Tweet Lilac Time

"Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time" (1929) performed by John McCormack, one of several hit versions of the song written for the WW1 comedy-romance-drama Lilac Time starring Colleen Moore and Gary Cooper. I wonder how many other silents produced similar hit tunes?

[silentfilm]

There was that great run of girl's name songs at the end of the silent era - 'Ramona' (from 'Ramona'), 'Charmaine' ('What Price Glory'), Diane ('Seventh Heaven') and so on.

There was that great run of girl's name songs at the end of the silent era - 'Ramona' (from 'Ramona'), 'Charmaine' ('What Price Glory'), Diane ('Seventh Heaven') and so on.

That sounds like a good theme for a compilation album.

The "Jeannine" theme song was featured in the Gaylord Carter score for Lilac Time. (Hello Warner Archive, how about considering this one for release?) Most of our more conscientious silents musicians these days will take care about such details. However, when Chaplin wrote the music for his 1942 re-release of The Gold Rush, I'm pretty sure that "Sing a Song", the little ditty written for the original release, fell by the wayside. (For one thing, he probably wouldn't have wanted to share any royalties with the co-composers!) And I wonder if that tune has ever accompanied any version of the silent version since then, whether official releases or not.

The 78rpm disc of Abe Lyman's Orchestra ("conducted by Charlie Chaplin") is a prized object in my modest collection.

There was that great run of girl's name songs at the end of the silent era - 'Ramona' (from 'Ramona'), 'Charmaine' ('What Price Glory'), Diane ('Seventh Heaven') and so on.

"Charmaine" was certainly the song that started this trend. There were quite a number of songs published in conjunction with films beforehand ("Mickey," "Ching Ching Chinaman," "The Lost World," etc.), but the huge sales in both sheet music and recordings of "Charmaine" really captured Hollywood's attention of connecting a song with a film.

There was also 1914's "Poor Pauline":
http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700000130/B-15140-Poor_Pauline

"Wonderful One", a big waltz hit in 1923, is credited on the Victor label to Paul Whiteman and Ferdie Grofe, but also as "Adapted from theme by Marshall Neilan". I don't know whether he wrote it for a specific film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sd1UP-GWEE

-HA

Marshall Neilan, composer! Thanks for that - you learn something new every day.

Also had to check out the linked version sung by George Sanders! No too impressive (I've heard him better elsewhere), and the production seemed to suffer from that 1950s tinny over-reliance on treble.

I would guess that "Wonderful One" was not connected with any film, or else it would likely be mentioned on the sheet music.

I've got a couple of pieces of sheet music for more obscure 'girl's name' songs: Irving Berlin's 'Irene' from Vilma Banky's last silent, ' The Awakening'; 'Lenore', which was specially composed for the Sydney season of another Banky film, 'Two Lovers'. A very pretty piece, that one - I don't think I've ever seen silver printing on sheet music before:



Not to stray too far off topic, but I wonder how common it was for theatres to release their own 'in house' themes for songs? Sometimes, this even occurred when the film had a pretty famous theme already.

Forget Colman, Banky, & "girl's names"--you have a canoe song-sheet; once a fetish of mine, my collection now gone with the wind. (You'll note the semi-reclining, stern-facing position of the paddler's innamorata.)

Neilan was quite the composer, and apparently played in publicly (usually at the Hotel Roosevelt) regularly. He also had a home-installation organ. He did not compose "Wonderful One" for any film (as far as I know), but it was a popular selection for a love theme on cue sheets.

When Chaplin wrote the music for his 1942 re-release of The Gold Rush, I'm pretty sure that "Sing a Song", the little ditty written for the original release, fell by the wayside.

I think we knew for sure that "Sing a Song" was not used in the 1942 score for THE GOLD RUSH, but just because I have it right here and can check it easily, I thought I'd take a look at the Music Cue Sheet for the 1942 scored version (dated May 8, 1942) and see if "Sing a Song" is listed.
Sure enough it's not.
But there's some other interesting things we can see about the 1942 score.
There are 99 cues used in the movie but only two that are actually written by Chaplin by himself (entitled "Leaps and Creeps" and "Leaps"). All the other Chaplin composer credits are in conjunction with Max Terr. And there are a actually several that were not written by Chaplin at all: some are by Terr by himself. And some by Gerard Carbonara, and some credited to Carbonara and Terr together.
Also included is one selection by Archibald Joyce ("A Thousand Kisses", played twice) and one number credited to Louis Bourgeois, arranged by Max Terr. There are some classical oldies (by Brahms, Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Rossini), used. Some of those are credited as Arranged by Chaplin and Terr, and some by Terr without Chaplin.
And, just to cover them all: the performance of "Auld Lang Syne" (cue #66) has no writer or arranger credit at all.

Forget Colman, Banky, & "girl's names"--you have a canoe song-sheet; once a fetish of mine, my collection now gone with the wind. (You'll note the semi-reclining, stern-facing position of the paddler's innamorata.)

Now that I look more closely at it, it looks kind of creepy. Is the poor lady about to ... get drowned?

Under magnification, I can just make out a frantic dog on the shoreline, leaping against his tether....

[silentfilm]

More sheet music, two songs from Colleen Moore talkies, plus the "Winner of the £500 prize in the Colleen Moore-Daily Graphic Ambition Contest, Dedicated by the Composer to Colleen Moore, The Fascinating Star of The Silver Screen."

How did Colleen fare as a singer? Apparently both Smiling Irish Eyes and Footlights and Fools are lost (as are too many of her silents), but the Vitaphone discs for both are said to exist. Anybody heard 'em?

I've got a different version of 'Smiling Irish Eyes'. I've heard a recording of the song (not by Colleen) and as a tune, I wouldn't describe it as a showstopper. Has anyone here seen 'The Social Register' (1934)? Apparently she sings in that one.



Speaking of which - even in the silent era, there seemed to be quite a few 'Star of X sings theme song to X' recordings. For example, I've heard Dolores del Rio's rendition of 'Ramona'. It ranks higher than Valentino's effort, but not by a whole lot. Anyone heard any others?

Thanks for mentioning the Dolores Del Rio recording, which I hadn't been aware of. Without meaning to sound unkind, she reminded me a bit of Edie Adams in parodic "grand singer" mode. But whattheheck, Dolores could get away with worse in my book.

Found an intriguing list provided by Harold Aherne in a thread from four years ago. All of these were unknown to me:

Marie Dressler: Edison cylinders in 1909-1910
Mae Murray: 2 sides for Columbia in July 1913
Olga Petrova: several sides for Columbia in 1916-17, only two of which were released
William S. Hart: a couple of poetry recitations for Victor in 1928
Marlene Dietrich: some for Electrola (German HMV) in 1928
Allene Ray and Walter Miller: promotional disc in 1925 for their serial "The Green Archer
Richard Barthelmess: part of an all-star Vocalion session in 1922 (the others were mostly stage performers)
Bebe Daniels: Gennett recording on 17 August 1923
Shirley Mason: Gennett recording on 13 August 1923
Jackie Coogan: a few records in 1925, on a specialty label
Walter Pidgeon: HMV in 1924
http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=1946

Here's one of Marlene's 1928 recordings, a duet with Margo Lion. Any informed opinion as to which is which (is Marlene the higher or the lower voice)?

So early a recording by Bebe is a big surprise--the lore is that her wonderful voice was only "discovered" when she auditioned for Rio Rita. Would dearly love to hear whatever's on this '23 disk.

Not quite. Shirley Mason and Bebe Daniels records for Gennett aren't songs from the period, they're Christmas Greetings records (part of a set of ten, with famous people giving their Christmas greetings). Bebe's first song recordings are the Victor "Rio Rita" discs.

I have a whole bunch of versions of "JEANNINE". I'll post some links here later. Again, I was under the impression the original scoring track to LILAC TIME had been found? Will TCM ever air this film? Hopefully, in a nice transfer from 35 Millimeter. I would snap up a Warner Archive release in a heart beat. By the way, Moore Colleen, here is a link to the ELLA CINDERS song on TCM-CFU.

http://fan.tcm.com/_Ella-Cinders-1926-T ... 66470.html


I've always wanted to hear that original theme to THE GOLD RUSH. Now that I have heard it, I'm not sure what to think? Didn't except the lyrics. It almost has the same melody as the Conrad Birdie/Beatles chant. Ha! And what is the name of the Chaplin composition that follows Sing A Song? It is of course familiar from UNKNOWN CHAPLIN. I know it was recorded in 1923. Was it used for scoring THE GOLD RUSH as well? Wonder it Timothy Brock gave any thought to these melodies foer the Criterion Blu-ray? Hope so.

Incidentally, Who is the Wonderful One pictured on the music sheet?

I've heard LENORE, but not LENORA?. Are they both the same tune? It's not clear.

SOMEDAY SOMEWHERE was written for THE RED DANCE. ANGELIA MIA for STREET ANGEL. And Oh yes, LITTLE MOTHER for FOUR SONS. No one has mentioned those I don't believe in this thread.

Anybody got some good instrumentals of LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY?

I've heard LENORE, but not LENORA?. Are they both the same tune? It's not clear.

No, 'Leonora' was specially written for the Sydney season of 'Two Lovers'. Why the official theme song wasn't used, I'm not sure - a copyright issue, no doubt. Whatever the cause, the phenomenon seems to have been quite common. For example, instead of 'Diane', the Sydney season of 'Seventh Heaven' had this, a very similar sounding song:

what is the name of the Chaplin composition that follows Sing A Song? It is of course familiar from UNKNOWN CHAPLIN. I know it was recorded in 1923.

The other tune is called "With You, Dear, in Bombay" - a peculiar title, but maybe it represents the Tramp's dreams of his future life with Georgia!


Thanks for the "Ella Cinders" song - who are the performers?

Brooksie,

Thanks for the confirmation that LENORE and LENORA are different tunes.

Rollo,

Appreciate your letting me know. Very interesting. Was WITH YOU DEAR IN BOMBAY ever actually part of a score to THE GOLD RUSH though? I know it was recorded in 1923. THE GOLD RUSH was released in August of 1925.

I don't remember the band who recorded this version of the Ella Cinders song. I will try to find the file. It's a great tune though isn't? Also here is one of the best instrumental editions of the Jeannine song preformed by a Tango Orchestra who actually played for Silent films Can't recall off hand who they are either. I will look it up.

http://fan.tcm.com/_Juanita-Jeannine-I- ... 66470.html

Was WITH YOU DEAR IN BOMBAY ever actually part of a score to THE GOLD RUSH though? I know it was recorded in 1923. THE GOLD RUSH was released in August of 1925.

"Sing a Song" and "With You Dear in Bombay" were recorded in Los Angeles sometime in May 1925, according to Ross Laird's Brunswick discography (Brunswick's recording sheets for its spring 1925 recordings on the West Coast do not have dates, for whatever reason). They cannot be from 1923 because the matrix numbers for surrounding sessions (Herb Wiedoeft AHO, Charlie Wellman) are, in many cases, for songs that had yet to be written or published in '23.

-HA

Harold,

OK, I stand corrected. I was just going by the quote in Unknown Chaplin "Here he guest conducts the Abe Lyman Orchestra in 1923. We have combined his record with the film." I took that statement as gospel. Now the question is why can't these melodies be used as part of the score on the new Criterion Blu-ray? Especially since Chaplin was the composer? What's with the Estate not allowing the melodies to be heard?

I just looked up Glenn Mitchell's Chaplin Encyclopedia to see what he has to say about the music:

Chaplin supplied three themes for The Kid, and prepared a full score for the original release of The Gold Rush; two songs, published at the time, were suggested to be from this score but are now thought not to have been included (nor, despite claims to the contrary, are they in the 1942 reissue). (Sing a Song and With You, Dear, in Bombay).

This leads to several questions:

- Why are they thought not have been included?
- Did the "full score" for The Gold Rush consist of original music, or was it a compiled score, or a combination? (Auld Lang Syne must have been used in the New Years' Eve scene at least).
- How about the three themes for The Kid? Again, I'm guessing they weren't used in his later score for the 1971 reissue.
- Does anything of those original silent scores survive?

Rollo,

Well, I know for a fact that the original scores to A WOMAN OF PARIS, THE GOLD RUSH, and THE CIRCUS were discovered in Chaplin's vault back in 1991. So they do exist in their entirety, at least on paper. I did not know that He had written three tunes for THE KID during it's initial release in 1921. So you learn something every day I guess.

(I put this post in another thread - but it is also relevant to this thread - It may answer some of the questions raised)

"This is an interesting article giving details of some of the music played to silent pictures. It concentrates on cinema organs and has an Australian slant - but does give quite a few of the musical items used.

http://theatreorgans.com/southerncross/Music.htm

I found it quite absorbing. Also, one of my bugbears is accompanists missing cues - there is quite a long study featured as to how to play a prize fight gong on a cinema organ!"

What an amazing collection of movie-music memorabila! The incredible efforts made in scoring for Birth/Nation is alone proof of its tremendous popular impact, even in the Antipodes. "As Essential as the Picture," the slogan on the cover of one of the musicians' handbooks, is a principal I had assumed utterly beyond doubt or question--until reading many of the contrary opinions in the "silents in silence" thread.

Re: Chaplin's GOLD RUSH

The original music Chaplin composed for it was ONLY composed and featured in the 1942 re-issue. Most of it is Chaplin, but there are pieces by Gerard Carbonara and others used.

When the film was premiered in Hollywood at the Egyptian in 1925, the score was compiled in the traditional fashion by Carli Elinor. I don't know if this still exists, but according to Mordant Hall, the selections were traditional, and at least one of the cues was "After the Ball."

In general release, the film was released with a cue sheet by James Bradford, like most releases of the day. The compilation calls for the usual selections of photoplay, classical and popular tunes. Charlie's theme, for example, is an M. L. Lake arrangement of the old standard, "The Bowery."