Showtunes

Some of my favorite music comes from show tunes. During the 1940's and 50's, Hollywood produced a number of musicals which I saw with my mother or with friends, over and over again. Then, as I grew older, I got the long-playing soundtrack albums and, eventually, the VCR tapes of my favorite musicals. Here's a bunch of them!

The first musical I remember came out in 1945-46 when I was only three or four years old. And what I remember about it is not the music but the costumes. Betty Grable and June Haver were "The Dolly Sisters". On the billboard outside the movie theater there was a huge poster with Betty all in black and June all in white and I thought they were the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I remember my mother asking which one I liked better and I never could decide. I believe I had paper dolls of The Dolly Sisters.

Songs from "The Dolly Sisters" include I Can't Begin to Tell You and I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

Of course, Walt Disney's movies and later his TV show produced some memorable songs. Here's some of my Disney favorites.

There were lots and lots of musicals during those years, mainly World War II stories. It was during this time I came to enjoy watching people dance, a pastime I still enjoy today. Some of my favorite singers/dancers were Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Dan Daily, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made their last movie together in 1949 so I didn't see many of those at the time. I caught up with them on TV later.

Of course, this could not be complete without
"Singing in the Rain" .

My favorite song-and-dance-man was Danny Kaye. I created a special page just for some of his work.

And my favorite musicals were those of
Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Another musical movie I enjoyed was Pajama Game with John Raitt and Doris Day from 1957. Songs from the movie include Hernando's Hideaway , Hey There, and Steam Heat .

Mario Lanza was a very popular singer during the 50's. His voice was dubbed into The Student Prince with Edmund Purdom playing the lead role. The songs were written by Sigmund Romberg including Deep In My Heart Dear, Golden Days, and The Drinking Song .

Gigi Gigi (1958 film) was an Academy Award winning musical film starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, and Maurice Chevalier and featured songs by lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. The creative cinematography is memorable, especially when Louis Jourdan croons the title song and scenes of Paris form the background. Joseph Ruttenberg won the Academy Award for best cinematography, making this movie a delight to the eyes as well as to the ears. Favorite songs include Gigi , Thank Heaven For Little Girls , The Night They Invented Champagne , I Remember It Well , and Maurice Chevalier's "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Any More"(can't find midi but here's the lyrics)

Others

These movies don't stimulate memories like the movies mentioned above do but, since the music was part of my experience, they deserve at least an "honorable mention".

Camelot Favorite Camelot songs include the theme song, Camelot, and
If Ever I Would Leave You

My Fair Lady songs include Wouldn't It Be Loverly? ,
I Could Have Danced All Night ,
On the Street Where You Live ,
and Get Me to the Church on Time.

It caused quite a stir when Audrey Hepburn was given the movie role of Eliza rather than Julie Andrews. Seems the producers wanted an actress, rather than a singer. Meaning no offense to Ms. Hepburn, time has proven just how wrong they were!

My Fair Lady was based on Bernard Shaw's novel, Pygmalion.

Judy Garland

This wouldn't be complete without a tribute to Judy Garland and her music.

From The Harvey Girls - On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe
From Easter Parade - Easter Parade , and I Love a Piano .
From Me and My Gal - Oh, You Beautiful Doll , Darktown Strutters' Ball , For Me and My Gal , When You Wore a Tulip , and After You've Gone .
From Meet Me in St. Louis - Meet Me in St. Louis , Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Trolley Song.
FromThe Wizard of Oz - Over the Rainbow.

Theme songs

And my vote for best movie theme songs: Gone With The Wind midi and Dr. Zhivago's midi themes

I was able to find midi files all over the internet. Thanks to many websites who provided the music used here. The links below will take you to those websites so you can enjoy other offerings. All links worked at the time this was written.

From "The Dolly Sisters": I'm Always Chasing Rainbows. (http://ingeb.org/songs/imalways.html)
From "Singing in the Rain": Singing in the Rain (http://midistudio.com/midi/ST_JZ.htm)
From "Pajama Game": Hernando's Hideaway (http://midistudio.com/midi/ST_AI.htm)
Hey There(http://midistudio.com/midi/ST_AI.htm)
From "Gigi": Thank Heaven For Little Girls (http://www.barefootsworld.net/midijamboree.html#t)
The Night They Invented Champagne (http://www.hamienet.com/midi7322.html)
I Remember It Well (http://www.hamienet.com/midi7320.html)
From Camelot: Camelot (http://members.tripod.com/~alien98/show.htm)
If Ever I Would Leave You (http://members.tripod.com/~alien98/show.htm)
From My Fair Lady: All midis from (http://members.tripod.com/~alien98/show.htm
Wouldn't It Be Loverly?
I Could Have Danced All Night
On The Street Where You Live
Get Me to the Church On Time
Theme songs: Gone With the Wind (http://easymidisite.tripod.com/theme.htm)

DISCLAIMER: All the songs contained in this site are believed to be in the public domain. The music and information are intended only for personal enjoyment. I have tried to give credit to every website on which I found either the midi or the lyrics for this file. If there is any material used on this site that the author objects to, it will be removed upon notification