1. That’s Entertainment (Fred Astaire et al.) 1953
2. Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly) 1952
3. Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland) 1955
4. When You Wish upon a Star (Cliff Edwards) 1940
5. A Kiss to Build a Dream On (Louis Armstrong) 1951
6. True Love (Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly) 1954
7. Puttin’ on the Ritz (Fred Astaire) 1952
8. ‘Swonderful 1951
9. The Folks Who Live on the Hill (Peggy Lee) 1957
10. Good Mornin’ (Debbie Reynolds et al.) 1952
11. On the Street Where You Live (Vic Damone) 1958
12. Well Did You Evah? (Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby) 1957
13. Moon River (Audrey Hepburn 1961
14. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend (Marilyn Monroe) 1953
15. Never on Sunday (Nan Mouskouri) 1960
16. Baby It’s Cold Outside (Esther Williams & Riccardo Montalban) 1949
17. Falling in Love Again (Marlene Dietrich) 1954
18. A Couple of Swells (Judy Garland & Fred Astaire) 1949
19. Swingin’ on a Star (Bing Crosby et al.) 1944
20. Wonderful Copenhagen (Danny Kaye) 1952
21. Jeeper Creepers (Louis Armstrong) 1939
22. Buttons and Bows (Bob Hope) 1948
23. High Noon (Frankie Laine) 1952
24. Thank Heavens for Little Girls (Maurice Chevalier) 1958
25. As Time Goes By (Dooley Wilson) 1943
26. Thanks for the Memory (Ella Fitzgerald) 1955
Many of the songs in this compilation come from musical, others from dramatic, movies of the early 1950s, each of which had a fairly powerful musical theme
running through it and which became a hit, taking on a life of its own, separate from the film, such as High Noon (High Noon) and Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and As Time Goes By (Casablanca).
While many of the tracks are taken directly from the movies, some are not. So we find Thanks for the Memory (1938), so identified with Bob Hope
for whom it became his theme song, sung here by Ella Fitzgerald (1955), or On the Street Where You Live (stage 1956; film 1964), sung here by Vic
Damone (1958). On occasion while the track is from the movie, the voice is dubbed because the actor’s was weak or unsuited to singing: Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend (Marni Nixon in for Marilyn Monroe). In a couple of instances the voice was left, even though lacking
in timbre: Audrey Hepburn in Moon River or Marlene Dietrich in Falling in Love Again.
But the twenty-seven tracks present wonderful variety, some of the songs of a superior quality, having won awards, other less so, but all drenched in
nostalgia for those old enough to remember the movies in which they were featured. Although one might regret that some songs are missing, the twenty-five
tracks of this recording do a fairly thorough and representative job of covering the time period. This CD is an invitation to a 78m. 09s. stroll down
“memory lane” (if one will pardon the cliché).
Bert Thompson
CD Reviews
