NEW BERN-CRAVEN COUNTY
PUBLIC LIBRARY
The NEW BEHN
I^ibrary
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PUBLISHID WBIKLY
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VOLUME 14
NEW BERN. N. C.. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29,1971
NUMBER 33
Yesterday was when, exactly
a half century ago, New Bem-
ians hanoUy hummed a brand
new song. Ain’t We Got Fun?
Richard Whiting wrote the
catchy tune. Most novelty
numbers quicMy give up the
ghost. Hiis one lingered.
Thirty years later, Warner
Brothers included it in Gus
Kahn’s screen biography. I’ll
See You In My D^ms, and
that same year used the song in
a second musical. On Moonlight
Bay.
Unbelieveably, a couple of
years after that the same
Hollywood studio had Doris Day
and Gordon MacRae sing it in a
third musical. By The Li^t of
Die Silvory Moon. Finany, a
year later, Eddie Cantor did it
in The Eddie Cantor Story, this
one too by Warner Brothers.
Another 1921 offering from
Dn Pan Alley took New Bern
and the rest of ttie country by
storm too. Noble Sissle, who had
a fine dance band, teamed with
Eubie Blake to write I’m Just
Wild About Harry.
Florence Mills introduced it
in an all-black musical. Shuffle
Along. Broadway acclaimed the
song instantly, and when
Florence invaded London with
it, her success was sensational.
Eighteen years later, Mce
Faye sang it in a 20th Century-
Fox film, Rose of Washington
Square. Twelve months after
that it was featured in another
film, Broadway, starring
George Raft and Pat O’Brien.
But there was more to come
for I’m Just Wild About Harry.
In 1943 it was injected into the
Ted Lewis screen biography. Is
Everybody Happy? A1 Jolson
belted it out in Jolson Sings
Again in 1949, and Gus Kahn’s
afore-mentioned I’ll See You In
My Dreams gave it full treat
ment in 1951.
Getting back to a half century
ago, what else were you New
Bemians singing that year?
Why, a numbik' fiiat bobs up on
television at intervals, April
Showers. A1 Jolson intro^cM it
in Bombo, a musical ex
travaganza at New York’s
Winter Garden.
From that night on, the song
would be forever associated
with Jolson, and naturally it
was featur^ in Die Jolson
Story, filmed a quarter of a
century later, and Jolson Sings
Again, three years after that. A1
recorded the song in 1946 and it
sold more than a million
records.
Diere were still other Tin Pan
Alley hits, back in 1921. If you’re
60 or older, it’s a cinch you can
sing The Sheik of Araby without
missing a word or a note.
However, you may be wrong
on one point. It was not the
theme song of The Sheik,
starring Rudoligi Valentino. To
begin with, the film was silent.
Harry Smith, Francis Wheeler
and Ted Snyder wrote the
number to capitalize on the
movie’s popularity.
It was introducl^ in a stage
musical, Make It Snappy,
Nineteen years later. Bill
Gilbert, Alice Faye and Betty
Grable gave it comic treatment
in a 20th Century-Fox musical,
Continued on page H>
''4 ‘ H,.
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TOUCH ALL OVER—There are times in a fellow’s
life when he needs a friend. Like if you want to play
ball with somebody, and there’s no one around^, or
they’re too busy doing something else. That ought
not happen to a tot who hasn't even reached his
second birthday. “Grant” Douglas Shirley of 517
Blades Avenue displays his disgust tearfully, and it
should tug at your heart if you haven’t forgotten
how it was to be young yourself. His parents are the
Douglas R. Shirleys, and grandparents are the Ray
Shirleys and the Roy B. Ingrams, all of New Bern.