{"id":65703,"date":"2021-06-15T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T07:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=65703"},"modified":"2021-06-15T06:41:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T13:41:13","slug":"max-and-dave-screen-songs-1929-30-what-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/max-and-dave-screen-songs-1929-30-what-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Max and Dave: Screen Songs 1929-30: What Crash?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t know if Max and Dave Fleischer gambled in the stock market, as so many in show business had done. If they didn\u2019t, that was a good thing for them, as they didn\u2019t have to go bare-chested after having lost their shirts. But the deal with Paramount remained a good thing for them, providing a regular outlet for their releases. Paramount further followed through with the promotional budgets, putting ads in all the trade papers, etc. Nobody knew at this juncture how deep the depression would get – or that they were even in a depression – but they knew the market had dropped from its previous peak in September of 1929. In keeping spirits up, the Screen Songs<\/em> continued, and the ball kept bouncing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oh, You Beautiful Doll<\/strong> (10\/24\/29) – A cat is trying to tidy up a music store, with no help from a nervy mouse. A female customer comes in, and the cat sees opportunity for \u201cBusiness – Monkey Business\u201d. He gets flirtatious with her to the title tune, while the mouse is throwing things at his noggin. Billy Murray recites the alter call, encourging the audience to sing along, but does not join in the singing. The first chorus is presented entirely instrumentally, then there are the usual second chorus gags, as well as an ending gag involving a large Swiss cheese, which does not last long as a horde of mice go after it. The title song is from 1912, recorded by Billy Murray and the American Quartet on Victor and Edison. In the 1940’s the tune was adapted by Chuck Foster\u2019s Orchestra as his theme song, likely appearing only on airchecks and transcriptions. In 1958, the tune was rocked up by \u201cIvan\u201d (really Jerry Ivan Allison), a back-up guitarist from Buddy Holly\u2019s group (with Buddy also playing guitar on the record). <\/p>\n

\"\"Several additional songs appear in the score of the cartoon, including \u201cBy the Beautiful Sea\u201d (a 1914 song, revived in 1948 by Spike Jones for Victor), \u201cThe Cat\u201d (a song penned by Isham Jones, recorded by him for Brunswick, and by the California Ramblers on Edison), \u201cThe Whisper Song (When the Pussy Willows Whispers to the Catnip)\u201d, recorded by Art Landry on Victor, and a vocal version by the California Humming Birds on Victor), and \u201cI Miss My Swiss\u201d, most notably performed by the Happiness Boys on Victor and Columbia, with dance versions by Paul Whiteman on Victor, Carl Fenton on Brunswick, Ted Lewis on Columbia, the California Ramblers on the dime-store labels, and the Southern Serenaders (a Sam Lanin group including several Fletcher Henderson musicians including Louis Armstrong) on Harmony.<\/p>\n