was a major contributor. From stage musicals, pop standards to film music, Berlin’s music have stood the test of time and many of his songs are still heard on the radio during the holiday season, used in musical shows, or even television advertisements.
While reviewing Berlin’s contributions to music, it’s astonishing to think that one person could yield so many songs that have shaped popular culture. While Berlin was prolific on the stage, he also wrote music for several Hollywood films, which we’ll take a look at now.
Top Hat (1935)
In their fourth film pairing, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers stars as Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont. Jerry is an American dancer who travels to London to star in a show. He and Dale meet and fall in love, but Dale mistakes him for someone else—the husband of her friend—and believes he’s a married man.
TOP HAT is filled with Irving Berlin songs. The song “Cheek to Cheek” was written specifically for Fred Astaire in the movie TOP HAT. Astaire introduced the song in TOP HAT and it was the No. 1 selling song in the United States for 11 weeks.
“You give Astaire a song, and you could forget about it. He knew the song. He sang it the way you wrote it. He didn’t change anything,” Berlin said in a Nov. 19, 1976, interview with the New York Times. “And if he did change anything, he made it better.”
Berlin felt “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” was his best song that he wrote for any of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films, according to his biographer James Kaplan.
“Once I started writing music for Astaire-Rogers films, I was writing dance music,” Berlin said in the 1976 interview. “Even the lyrics were about dancing… This was not true of other singers I wrote for.”
On the Avenue (1937)
Gary Blake (Dick Powell) has written a Broadway show, starring Mona Merrick (Alice Faye), which satirizes the prominent New York family, the Caraways. When Mimi Caraway (Madeleine Carroll) attends the show and sees the portrayal of herself, she immediately goes to complain to Gary Blake, but falls in love with him.
Not only did Irving Berlin write the songs for the film, but also the story. ON THE AVENUE was a larger budget musical than the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films.
“The brilliant score that Irving Berlin has composed for ON THE AVENUE is the most distinctive feature of the new musical photoplay,” wrote Howard Barnes in his Feb. 1937
One song in the film has found its way into the holiday playlists: “I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” The song was written for ON THE AVENUE and introduced by Dick Powell and Alice Faye in the film.
Holiday Inn (1942)
Singer Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) and dancer Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) are both in love with Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale). When Lila jilts Jim for Ted, Jim decides to quit show business and live on a farm. Jim converts his farm into a nightclub and hotel called the Holiday Inn, which is only opened during holidays throughout the year. When Jim meets Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), she agrees to appear in his shows at the inn, and the two fall in love. However, Jim works to keep Linda from meeting Ted, who was also jilted by Lila-so he doesn’t steal her for an act and her heart.
While the film boasts 10 songs, there are two songs that are still played today: “White Christmas” and “Happy Holidays.” These two Berlin-written songs are still two of the top holiday songs, and “White Christmas” was introduced in this film by Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds, who was dubbed by Martha Mears.
“I wrote it (White Christmas) for a review I intended on producing, changed my mind and put it away until it was used in a Bing Crosby picture,” Berlin said in a Dec. 14, 1954, interview with the Los Angeles Examiner. “At the time, I had no idea ‘White Christmas’ would be a perennial hit or that Paramount would add to its popularity with a movie of the same name. When the song first became popular, I attributed it to the war and the fact that Christmas means peace.”
Berlin didn’t think “White Christmas” was going to be the major song of the film, he said in a 1953 interview. It was the Valentine’s Day song, “Be Careful It’s My Heart,” that he thought would be the hit of the movie.
Easter Parade (1948)
When Nadine Hale (Ann Miller) decides to leave her act with Don Hewes (Fred Astaire), Don bets that he can find a new partner who can perform just as well as she does. Don finds Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) performing in a pub and trains her to become a top-notch performer.
Irving Berlin wrote eight songs for this MGM musical extravaganza. In a letter Berlin wrote to his attorney on Feb. 6, 1948, he said that MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer called EASTER PARADE “the Gone with the Wind of musicals.” While Berlin felt that was an exaggeration, he went on to write:
“Personally, I feel it’s the most satisfactory musical I’ve ever been connected with. ”
The songs Berlin wrote for the film include, “It Only Happens When I Dance with You,” “Better Luck Next Time,” “Drum Crazy,” “Stepping Out with My Baby,” “A Couple of Swells,” “A Fella With An Umbrella” and “Happy Easter.” The title song “Easter Parade” wasn’t written specifically for the film, but was written by Berlin and published in 1933.
Irving Berlin wrote one more song for the film, “Mr. Monotony,” which wasn’t used in the final cut.
White Christmas (1954)
On Christmas Eve in 1944, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) with the help of Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) put on a small Christmas show to entertain their Army company and pay tribute to Major General Waverly (Dean Jagger), who is leaving the outfit. The company is then attacked and Davis saves Wallace from a falling wall. When Wallace comes to thank Davis, Davis convinces him to go into show business with him.
Fast forward 10 years and Wallace and Davis are both successful performers and producers. On their way to New York after a performance in Florida, they stop to catch the act of Betty and Judy Haynes (Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen) sisters of an old Army buddy. After a series of events, Wallace and Davis end up heading to Vermont, rather than New York, with the sisters to an inn where they are performing.
The inn is owned by General Waverly, who isn’t doing very good business. The group sets out to help him boost business.
The success of Berlin’s 1942 hit song “White Christmas” and the film HOLIDAY INN, the 1954 film WHITE CHRISTMAS was that included a “compilation of his antique songs,” according to Berlin’s biographer Laurence Bergreen. Including Berlin’s holiday hit song, the film boasts other Berlin tunes such as “Blue Skies,” “Heat Wave,” “Sisters” and “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing.”
Jessica Pickens is a North Carolina-based writer. She has a degree in print journalism and now works in public relations. Outside of work, she writes about pre-1968 films at CometOverHollywood.com with a special interest in musicals, films released in 1939, and World War II-era films. You can follow her Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.