Film Alexander's Ragtime Band

The film generally traces the history of jazz music from the popularization of Ragtime in the early years of the 20th century to the acceptance of swing as an art form in the late 1930s using music composed by Berlin. The story spans more than two decades from the 1911 release of its name-sake song to some point in time after the 1933 release of "Heat Wave", presumably 1938.

Alexander's Ragtime Band
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Henry King
Written by	Irving Berlin Richard Sherman
Screenplay by	Kathryn Scola Lamar Trotti
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring	Tyrone Power Alice Faye Don Ameche Ethel Merman Jack Haley
Cinematography	J. Peverell Marley
Edited by	Barbara McLean
Music by	Irving Berlin Alfred Newman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	May 24, 1938 (1938-05-24) (Los Angeles, press preview) August 5, 1938 (1938-08-05) (New York, premiere)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,200,000–$2,275,000
Box office	$3.6 million (worldwide rentals)

It stars Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley and Jean Hersholt. Several actual events in the history of jazz are fictionalized and adapted to the story including the tour of Europe by Original Dixieland Jass Band, the global spread of jazz by U.S. soldiers during World War I, and the 1938 Carnegie Hall performance by The Benny Goodman Orchestra.

The story was written by Berlin himself, with Kathryn Scola, Richard Sherman (1905–1962) and Lamar Trotti. In 1944, a federal judge ruled that most of the story by Berlin and collaborating writers had been plagiarized from a 1937 manuscript by author Marie Dieckhaus, but that decision was reversed on appeal.

Alexander's Ragtime Band was 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing film of the 1930s and was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning the award for Best Music, Scoring.

Alexander's Ragtime Band features several hit songs by Irving Berlin including "Heat Wave", "Some Sunny Day", "Blue Skies", "Easter Parade", "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band". Previously released songs were re-arranged and used in conjunction with new songs written by Berlin for the film.

 

The film had its New York premiere at the Roxy Theatre on August 5, 1938, with Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz heading the stage show.

Contemporary reviews from critics were positive. Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times wrote, "With those twenty-six Berlin tunes at its disposal and with such assured song-pluggers as Alice Faye and Ethel Merman to put them over, the picture simply runs roughshod over minor critical objection and demands recognition as the best musical show of the year." Variety wrote, "Superlative in conception, execution and showmanship, it provides a rare theatrical and emotional experience." Film Daily declared it "solid entertainment that should play to big returns." Harrison's Reports called it "Excellent entertainment, capably directed and acted." Russell Maloney of The New Yorker called the music "reason enough to see the film," though he criticized the "small, persistent, mosquitolike irritation of the plot" and instances of anachronistic dialogue.

At the time of its release, Alexander's Ragtime Band was 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing film ever with $2.63 million in domestic rentals and $3.6 million in worldwide rentals.

In 1937, composer Irving Berlin had been approached by 20th Century Fox to write a story treatment for an upcoming film entitled "Alexander's Ragtime Band." Berlin agreed to write a story outline for the film which would feature many of Berlin's signature tunes. Released on August 5, 1938, Alexander's Ragtime Band was a smash hit with audiences and grossed in excess of five million dollars. However, soon after, a plagiarism lawsuit was filed by author Marie Cooper Dieckhaus against Berlin and 20th Century Fox. In 1944, a federal judge ruled in Dieckhaus' favor that Berlin and collaborating writers had plagiarized a 1937 manuscript by Dieckhaus and used many of its elements.

In 1937, Dieckhaus had submitted her manuscript to various Hollywood studio heads, literary agents, and other individuals for their perusal. The trial court ruled that much of her manuscript's plot was included in the film's screenplay. However, in 1946, this ruling was reversed on appeal because there was no evidence that Berlin and the others who worked on the film had ever seen Dieckhaus's manuscript.

 

Alfred Newman won an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring. The film was also nominated for:

• Best Picture
• Story – Irving Berlin
• Song – Irving Berlin for "Now It Can Be Told"
• Art Direction – Bernard Herzbrun and Boris Leven
• Film Editing – Barbara McLean

Alexander's Ragtime Band was presented as a one-hour radio adaptation on two occasions on Lux Radio Theatre. The first broadcast was on June 3, 1940. This adaptation starred Faye and Robert Preston. The second broadcast was on April 7, 1947, and starred Tyrone Power, Margaret Whiting, Al Jolson, Dick Haymes and Dinah Shore. "A Birthday Tribute to Irving Berlin," an all-star celebration of Berlin's 50th birthday, broadcast on CBS on August 3, 1938, from New York, Hollywood, and Chicago, was coordinated with the premiere of the Fox film and concluded with a truncated dramatization of scenes from the film. Parts were read by Ethel Merman and Tyrone Power.

• Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-00765-3 pages 82–83

 

Wiki Commons has media related to Alexander's Ragtime Band (film).

• Alexander's Ragtime Band at AllMovie
• Alexander's Ragtime Band at the TCM Movie Database
• Alexander's Ragtime Band at IMDb  
• Alexander's Ragtime Band at Rotten Tomatoes