Best Original Song Winners Take 2

Clockwise: Film posters for 'The Big Broadcast of 1938', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Lady Be Good', and 'Pinocchio'.

A year ago, I celebrated the Academy Awards by bringing you the first four songs to win the award for 'Best Original Song'. If you missed it but are interested, you can find it here. Now that the awards are back, I thought it was time to revisit the winners, on this time, I will talk about the songs that won from 1938 to 1941. And I will start with a song that became a signature song for one of the performers. "Thanks for the Memory" had music by Ralph Rainer and lyrics by Leo Robin for the film, 'The Big Broadcast of 1938'. It was performed by Shep Fields and His Orchestra with vocals by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. Hope continued to sing the song at the end of every television special and show he did for decades to come. This is Shirley Ross and Bob Hope singing "Thanks for the Memory", the 'Best Original Song' from 1938.

And if ever a song was identified with the star that first delivered it on film, it would certainly be the case with the 'Best Original Song' from 1939. With music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg,

"Over The Rainbow" was one of the early songs from the film 'The Wizard of Oz'. It was sung by a 16-year-old Judy Garland at the beginning of her career. It would be a song she would continue singing for the next three decades, until she died. While it was taken on by so many other performers, to this day, the song belongs to Judy. This is a clip of Judy Garland, playing Dorothy Gale, in 'The Wizard of Oz'.

In 1940, the winning song had something no other winner had previously had. You see, it was sung by an animated character. "When You Wish Upon a Star" from the Disney film 'Pinocchio'. It had music by Leigh Harline and lyrics by Ned Washington, and was sung by Cliff Edwards, who played Jiminy Cricket. But the song was beautiful, and still remains an impressive song today. While it was the first Disney entry in the category, it would not be the last. But in 1940, wit was "When You Wish Upon a Star" from 'Pinocchio' that was 'Best Original Song'.

And finally, we have the second Oscar for composer Jerome Kern, and the first for lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Kern had won in 1936 for his song "The Way You Look Tonight" from the film 'Swing Time', then working with lyricist Dorothy Fields. Hammerstein had lost with his previous nomination in 1938, working with composer Ben Oakland. But when Kern and Hammerstein worded together on the score for 'Lady Be Good', there was magic in the air. The soundtrack included great songs like the Gershwin's "Oh! Lady Be Good" and "Fascinating Rhythm", "You'll Never Know" by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, as well as the song that won the Academy Award, "The Last Time I Saw Paris". Although the song was not written for the film, instead picked up to be a part of the soundtrack after the fact, it was still nominated for the award. It was sung in the film by Ann Southern, who looked gorgeous in the number. This is the winner of 'Best Original Song' from 1941, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from 'Lady Be Good'.

I hope you enjoy the Academy Awards tonight! Who will win 'Best Original Song' for 2013? The nominees are "Happy" with music and lyrics by Pharrell Williams for 'Despicable Me 2'; "Let It Go", written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the Disney film 'Frozen'; "The Moon Song" with music by Karen O and lyrics by Karen O and Spike Jonze for the film 'Her'; and "Ordinary Love", by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton (members of the band U2) and lyrics by Paul Hewson (Bono) for the film 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'. The latter is the favorite to win, as it already picked up the Golden Globe for 'Best Original Song'. However, "Let It Go" was named 'Best Original Song' at the Critics Choice Awards.

And The Winnner Was...

Clockwise: Posters from The Gay Divorcee; Gold Diggers of 1935; Swing Time; Waikiki Wedding; and The Big Broadcast of 1938.

To mark the occasion o the Academy Awards tonight, I thought I would take a look back at the first five winners of the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The Academy Awards began in 1929, a small brunch of industry bigwigs patting themselves on the back. There was no surprise that first year, as the winners were announced a few months prior. That was changed for the second ceremony, where the winners were announced from the podium. The early ceremonies mostly recognized the actors, directors and producers. Once again, things changed in 1934, the first year the music was recognized. In fact, two awards were given, for 'Best Original Song' and for 'Best Score'. For the purposes of this celebration, we will just be looking at the 'Best Original Song' winners. The very first winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song was "The Continental" from 'The Gay Divorcee'. The movie featured Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and several beautiful dance numbers. The biggest dance was for this song, with music by Con Conrad and lyrics by Herb Magidson, although it was heard as an instrumental on screen. "The Continental" was both a song and a swing dance, but more of an exhibition dance than a dance craze. Watch and enjoy "The Continental" from 'The Gay Divorcee'.

The next year, the Academy Award went to a song that was a classic in the making. Not only did it charm in this original version, it went on to be sung by many through the years, it also went on the have live afterwards on the Broadway stage. The 1935 Academy Award for Best Original Song went to "Lullaby of Broadway", the huge musical number from 'Gold Diggers of 1935'. With music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, the song was perfect for production values of Busby Berkeley, whose imaginative choreography and direction made magic. Forty-five years later, Gower Champion brought '42nd Street' to the Broadway stage, featuring the music of Warren and Dubin. One of the big numbers from the show was "Lullaby of Broadway", first sung by the late Jerry Orbach. But it was Wini Shaw who had the honors in the original film, so please enjoy "Lullaby of Broadway".

The next winner is another classic, sung by many, from Bing Crosby to Billie Holiday to The Jaguars to The Letterman to Tony Bennett and so many more. But the song, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, began as a sweet love song in the movie 'Swing Time'. I would say it was a simple beginning, but anytime a song is introduced by Fred Astaire in a film with Ginger Rogers, simple doesn't seem to apply. Such is the case with "The Way You Look Tonight", a song even lyricist Fields said "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful." Watch and listen as Astaire delivered "The Way You Look Tonight".

I have to say, this next winner owes a great deal to finding the perfect performer as it does anything else. 'Waikiki Wedding' was a tropical musical, set on beautiful Hawaii. It starred Bing Crosby and the dashing male lead, opposite Shirley Ross. The cast also included Martha Raye and Bob Burns as the second leads, and comic relief. It was Crosby who delivered the 1937 winner of the Academy Aware for Best Original Song, "Sweet Leilani". It was written by Harry Owens, a composer born in Nebraska. He was a bandleader, and in 1926 took up residence at the Lafayette Cafe in Los Angeles. It was there he auditioned and first started working with a young singer named Bing Crosby. A few years before the film, Owens had moved to Hawaii, and was named music director of The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. On vacation before shooting 'Waikiki Wedding', Crosby visited his friend, and heard the orchestra play a song Owens had written for his daughter, Leilani. Bing loved it, and wanted to use it in his upcoming film. And it went on to win the Oscar. Enjoy the scene from the movie 'Waikiki Wedding'.

The fifth winner of the award is another song that went on to become a classic. Although 'The Big Broadcast of 1938 starred W.C. Fields, Martha Raye and Dorothy Lamour, the song was not sung by one of these big stars. Instead, "Thanks for the Memory" was sung by one of the comics, a young Bob Hope. The song, with music by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin, went on to be the signature song for the comedian, which he performed at the end of his shows. I hear it, and I instantly think of Hope, whose television specials and work with the USO I remember so well. In fact, I am not sure I have ever seen the original movie, even though this song is such a strong memory. In the clip from the movie, see Hope sing the song with costar Shirley Ross in 'The Big Broadcast of 1938'.

Enjoy the 2013 Oscars!