Harry Warren: America's Foremost Composer (1933)

Songwriter Harry Warren performs several of his own compositions, including "I Found a Million Dollar Baby" and "Shadow Waltz."

Director:

Ray McCarey

Stars:

Harry Warren, The Leaders, Gladys Brittain

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harry Warren	...	Himself
The Leaders	...	Themselves - Singing Quartet
Gladys Brittain	...	Herself - Singer
Margie Hines	...	Herself - Singer (as Marjorie Hines)
Marguerite & Le Roy	...	Themselves - Dance Team

Storyline

Harry Warren plays some of his most popular numbers on a piano in a tux in a drawing room with a few couples listening and a full bar in the foreground. There's some kidding and a few comic lyrics set to Warren tunes, then Margie Hines and Gladys Brittain alternate singing some of Warren's best-known songs, joined from time to time by The Legends. Couples dance, featuring Marguerite and Le Roy. Several couples kiss, others throw back martinis. For the final number, "Forty-Second Street," Warren begins with some solo piano and then we go to a sound stage with a cast of hundreds singing and dancing to an orchestra's playing.

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Plot Keywords:

singing | piano | dancing | song | songwriter | 

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Genres:

Short | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pepper Pot (1933-1934) (#6): Harry Warren, America's Foremost Composer

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vitaphone Corporation, The, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included in Warner Home Video's 2006 6-disc DVD release "The Busby Berkeley Collection".

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Connections

References 42nd Street (1933)

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Soundtracks

"Cryin' for the Carolines"
(1929) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young
Performed by Harry Warren on piano and sung by Gladys Brittain

User Reviews

Harry at the piano

This pleasant short subject has Harry Warren playing some of his musical hits. As hits were coming to him for over 30 years and he started getting big time royalties in the middle 20s, a short subject here only covers a small portion of his career.

The setting is a swank party where the guests ask Warren to perform some of his hits. After that we get medley of songs, sung and danced to by the various guests. The Shadow Waltz from Goldiggers of 1933 was nicely staged with couples dancing in silhouette.

The finale starts with Warren playing the title song from 42nd Street and then it dissolves to the famous Busby Berkeley dance number from the film. As both 42nd Street and Goldiggers of 1933 were still playing this film was quite a plug for both.

Warren won three Oscars for Best Song in his career and not one of them had been composed yet. He's overlooked many times because he eschewed Broadway for Hollywood. But I daresay his melodies will live on and on longer than some of his contemporaries precisely because we can see the performances over and over.

Salvatore Anthony Guaragna from Brooklyn, aka Harry Warren you were one of the greatest.