“No rabbit in there, Doc! You’ve been robbed!”
Bugs Bunny, “Hare Tonic” (1945)
Well, I wasn’t alone in watching CBS on Tuesday night for the latest installation of the American Film Institute’s 100 Years of Film series. And like you, I wasn’t alone in having a disagreement with the choices. Okay, it wasn’t a disagreement. It was a knock down, kicking, screaming, “we was robbed” kind of conflict.
So, I’m putting on the extra special flame resistant Cranky Pants and you’re going to learn why I was so ticked off by the choices the AFI folks made.
Here’s the link to AFI’s page with the results. There were 400 songs nominated and that was winnowed down and selections made based on the following criteria:
“The jurors were asked to consider the following criteria while making their selections:
- Feature-Length Fiction Film: The film must be in narrative format, typically more than 60 minutes in length.
- American Film: The film must be in the English language with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States.
- Song: Music and lyrics featured in an American film that set a tone or mood, define character, advance plot and/or express the film’s themes in a manner that elevates the moving image art form. Songs may have been written and/or recorded specifically for the film or previously written and/or recorded and selected by the filmmaker to achieve the above goals.
- Cultural Impact: Songs that have captured the nation’s heart, echoed beyond the walls of a movie theater, and ultimately stand in our collective memory of the film itself.
- Legacy: Songs that resonate across the century, enriching America’s film heritage and captivating artists and audiences today. ”
Okay, I can live with that, but not with the results.
I would have added a couple of other caveats to those criteria. First and foremost, no more than one song per film. If you’re going to list the top 100, give each film it’s own chance to stand in the sun. Secondly, if the song was a key element in several films, then make note of it. Different directors may have chosen the same song for different reasons. Unlike a song such as Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” that appears in several films of the same type/genre (“Holiday Inn” and “White Christmas” as an example).
So starting off, I can not believe that the top 100 did not include any song sung by Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer” (1927). Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” would have been my choice. This was the film that ushered in sound for motion pictures to the general public. Surely for that alone it deserves recognition if not special notice.
Add a note here. A fair number of songs by Irving Berlin deserved inclusion on the list, in my humble opinion. Many were there, but there were others I wonder about. Specifically, I would have chosen “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (1954) as sung by Ethel Merman over “That’s Entertainment” from “The Bandwagon” (1954). Now the lady sang a lot of great songs on film and stage in her career, but that’s one they should have recognized.
It’s important to note that Hollywood used specific music for a variety of reasons and from a variety of sources. Often it came down to, did the studio own the rights to one song over another it might not. (I’ll have the shining example later on down the column.)
The concept of having a song influence the score for a film isn’t new either. James Horner’s “Titantic” (1997) score draws heavily on the song “My Heart Will Go On” (as sung by Celine Dion). He comes back to it again and again and again throughout the film. Many of the songs on the list do the same thing and that should have been a factor in the choices. It certainly was for my list.
Disney films did well among those chosen, but again I might have made different choices than the jurors did. Here’s the ones they picked:
99 “Hakuna Matata” from “The Lion King” (1994)
62 “Beauty and The Beast” from “Beauty and The Beast” (1991)
47 “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” from “Song of the South” (1947)
36 “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins” (1964)
19 “Some Day My Prince Will Come” from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
7 “When You Wish Upon A Star” from “Pinocchio” (1940)
Now my top ten and the ones the jurors picked were not all that different. It was more where I would have placed them than what the choices were.
Here’s what they chose:
|
#
|
SONG |
MOVIE
|
YEAR |
| 1 | Over the Rainbow | WIZARD OF OZ, THE | 1939 |
| 2 | As Time Goes By | CASABLANCA | 1942 |
| 3 | Singin’ in the Rain | SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN | 1952 |
| 4 | Moon River | BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S | 1961 |
| 5 | White Christmas | HOLIDAY INN | 1942 |
| 6 | Mrs. Robinson | GRADUATE, THE | 1967 |
| 7 | When You Wish Upon A Star | PINOCCHIO | 1940 |
| 8 | Way We Were, The | THE WAY WE WERE | 1973 |
| 9 | Stayin’ Alive | SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER | 1977 |
| 10 | Sound of Music, The | SOUND OF MUSIC, THE | 1965 |
My top ten would have had this order:
| # |
SONG
|
MOVIE
|
YEAR
|
| 1 | As Time Goes By | CASABLANCA | 1942 |
| 2 | When You Wish Upon A Star | PINOCCHIO | 1940 |
| 3 | Over the Rainbow | WIZARD OF OZ, THE | 1939 |
| 4 | Moon River | BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S | 1961 |
| 5 | White Christmas | HOLIDAY INN | 1942 |
| 6 | My Heart Will Go On | TITANIC | 1997 |
| 7 | There’s No Business Like Show Business | THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS | 1954 |
| 8 | Singin’ in the Rain | SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN | 1952 |
| 9 | Stayin’ Alive | SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER | 1977 |
| 10 | Sound of Music, The | SOUND OF MUSIC, THE | 1965 |
I likely would have made other choices down the list. For example, out of the Disney songs they selected, I believe there were better choices. Instead of “Hakuna Matata”, I would have picked “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from “The Lion King”. Or picked “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin” (1992). Or “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” (1997). Both have become wedding/reception standards. I have other favorites from Disney films, but can see how they might not have made the list.
Some others missing I might have added included either Enya’s “May It Be” from “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001) or Annie Lennox’s “Into The West” from “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003).
Many great songs on the list came from the classic Hollywood musical comedies. Yet how is it that films like “Brigadoon” (1954) or “Paint Your Wagon” (1969) missed out? I easily would have picked “Almost Like Being in Love” (Gene Kelly) and “Mariah” (Harve Presnell) from those two.
Now back to those differences in top ten choices… I was ticked off, no severely annoyed, okay downright angry when “As Time Goes By” was announced as number two. I’m all in favor of recognizing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from all of the films it was used in. But it has issues. To me, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” is a song that expresses an anxiety for a happier future on a personal level. As we all feel that at some point in our lives, it’s a song that many people can identify with. But you can take it on another level as the whining of a *** girl who doesn’t want to fit in on the farm she’s ended up on in rural Kansas. Get over it, kid! Life in the dustbowl wasn’t a picnic, okay?
“As Time Goes By” may not have been much of a song either. Warner Brothers used it for “Casablanca” simply because they owned the rights to it already and would not have to pay anyone again. Yet it worked so well as it illustrated the story of two lovers and the challenges their world threw at them. It ended up being as important to the film as any scripted element director Michael Curtiz used to bring the audience into the story. A song that can do that in the way this one did deserved to be number one on the list.
“You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.
And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.
Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date.
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate.
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny.
It’s still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.”
“As Time Goes By”
word and music by Herman Hupfeld
from the score of the Broadway production “Everybody’s Welcome” (1931)
“… if it’s December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?”
Next week, Roger will be back with tales from this weekend’s visit to Anaheim. Be sure to check it out.
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