They Shall Have Music (1939)

A boy runs away from home and ends up at a music school for poor children. When the school suffers hard times, he enlists the aid of violinist Heifetz to save the day.

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

Irma von Cube (screenplay), John Howard Lawson (screenplay)

Stars:

Jascha Heifetz, Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jascha Heifetz	...	Jascha Heifetz
Joel McCrea	...	Peter McCarthy
Andrea Leeds	...	Ann Lawson
Gene Reynolds	...	Frankie
Walter Brennan	...	Professor Lawson
Terry Kilburn	...	Limey
Porter Hall	...	Mr. Flower
Walter Tetley	...	Rocks Mulligan
Chuck Stubbs	...	Fever Jones
Tommy Kelly	...	Willie
Gale Sherwood	...	Betty (as Jacqueline Nash)
Alfred Newman	...	Musical Director
Mary Ruth	...	Suzie
John St. Polis	...	Davis
Alexander Schoenberg	...	Menken (as Alexander Schonberg)

Storyline

A boy from the streets of New York finds music tickets to a Heifetz concert, which rekindles his earlier interest in the violin. He subsequently runs away from home and happens across a music school for children (played by members of the Peter Meremblum California Youth Symphony Orchestra). He is taken in by kindly Professor Lawson, the head of the school and resumes violin study while sleeping in the basement of the school. Despite the best efforts of Peter and Ann to raise money, the school is about to be foreclosed upon by Flower and associates. The kids in the school, led by Frankie, try to raise money themselves, and run across Heifetz in the process. After many more well-trodden cinematic paths have been navigated, Heifetz finally is convinced to sponsor the school.

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Plot Keywords:

concert | violin | children | music school | violinist | 

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Genres:

Music | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ragged Angels

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, the newspaper account lists Jascha Heifetz's stolen Violin as a Stradivarius. Heifetz actually used a Guarnarius in the picture and favored that violin in real life, but the producers felt that the name of Stradivarius would be more recognizable.

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Goofs

Throughout the picture, the kids in the orchestra are caught looking into the camera or eyeing it sideways, licking their lips, fidgeting, etc.

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Soundtracks

"Hora staccato"
(1906) (uncredited)
Written by Grigoras Dinicu
Arranged by Jascha Heifetz
Performed by Jascha Heifetz (violin), accompanied by Emanuel Bay, in the film reel

User Reviews

Another uncredited and unmentioned cast member?

I caught a clip of this film with Heifetz's performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto on YouTube - which was phenomenal. Watching the performance from the wings with Andrea Leeds was an actor who looks exactly like Frank McHugh (with mustache), but there's no mention of him in the cast, or of this appearance on his biography page. I assume he was an extra even though he was rather prominent in this single(?), non-speaking appearance in the film. Can anyone confirm if it was him, one way or the other?

Does anyone know if this movie is available on VHS or DVD? I remember seeing it, I believe, on TV, but I'm not certain as to whether I watched a clip of it in a documentary biography of Heifetz, or saw the film, itself.