The film was shown on TCM--Turner Classic Movies--and it is just fine, filled with great clips of Hoagy Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Harold Arlen, Lena Horne, and a dozen others, with narration (and very tasty piano) by Bill Charlap, and learned commentary from Jonathan Schwartz, Andre Previn and Stephen Holden, among others. I am pleased to report that the film will be released on DVD, with a companion CD of Mercer songs.
There is a choice collection of Merceriana recorded by Rosemary Clooney with her usual mob (Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Ed Bickert, John Oddo, et al.), but still the most fun is in "An Evening with Johnny Mercer," in which he tells many stories of his Hollywood and Broadway days. A favorite: he and Henry Mancini were asked to write a song for Audrey Hepburn to sing in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." When early rushes of the scene were screened for studio executives, one said, "Well, one thing for certain: that damned song has to go." The song was "Moon River."
If there are old movie buffs out there, they will be pleased to learn that TCM is screening twenty-one films with Mercer songs over the next two weeks.
And have you heard Clint Eastwood sing Mercer's lyrics for "Accentuate the Positive"? He does, on the sound track for "In the Midnight Garden of Good and Evil."
Okay, already. I know it's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Don't phone.
ReplyDeleteHow about "In the Good Garden of Midnight Evil?"
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe not but I'll watch for the movies.