TIN PAN ALLEY
(20th Century-Fox)
‘THE last time we saw this picture it was called Alexander’s Ragtime Band. In other words, Producer Darryl Zanuck has again been dipping into the
U.S.A.’s musical history in order to give his studio’s headline star, Alice Faye, another chance to exercise her husky voice and her tremulous lower lip on a number of old-time popular songs. By now Producer Zanuck has just about covered the whole field from early Stephen Foster to latest Irving Berlin; but on this occasion he confines himself to the few years of song-writing before and during World War I, which saw the birth of such "hits" as K-K-K-Katy, Good-bye Broadway, Hello France, Over There, and Moonlight Bay. To this period apparently also belongs the maudlin ditty America, I Love You (You're like a Sweetheart to Me) which the cast "plug" with tears in their eyes. Love for America, we are told, is " just like a little baby climbing its mother’s knee"! We hope Dr. Goebbels doesn’t hear that. The biggest handicap Tin Pan Alley is likely to have to overcome in this country is its title, which refers to the street in New York where popular songs are born-or aborted. If stories were important in musical films, this might also be a handicap, for Zanuck has been so preoccupied with putting over his songs in an opulent style that the story of his picture is like an orphan child left out in the cold. It is the threadbare theme of ambition versus love, and the effect this conflict has on the fortunes of two Irish song publishers (Jack Oakie and John Payne) and the sister act of Alice Faye and Betty Grable, Oakie comes out tops with some notable comedy relief, Betty Grable is good to look at, Alice Faye is good to listen to (if you enjoy listening to her) and John Payne isbut out of charity I'll omit the obvious pun. Apart from Oakie’s excellent fooling, the nostalgic atmosphere conjured up by hearing old songs is Tin Pan Alley’s greatest asset-and Zanuck knows how
to exploit it. If you like this type of show you probably won’t be disappointed with the results of his labour.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19410321.2.32.1.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 91, 21 March 1941, Page 16
Word count
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368TIN PAN ALLEY New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 91, 21 March 1941, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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