Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox, known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.
No, No, Nanette is a musical with a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play My Lady Friends; lyrics by Irving Caesar and Harbach; and music by Vincent Youmans. The farcical story centers on three couples who find themselves together at a cottage in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the midst of a blackmail scheme focusing on a fun-loving Manhattan heiress who has run off, leaving an unhappy fiancé. Its songs include the well-known "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy".
Vincent Millie Youmans was an American Broadway composer and producer.
Irving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including "Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Crazy Rhythm", and "Tea for Two", one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. In 1972, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"Tea for Two" is a 1924 song composed by Vincent Youmans, with lyrics by Irving Caesar. It was introduced in May 1924 by Phyllis Cleveland and John Barker during the Chicago pre-Broadway run of the musical No, No, Nanette. When the show finally hit Broadway on September 16, 1925, Nanette was played by Louise Groody, and her duet with Barker of "Tea for Two" was a hit. The song went on to become the biggest success of Youmans's career.
"Dark Eyes" is a well-known and popular Russian romance. The lyrics were written by the poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka and first published on 17 January 1843. The melody associated with the lyrics has been borrowed from the "Valse hommage", Op. 21 for piano, written by Florian Hermann and published in 1879.
Tea for Two was a 10" LP album released by Columbia Records on September 4, 1950. It was released under catalog number CL-6149, featuring Doris Day, with Axel Stordahl conducting the orchestra on some pieces, and the Page Cavanaugh Trio as backup musicians on others. It contained songs from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name.
Tea for Two is a 1950 American musical romantic comedy film starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, and directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Harry Clork was inspired by the 1925 stage musical No, No, Nanette, although the plot was changed considerably from the original book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel; and the score by Harbach, Irving Caesar, and Vincent Youmans was augmented with songs by other composers.
"I Want to Be Happy" is a song with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar written for the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette.
"Crazy Rhythm" is a thirty-two-bar swing show tune written in 1928 by Irving Caesar with music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical Here's Howe.
No, No, Nanette is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film with Technicolor sequences that was directed by Clarence G. Badger and released by First National Pictures. It was adapted from the play of the same title by Otto A. Harbach and Frank Mandel. No, No, Nanette was a popular show on Broadway, running for 321 performances, and was produced and directed by Harry Frazee.
Sunny is a 1941 American musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Ray Bolger, John Carroll, Edward Everett Horton, Grace Hartman, Paul Hartman, Frieda Inescort, and Helen Westley. It was adapted by Sig Herzig from the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play Sunny. It is the second film version of the musical; the first was Sunny, made in 1930.
Spring in Park Lane is a 1948 British romantic comedy film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox which starred Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding and Tom Walls. Part of a series of films partnering Neagle and Wilding, it was the top film at the British box office in 1948 and remains the most popular entirely British-made film ever in terms of all-time attendance. It was shot at the Elstree Studios of MGM British, with sets designed by the art director William C. Andrews. Some location shooting also took place in London.
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE was a British film producer and director.
Hit the Deck is a 1930 American pre-Code musical film directed by Luther Reed and starring Jack Oakie and Polly Walker, with Technicolor sequences. It was based on the 1927 musical Hit the Deck, which was itself based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne. It was one of the most expensive productions of RKO Radio Pictures up to that time, and one of the most expensive productions of 1930. This version faithfully reproduced the stage version of the musical.
The Lady Is a Square is a black and white 1958 British comedy musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and featuring Anna Neagle, Frankie Vaughan and Janette Scott.
Piccadilly Incident is a 1946 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Coral Browne, Edward Rigby and Leslie Dwyer. It was written by Nicholas Phipps based on a story by Florence Tranter.
Maytime in Mayfair is a 1949 British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Nicholas Phipps, and Tom Walls. It was a follow-up to Spring in Park Lane.
King's Rhapsody is a 1955 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and Patrice Wymore. Wymore was Errol Flynn's wife at the time of filming. It was based on the successful stage musical King's Rhapsody by Ivor Novello.
Lilacs in the Spring is a 1954 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and David Farrar. The film was made at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director William C. Andrews. Shot in Trucolor it was distributed in Britain by Republic Pictures. It was the first of two films Neagle and Flynn made together, the other being King's Rhapsody. It was released in the United States as Let's Make Up.
