The House I Live In (1945 film)

Last updated
The House I Live In
Houseilivein.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (uncredited)
Written by Albert Maltz
Produced by Frank Ross
Mervyn LeRoy
Starring Frank Sinatra
Cinematography Robert De Grasse
Edited by Philip Martin
Music by Earl Robinson (music)
Abel Meeropol (lyrics)
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • November 9, 1945 (1945-11-09)
Running time
10 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The House I Live In is a ten-minute short film written by Albert Maltz, produced by Frank Ross and Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Frank Sinatra. Made to oppose anti-Semitism at the end of World War II, it received an Honorary Academy Award [1] and a special Golden Globe Award in 1946.

Contents

In 2007, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [2] [3] It is also in the public domain. [4]

Plot

Sinatra, playing himself, takes a break from a recording session and steps outside to smoke a cigarette. While outside, Sinatra sees more than ten boys chasing a dark-haired boy and intervenes, first with dialogue, then with a short speech. His main points are that we are "all" Americans and that one American's blood is as good as another's.

Cast


Title song

The House I Live In

The song originally appeared in the musical revue Let Freedom Sing, which opened on Broadway on October 5, 1942. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times : "Although Mordecai Bauman does not sing it particularly well, he sings it with earnest sincerity, without feeling that he must imitate youth by blasting the voice amplifying system and cutting a rug." [5] In the film, Sinatra sings the title song. His recording became a national hit. The music was written by Earl Robinson. Robinson was later blacklisted during the McCarthy era for being a member of the Communist Party. He also wrote campaign songs for the presidential campaigns of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry A. Wallace, and, in 1984, Jesse Jackson. The lyrics were written in 1943 by Abel Meeropol [6] under the pen name Lewis Allan. In 1957, Meeropol adopted two boys, Michael and Robert, who had been orphaned when their parents Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953. [6] Meeropol was enraged that the second verse of the song was not used in the film. When the film premiered, he protested against the deletion of the verse referring to "my neighbors white and black".[ citation needed ]

The song was covered in later years by Paul Robeson, [7] Mahalia Jackson, and Josh White. Sam Cooke also covered it. Kim Weston included it on her second post-Motown album This Is America (1968). Sinatra continued to include it in his repertory for decades. He performed it during a state dinner at the White House during the Nixon administration, [8] at the 1985 inaugural ceremonies of Ronald Reagan, and at the ceremony marking the centenary of the Statue of Liberty that same year. [6] Bill Cosby used a recording of the song to open some of his shows in 2002.[ citation needed ]

The song figures prominently in Arch Oboler's radio play The House I Live In, which aired on April 26, 1945. [9] It was sung by Hope Foye.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Sinatra</span> American singer and actor (1915–1998)

Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes," he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Davis Jr.</span> American entertainer (1925–1990)

Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, actor, musician, comedian and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Cahn</span> American lyricist, songwriter, musician

Samuel Cohen, known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit "Three Coins in the Fountain".

Abel Meeropol was an American songwriter and poet whose works were published under his pseudonym Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem and musical setting of "Strange Fruit" (1937), which was recorded by Billie Holiday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strange Fruit</span> 1939 song made famous by Billie Holiday

"Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black Americans with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the Southern United States at the turn of the 20th century and the great majority of victims were black. The song has been called "a declaration" and "the beginning of the civil rights movement".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axel Stordahl</span> Musical artist

Axel Stordahl was an American arranger and composer who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records. With his sophisticated orchestrations, Stordahl is credited with helping to bring pop arranging into the modern age.

"Body and Soul" is a popular song and jazz standard written in 1930 with music by Johnny Green and lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. It was also used as the musical theme and underscoring in the American film noir boxing drama Body and Soul.

"Time After Time" is a romantic jazz standard with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn and music by Jule Styne in 1946.

<i>Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra</i> 1950 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra is the sixth studio album by Frank Sinatra. The tracks were arranged and conducted by George Siravo and his orchestra. Original Columbia 10-inch 33 1/3-rpm LP and 78-rpm album set released October 16, 1950; the 7-inch 45-rpm EP and EP box sets were released in October 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Sinatra discography</span>

American vocalist Frank Sinatra recorded 59 studio albums and 297 singles in his solo career, spanning 54 years.

<i>Point of No Return</i> (Frank Sinatra album) 1962 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Point of No Return is the twenty-fifth studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in March 1962 by Capitol Records. As the title reflects, the album contains Sinatra's final original recordings with Capitol Records before moving to his own Reprise Records label to achieve more artistic freedom with his recordings. However, Sinatra would later return to Capitol in order to record Duets (1993) and Duets II (1994).

"Day by Day" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn.

"If You Are But a Dream" is a popular song published in 1942 with words and music by Moe Jaffe, Jack Fulton and Nat Bonx. The melody is based on Anton Rubinstein's "Romance in E flat, Op. 44, No. 1," popularly known as "Rubinstein's Romance".

"Hello, Young Lovers" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. It is sung by Anna, played by Gertrude Lawrence in the original Broadway production; by Valerie Hobson in the original London West End production; and by Deborah Kerr in the film version.

"I Should Care" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, published in 1944. Cahn said that the title came to him by the time they played the first 4 bars. It first appeared in the MGM film Thrill of a Romance.

"Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" is a 1944 torch song and jazz standard, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced on stage by film star Jane Withers in the show Glad To See You, which closed in Boston and never opened on Broadway. The duo Styne and Cahn had previously written songs for several of Withers' films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Film Registry</span> Selection of films for preservation in the US Library of Congress

The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB's inception in 1988.

<i>Portrait of Sinatra: Columbia Classics</i> 1997 compilation album by Frank Sinatra

Portrait of Sinatra: Columbia Classics is a compilation album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1997. This compilation was later re-released in 2010 as The Essential Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years.

<i>The Frank Sinatra Show</i> (radio program) US radio program

The Frank Sinatra Show was a title applied—in some cases specifically and in other cases generically—to several radio musical programs in the United States, some of which had other distinct titles as indicated below. Singer Frank Sinatra starred in the programs, some of which were broadcast on CBS, while others were on NBC.

Azure-Te is a blues ballad written in 1952 by lyricist Donald E. Wolf for a Wild Bill Davis tune that reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1952 when covered by Frank Sinatra.

References

  1. ↑ "Frank Ross, 85; Producer of Films Made 'The Robe'". The New York Times. February 23, 1990. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Librarian of Congress Announces 2007 Film Registry" (Press release). Library of Congress. December 27, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  4. ↑ Free to Use and Reuse: Public Domain Films from the National Film Registry|Free to Use and Reuse Sets|Library of Congress
  5. ↑ Atkinson, Brooks (October 6, 1942). "The Play: Let Freedom Sing" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Cook, Joan (October 31, 1986). "Albert Meerpol, 83, a Songwriter, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Decker, Todd (2015). Who Should Sing Ol' Man River?: The Lives of an American Song. Ocford University Press. p. 39. ISBN   9780199389186 . Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ Ripley, Anthony (April 18, 1973). "Sinatra at White House Gets Standing Ovation" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ Barnouw, Erik (2010). Radio Drama in Action: Twenty-five Plays of a Changing World. Wildside Press. pp. 388ff. ISBN   9781434421197 . Retrieved August 11, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.