The World of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby–An Overview
We now come to another MGM hit from 1950 that Conrad Salinger worked on, the movie Three Little Words. It is the biopic about the songwriting team of Bert Kalmar (lyrics) and Harry Ruby (music). Click on the following link to read more and to listen to some of their music.
They had separate careers until 1920, when they decided to create a partnership. They wrote popular music, which was sold via sheet music to the public. They also wrote for the Broadway stage and for the screen, starting in 1930. They wrote for two comedy teams, Wheeler & Woolsey (The Cuckoos, Hips Hips Hooray and Kentucky Kernels) and The Marx Brothers (Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup). In addition, they wrote for Eddie Cantor (The Kid from Spain).
Among their Broadway shows were Helen of Troy, New York (1923), No Other Girl (1924), The Ramblers (1926), The Five O’Clock Girl (1927), Good Boy (1928), Animal Crackers (1928), Top Speed (1929) and High Kickers (1941).
“All Alone Monday” came from The Ramblers in 1926; “Thinking of You” came from The Five O’Clock Girl in 1927, “I Wanna Be Loved by You” came from Good Boy in 1928 and “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” came from Animal Crackers in 1928. The song “I Love You So Much” was written in 1930 for Wheeler & Woolsey’s movie, The Cuckoos.
The rest of their music came via releases as popular songs (sheet music). “Who’s Sorry Now” was written in 1923, with music by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert and Harry; Isham Jones took it to number three as a popular song. This number is sung by Gloria DeHaven in the movie, Three Little Words in 1950. Eight years later in 1958, it was a major hit for Connie Francis; it went to number 4 on billboard in the US and number one in UK.
The song “Three Little Words” was released in 1930 as a popular song and was immediately recorded by The Rhythm Boys (including Bing Crosby).
“Nevertheless I’m in Love with You” was released as popular song in 1931 and was later recorded in 1950 by the Mills Brothers, when it went to number 9 on the charts.
“A Kiss to Build a Dream On” was written in 1935, with help on the lyric from Oscar Hammerstein II. The definitive recording was made by Louis Armstrong in 1951 and was used on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie, Sleepless in Seattle.
Let’s start our musical exploration with a number that was written in 1913 by Harry Puck (music) and Bert Kalmar (lyrics) and published by Kalmar & Puck Music Co. Here we have a clip of “Where Did You Get That Girl” from the 1950 movie, Three Little Words, performed by Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen (dubbed by Anita Ellis).
Next, let’s take a look at a song written by Harry Ruby and Edgar Leslie in 1918. “Come On Papa” is performed by Vera-Ellen (dubbed by Anita Ellis) in the 1950 movie, Three Little Words.
Next, we have the 1923 hit, “Who’s Sorry Now,” sung by Gloria DeHaven in the 1950 movie, Three Little Words.
Our last song for this segment of our exploration of the work of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby is “All Alone Monday.” We are featuring an audio version of the song, recorded in 1926 by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra, because it was released the same year it appeared in the Broadway show, The Ramblers.