Two Songs from 'America's Sweetheart'

Rodgers and Hart's 1931 spoof of Hollywood, America's Sweetheart, was not one of their great successes, running on Broadway for less than four months. Most of its numbers are obscure and some apparently lost, but the show did include two outstanding songs, even if neither are heard much these days.

Why didn't America's Sweetheart succeed? Its critics grumbled that Hollywood satires were old hat, and that Herbert Fields' book was inferior to Kaufman and Hart's Once in a Lifetime. The story line hinged on the changeover to talkies and the havoc it brought to the industry and its actors. (Rodgers, Hart and Fields may have been 20 years ahead of their time, considering the success of Singin' in the Rain.)

Jack Whiting and Harriette Lake

The leads were by all accounts appealing. One, appearing under her birth name of Harriette Lake, later became famous as Ann Sothern. The male lead was Jack Whiting.

Lake and Whiting introduced the two memorable songs from the show - "I've Got Five Dollars" and "We'll Be the Same." The former is a Depression song, and a wonderful one at that, with some of Hart's most winning lyrics. Lake sang:

"I've got five dollars / Eighty-five relations / Two lace combinations / They belong to you!

"Two coats with collars / Ma and Grandma wore 'em / All the moths adore 'em / They belong to you!"

The verse includes this gem: "I was more selfish / And crabby than a shellfish."

"I've Got Five Dollars" has been recorded any number of times, including several efforts when it was new. "We'll Be the Same" - a first-rate example of Rodgers and Hart's magic - is neglected, with only a few releases when new and a handful thereafter.

The best version of the latter song I have heard is by Tammy Grimes, and can be found in the collection of her work I recently posted. Today, however, we will go back to 1931 and a 78 by Victor Arden-Phil Ohman and Their Orchestra that couples it with "I've Got Five Dollars."

Victor Arden and Phil Ohman

Arden, Ohman and their pianos had been heard in several Broadway shows during the 1920s, including Rodgers and Hart's Spring Is Here. They don't seem to have been in America's Sweetheart, however.

For these two songs (and many other records), Arden and Ohman engaged Frank Luther for the vocal choruses. Luther seemed to live in the recording studio for several years, working under his own name, as "Bud Billings" for the country market, and with various vocal groups. Luther had a good reputation, although here his singing could best be described as accurate rather than ingratiating. His choppy phrasing does nothing for Hart's lyrics, to be sure.

Lee Wiley and Frank Luther

Then too, Arden-Ohman don't include the verse of "I've Got Five Dollars" nor the lyrics written for Hariette Lake. This means that Luther doesn't sing any of the Hart lines that I quoted above. To compensate for this omission, I've included a 1940 recording by Lee Wiley complete with the verse. Wiley, unlike Luther, was a stylist who injects much more personality into her singing. Her backing is by a Joe Bushkin ensemble that includes some of the usual Chicago-style musicians - Max Kaminsky, Bud Freeman, et al.

The sound on these records is good for its time, and is enhanced by ambient stereo processing.

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart