Tin Pan Alley 1940

Tin Pan Alley
20th Century-Fox, 1940, B/W, 94 minutes, ***
Released November, 1940

This song-packed romantic comedy filled with "heart and thrills, loves and laughs" (Hollywood Reporter), is the story of the singing Blane Sisters (Alice Faye, Betty Grable) and two struggling songwriters (John Payne, Jack Oakie) in New York's exciting music district. After a mix-up causes them to part ways, it takes World War I to bring the ideal foursome back together.
Associate Producer: Kenneth MacGowan
Directed by: Walter Lang
Screen Play by: Robert Ellis and Helen Logan
Based on a Story by Pamela Harris
Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Dances Staged by: Seymour Felix
Songs: "You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby) Lyrics and Music by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren; "America I Love You" by Edgar Leslie and Archie Gottler (Mills Music, Inc.); "Goodby Broadway Hello France by C. Francis Reisner, Benny Davis and Billy Baskette (Leo Feist, Inc.); "K-K-K-Katy" by Geoffrey O'Hara (Leo Feist, Inc.); "Moonlight Bay" by Edward Madden and Percy Wenrich (Jerome H. Reuick Co.); "Honeysuckle Rose" by Andy Razaf and Thomas Waller (Santly - Joy - Select, Inc.)
Art Direction: Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright
Set Decorations: Thomas Little
Costumes: Travis Banton
Sound: Eugene Grossman, Roger Heman
Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy
Film Editor: Walter Thompson

Awards: Academy Award for Best Score (Alfred Newman)

Cast: Alice Faye [Katie Blane], Betty Grable [Lily Blane], Jack Oakie [Harry Calhoun], John Payne [Skeets Harrigan], Allen Jenkins [Casey], Esther Ralston [Nora Bayes], Nicholas Brothers [Dance Specialty], Ben Carter [Boy], John Loder [Reggie Carstair], Elisha Cook, Jr. [Joe Codd], Fred Keating [Harvey Raymond], Billy Gilbert [Sheik], Lillian Porter [Telephone Operator], Princess Vanessa Ammon, Brian Sisters, Roberts Brothers [Specialties], Tyler Brooke [Bert Melville], Hal K. Dawson [Hotel Clerk], William B. Davidson [Hotel Manager], Lionel Pape [Lord Stanley], Billy Bevan [Stage Doorman], Dewey Robinson [Dumb Guy], Robert Emmett Keane [Manager], John Sheehan [Announcer], George Watts [Mike Buckner], Additional Cast: Bess Flowers [Nightclub Patron], Dorothy Tuttle [Bit]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles, begins with montage / medley of short vocal excerpts of: Oh You Beautiful Doll / Take Me Back to Melody Lane / Any Little Girl (That's a Nice Little Girl) / I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad); [0:08] "Dixie Number" (medley of tunes with special lyrics sung by Jack Oakie attempting lyrics for a new song); [0:10] "Hawaiia" (K-K-K-Katy with special lyric) (excerpt sung by Jack Oakie, then sung and danced by Alice Faye and Betty Grable); [0:15] You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby) (played on piano by Elisha Cook, Jr. [onscreen]); [0:19] You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby) (sung by Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie; then sung by various vocalists behind montage); [0:22] You Say the Sweetest Things (Baby) (played by small band on ferry, then sung by John Payne and Alice Faye); [0:28] (On) Moonlight Bay (sung by Alice Faye); [0:36] Honeysuckle Rose (harmonica solo played by man in jail, then sung and danced by Betty Grable and Chorus); [0:39] Moonlight and Roses (sung and danced by Betty Grable and Chorus); [0:43] America, I Love You (sung by Alice Faye, then by the Roberts Brothers, then by the Brian Sisters and Chorus, then by Alice Faye, John Payne and Chorus); [0:51] "Ireland" (K-K-K-Katy with special lyric) (sung by Jack Oakie, who has been making up new lyrics for his song "Hawaiia" all through the film); [0:59] Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (used instrumentally, danced by Betty Grable and London club patrons); [1:05] Goodbye Broadway, Hello France (sung by Jack Oakie with Elisha Cook, Jr. at the piano [onscreen]); [1:11] Over There (used instrumentally in background score along with several fragments of other songs popular during WWI); [1:15] The Sheik of Araby (production number: instrumental arrangement danced by the Nicholas Brothers; then sung and danced by Alice Faye, Betty Grable and Billy Gilbert); [1:31] K-K-K-Katy (excerpt sung by Jack Oakie, then sung by Jack Oakie, Alice Faye, Betty Grable, John Payne and Chorus); Fragments of additional instrumenal numbers embedded in the background score.