The Vegas Voice 2-21
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By: Yvonne Cloutier / Musical Moments
Jerome Kern, 1885-1945, born in New York of
Jewish/German parents was one of the 20th
century’s most important composers, musical
innovator, and master tunesmith for 40 years of musical theatre and
popular music. He composed over 700
songs and over 100 stage works.
He collaborated with some of the
greatest librettists (writes the lyrics
and/or dialogue) and lyricists, (writes
words to the songs, including Yip
Harburg of Wizard of Oz fame.) When
listening to Kern’s beautiful music
of Showboat, audiences realized he
elevated American musical to the level
of fine art.
The story of Showboat (written by Edna Ferber, the lyrics by Oscar
Hammerstein II) with the musical performers, made Jerome Kern’s
songs of Showboat musical standards. Some of these are: Ol’ Man
River, Make Believe, Why Do I Love You? and Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat
Man.
This wasn’t Kern’s only list of beautiful classical hit melodies. Some
easily remembered are: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, All the Things You
Are, (considered to be one of the top ballads written in America,) The
Song is You, I’ve Told Every Little Star, Look for the Silver Lining, A
Fine Romance, Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, & Start All Over
Again, (which is good advice for divorcees).
22
Jerome Kern
News of the World
By: Renee Riendeau / Movie Revelations
Tom Hanks is Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a
veteran of three wars. He travels from town
to town sharing non-fiction stories of Presidents,
Queens, glorious feuds, and adventures of far areas of the globe.
In the plains of Texas, Cap. Kidd crosses paths with Johanna (Helena
Zengel) who had been robbed and separated from her family and left
to die. She had been stolen by a Native American tribe six years earlier
and never learned their language.
Johanna was practically a mute and Kidd’s mission was to return her
to an aunt and uncle surviving somewhere nearby, against Johanna’s
wishes. She was unhappy and didn’t want to follow her relatives rules.
Eventually, Cap. Kidd goes back to claim Johanna and promises
to look after and care for her. She and Cap. Kidd made quite a team
sharing unforgiving wilderness, tremendous challenges of nature as
they focus searching for a home.
Universal Studios made some sort of a deal with AMC theaters. My
friend and I saw “News of the World” at South Point Casino where the
theater seats are individually chosen several seats/rows apart.
The Pre-production status for this movie was April 18, 2019; and on
February 2021
Others include I’m Old Fashioned, done in the movie called You
Were Never Lovelier where Fred Astaire dances his way into Rita
Hayworth’s heart; I Won’t Dance, written for the film version of
the musical Roberta to introduce Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
to the public; and The Last Time I Saw Paris, reminiscing lyrics by
Hammerstein II, when Germans took over the French capital during
WW II, asking Kern to write the music
to them.
Kerr’s prolific writing between 1914-
1920, completed four full musicals,
(also called scores.) In 1935, he wrote
three stage hits in a row.
He was described as a whitehaired,
birdlike little fellow with a highpitched
voice, having nothing to do
with being a professional perfectionist
who disliked amateurs with pretense.
When Kern died, he was only 60 years old, dying on a N.Y. street with
no identification. Not knowing who he was, he was taken to a public
hospital on Welfare Island. Hammerstein II and other composers
identified him in time to keep him from being buried as an unknown.
Eubie Blake is quoted as comparing Jerome Kern to the moon and
stars, commenting that they were both absolutely great!
Yvonne Cloutier, a former teacher/principal, with a music
background, specializes in ragtime piano. She researches and
reports about music on SCA-TV.com/Anthem Alive! You can
contact her at www.mytimeisragtime.com.
or about Oct. 22, 2020 the
film was completed. Most of
the movie was shot in Santa
Fe, New Mexico where Tom
Hanks had to deal with the
dust, sweat, grime of pre-20 th
century period filmmaking,
an obvious departure from
his earlier work.
This was a departure from
the kind of film I usually
view but enjoyable and made
for an interesting two hours
of entertainment. I am rating
” News of the World “4 points
out of 5 on the Riendeau
movie review scale.
Renee Riendeau is the movie critic for “Renee’s Revelations”
on Anthem Alive SCA-TV. As a dog sitter she operates “ Renee’s
Roommates” out of her home and can be reached at
rriendeau@aol.com.