Listen to the opening music from "I'll See You in My Dreams":
""The best thing I've ever done. And
with Doris Day!"
- Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas made one of his last public appearances on
his son-in-laws' TV talk show to promote his autobiography, "Make
Room for Danny" in 1991, he became rather pensive when "I'll
See You in My Dreams" was mentioned. Thomas said, "The best
thing I've ever done. And with
Doris Day!" Phil Donahue just smiled
as Danny struggled to hold back his tears.Even though the film was
the biography of Gus Kahn, the prolific songwriter of countless songs,
which are now considered standards in American musical history, Doris
Day was top-billed over Danny Thomas, the renowned nightclub and sometimes
movie performer.
This is a sweet film, which begins in Chicago on Wabash
Avenue, home of the William Rossiter & Sons Music Publishing
Company, which sells sheet music of popular tunes. Gus Kahn has written
songs, poems, two musical comedies and an operetta and wants an "opinion".
He meets a seemingly arrogant music screener, Grace LeBoy, who tells Gus
that he should write about things he knows best. "Thirty two bars
of music that says 'I love you'" is what sells. Taking her advice,
reluctantly, Gus writes his first love song, "I Wish I Had a Girl",
but nearly gives up after hearing Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem, "How
Do I Love Thee?" as recited by Grace's father.
Grace adds music to Gus' lyrics and the song develops into
a publishable song. She also has a strange attraction for Kahn, which she
doesn't understand. The song is published, not by Rossiter & Sons,
but by Fred Thompson (James Gleason) whose publishing business is in trouble,
but he is persuaded by Grace to publish the song for practically no royalties.
After Grace and Gus quit their respective jobs, they set out to promote
the song. Soon, it's being played everywhere and more songs hit the charts
like "Sunshine and Roses" and "The Month of June is a Song
of Love". Thompson, who has been publishing the Kahn/LeBoy creations,
feels that with Kahn's talent, he should be teamed with more accomplished
composers, and arranges, with Grace's approval, for Gus to write "Memories" with
Egbert Van Alstyne. It becomes a major success. Afterwards, Gus marries
Grace after years of treating her like a buddy and business partner.
What follows are collaborations with Richard Whiting ("Ain't
We Got Fun"), Isham Jones ("The One I Love Belongs to Somebody
Else" "It Had to Be You" "I'll See You in My Dreams")
and most notably, Walter Donaldson ("My Buddy" ""Makin'
Whoopee!" and "Love Me or Leave Me"). Kahn, Tony Jackson
and Van Alstyne wrote "Pretty Baby", a great song, after Grace
announces that she is pregnant.
It was Grace who took his songs out to potential
producers of shows to promote Gus' works. She became the stronger of
the two knowing that it was necessary for her to remain strong while Gus
had his personal doubts. She single-handed sold "The One I Love Belongs
to Somebody Else".
Together, they turned "Toot, Toot Tootsie" (performing in black
face, no doubt), "Nobody's Sweetheart" and "My Buddy" into
genuine hits during World War 1. Gus is offered an opportunity to write
a Broadway musical, "Whoopi", with Donaldson, and in no time,
Kahn is off to New York. He gets caught up in the big city pazazz and is
rumored to be having an affair with the show's star, Gloria Knight (Patrice
Wymore). Grace, moderately jealous, arrives in Manhattan and confronts
Gloria who admits that she has "fallen for Gus", but was unsuccessful
in luring him away from his wife.
Disaster hits the country with the 1929 stock market crash,
which affected practically every American, including Hollywood and the
music business. The Kahns went through hard times. Musical styles had changed
and Gus' confidence fell to an incredibly low ebb. His house is up for
sale, but despite this, the devoted, but sarcastic maid, Anna (Mary Wickes)
decides to stay with the family, sans salary. Depressed, he vows to give
up. Grace will hear none of that and via a desperate phone call, persuades
Fred Thompson, now a very successful producer in Hollywood, to offer Gus
a job, but not to reveal that she initiated the action. Plagued by the
fact that for years it has been rumored that Grace wore the pants in the
family, Kahn explodes when he finds out that it was Grace, and vows to
leave her. She tries to reason with him by saying, "What do you want
me to do? Stand on the sidelines and watch your talent dry up? I'm your
wife, Gus, I have a right to help you!" He leaves the family ending
up in Hollywood.
Listen to "I'll See You in My Dreams"
Hollywood is a big disappointment. Gus cannot cope with
the fluff of the movies. He gets fired from several studios and refuses
to compromise. The pressure he's under causes Gus to have a heart attack.
In the hospital, he's visited by Grace, and tells her, "Well, what
do you think of me? I finally did something all by myself ' no help from
anybody. I knew I had a talent, but I had to come two thousand miles to
find out that I was washed up. You know, when they brought me to this hospital,
it was the first time in two years that I had my name in Variety and I
couldn't even get into the Brown Derby". Grace counters with, "Gus,
I'm ashamed of you. I'm ashamed because you're forgetting who you are and
what you've done and what you're going to do.".
With renewed hope, Gus attempts to write again, with little
success. Grace intervenes again and calls Walter Donaldson. He asked Gus
to work with him again. In a beautiful scene, Grace plays Donaldson's music
on the piano while Gus writes the lyrics to "I'll See You in My Dreams". This
hit sparked many more and suddenly, composers all over the USA, were calling
to work with Kahn. Hits followed like "San Francisco", "Liza", "I
Never Knew" and "I'm Thru With Love" among many more.
The
film ends with Donaldson arranging for a surprise gala honoring Gus Kahn.
Attending were many of the men he collaborated with on some of the greatest
of American music. In his acceptance speech, he recognizes Grace as the
force behind his power and tearfully sings a duet with her on the first
song they ever wrote together, "I Wish I Had a Girl".
Danny Thomas was excellent as Gus Kahn. He played the part with exactly
the right tone for the role and became a very likable character throughout.
Kahn understood his weaknesses and the strength of his wife, beautifully
acted by Doris Day. This is one of her best parts and she was believable
in every scene she played. As usual, she was in great voice and delivered
the goods every time she stepped before the microphone.
Frank Lovejoy
was warm and amiable, as he was in all of his pictures and James Gleason
displayed the famous "twinkle" in his eyes.
This was one of Patrice Wymore's better performances. Usually, she
was predictably abrasive, as she was in "Tea for Two". Here,
she had the opportunity to display another side of her screen persona.
Mary Wickes played the same role she played in most of her films, the
wisecracking, no nonsense maid and Jim Backus was fine as the New York
producer. There was excellent direction from Day's first director,
Michael Curtiz and LeRoy Prinz sensibly staged the musical numbers.
The screenplay was well written, obviously, with love, by Melville
Shavelson and Jack Rose. Ralph McKnight, New York, April 2001
Motion Picture Herald
Review
Warner Brothers couldn't have given the exhibitors a better
picture with which to start the New Year. From the point of view of the
theatreman and the audience-and it's an identical one-"I'll See
You in My Dreams" should be top in screen entertainment, a delight
to the eye and ear.
This is the life story of Gus Kahn, the lyricist whose work delighted America
for so many decades and who, in collaboration with the great popular composers
of the era, turned out the multitude of songs that swept the nation and
brought him fame. It is story tenderly told, beautifully acted and alive
with catchy tunes.
Maybe some of the critics will hedge over details. Some
will call it slow and overly sentimental. But the bulk of the audience,
the old ones who love to remember and the young ones, who are turning
from bee-bop to the more leisurely and more appealing strains, are sure
to take the film to their hearts. Anything with so much good, popular music
and so much nostalgia in it cannot fail being a hit. In the part of Kahn,
that straight-laced, bumbling gentleman who wrote lyrics on the back of
envelopes while sitting with friends at the track, Danny Thomas does a
superb job. This should establish him as a solid star. To support him,
producer Louis F. Edelman has uniformly excellent cast, headed by Doris
Day, who acts and sings to perfection.
Director Michael Curtiz has managed
a rare job in combining the dramatic and musical elements of the story,
which flows smoothly from climax to climax in the life of a man devoted
to his work and to his family. An excellent screenplay is provided by
Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose, who capture the atmosphere of show business
during the long stretch from the gaslight days to the Hollywood sound movies.
This
is a film that'll rock the old timers and delight the rest with its effective
simplicity, lightened by gentle humor and made poignant by its moments
of tragedy. On and on goes the parade of Kahn songs, from "I
Wish I Had a Girl" to "Memories," "Pretty Baby," "My
Buddy," "It Had to Be You," "Making Whoopee," "I'll
See You in My Dreams," "Liza," "I Never Knew" and
many, many others, one better than the next. Frank Lovejoy plays Walter
Donaldson and Patrice Wymore is Gloria Knight. James Gleason is good
as Kahn's publisher. Motion Picture Herald
