Oscar was born into a show business family. His grandfather (b. 1848, Sceczin, Germany -in the Prussian province of Pommerania) was a successful opera impresario, and theatre builder. The history of Oscar Hammerstein I would require a book all by itself. He was a remarkable, flamboyant man who along the way, patented some cigar making machines, built 11 theatres, and formed several opera companies. The theatres he built - in order - were 'The Harlem Opera House" (1889. later, a very young Ella Fitzgerald won a singing contest here), Olympia Theatre (Nov. 25, 1895), Manhattan Opera House (1893, on 34th Street -the first theatre with this same name), Olympia Theatre (Nov. 25, 1895, in Times Square), Victoria Theatre (1899, corner 42nd St. and 7th Ave.), Republic Theatre (1900. next door to his Victoria Theatre on 42nd St), Lew Fields' Theatre (on 42nd St.), Manhattan Opera House (1906, - 2nd theatre with this name), Philadelphia Opera House (1908), the London Opera House, and finally, his last theatre was the Lexington Opera House (which opened as a motion picture palace). Over his lifetime, Oscar had made millions, and a good case could be made for saying that he
had virtually single-handedly created New York city's famed Times Square theatre district. Yet, when he died in 1919, he was almost completely broke.
In private correspondence, Mr. Oscar Adam Hammerstein has advised:
"the Republic Theatre, built next door to the Victoria by Oscar Hammerstein the 1st in 1900,
"The Republic was originally a legit play house, before it became Minsky's Burlesque in the
Oscar Hammerstein II studied Law at New York's Columbia University before he finally turned to music for his career.
The fruits of his life are as fabled as those of his famous father.
Between 1920 and 1949, Oscar would contribute his talents to over 45 Musical shows.
1924 from the Broadway show 'Rose Marie'.
1925 from the Broadway show 'Sunny', Music by Jerome Kern, the co-lyricist was Otto Harbach. The start of the Kern-Hammerstein team, eventually produced the
remarkable Broadway show
1926 from the Broadway show 'The Desert Song'. Music by Sigmund Romberg. co-lyricist Otto Harbach
1927 from the Broadway show 'Show Boat', Music by Jerome Kern.
1928 From the Broadway show 'The New Moon', Music Sigmund Romberg.
1929 from the Broadway show 'Sweet Adeline', Music Jerome Kern.
1932 from the Broadway show 'Music in the Air', music Jerome Kern.
1935 from the movie 'The Night Is Young', music Sigmund Romberg.
1937 from the film 'I'll Take Romance'. Music by Ben Oakland. This film starring Grace Moore was a flop, but the song was so good that Hollywood used it again in three other pictures. (Tony Martin used it in his nightclub act.)
1939 from the Broadway show 'Very Warm for May', music J. Kern.
1940 "The Last Time I Saw Paris", Music by Jerome Kern. When the Nazi's occupied Paris in 1940, Oscar Hammerstein wrote the lyric. It is the only Jerome Kern tune in which the lyric was written before the melody. It was interpolated into the 1941 film 'Lady, Be Good!' starring Ann Sothern, even though all the other tunes were by George Gershwin. He teamed up with Rodgers in 1943. and the first Broadway musical for this fantastically successful partnership was 'Oklahoma!'. (The following all have music by Richard Rodgers.)
1943 from the Broadway show 'Oklahoma!'
1945 from the Broadway show 'State Fair'
1945 from the Broadway show 'Carousel'
1947 from the Broadway show Allegro
1949 from the Broadway show South Pacific
1951 from the Broadway show 'The King and I'
1953
from the Broadway show 'Me and Juliet'
1955 from the Broadway show 'Pipe Dream'
1957 from the television musical 'Cinderella',
1958 from the Broadway show 'Flower Drum Song'
1959 from the Broadway show 'The Sound of Music'
Among his other songs are (to name only a few):
Oscar Hammerstein II
b. July 12, 1895, New York, N.Y., USA d. Aug. 23, 1960, Doylestown, PA, USA
First, since so much literature is extant on Mr. Hammerstein, only a brief sketch will be
given here. And secondly, because his work is so vast and so lovely, it would overflow a large book.
was renovated in the late 1990s. The Victoria next door was razed to create the Rialto before
1920 and that was razed to make way for the Reuters building now on that site"
1930s and then a faceless "porn" house for a few decades more. Its former glory was never
vaudeville."
Oscar Hammerstein, II was America's second most prolific lyricist. (Irving Berlin was first, -and he also wrote the music.) Hammerstein collaborated with many of the
best composers, including
Jerome Kern,
Sigmund Romberg,
Rudolf Friml,
George Gershwin, and
Vincent Youmans. After an eleven year run of bad
luck, he teamed with the composer
Richard Rodgers, and virtually re-invented the American theater. The team of Rodgers and
Hart, was falling
apart due to Hart's drinking problem. (A year later, Lorenz Hart died.) Oscar wrote his greatest lyrics in the period spanning the 1920's to the
1950's.
"Rose Marie"
"Indian Love Call"
"Showboat", L-R Oscar Hammerstein, Florenz Ziegfeld and Jerome
Kern, talking about Showboat.
"Sunny"
"Who?" (A 'Variety' pick for the '50 Year Hit Parade'.)
"The Desert Song"
"One Alone"
"The Riff Song", A 'Variety' pick for the '50 Year Hit Parade'.
"Make Believe"
"Why Do I Love You?"
"Ol' Man River"
"Bill"
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man"
"You Are Love"
"Lover, Come Back to Me"
"Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise"
"One Kiss"
"Wanting You"
"Stout-Hearted Men"
"Why Was I Born?"
"I've Told Ev'ry Little Star"
"The Song Is You", Tullio Carminati sang the song.
"When I Grow Too Old to Dream"
"I'll Take Romance"
"All the Things You Are"
"Oklahoma!"
"People Will Say We're in Love"
"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top"
"Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'"
"If I Loved You"
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over"
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
"It Might as Well Be Spring"
"It's a Grand Night for Singing"
"A Fellow Needs a Girl"
"The Gentleman Is a Dope"
"Some Enchanted Evening"
"Bali Ha'i"
"Younger Than Springtime"
"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right out of My Hair"
"This Nearly Was Mine"
"There Is Nothin' Like a Dame"
and a song that is rarely heard,.... "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" The song was published in 1949.In the play, it is sung by the character Lieutenant Cable, a "White" American soldier, angry and hurting because he must abandon and betray the native Island girl he loves. He knows that bringing her back to the United States, - his bigoted hometown, would spell disaster for the both of them.
(the song is preceded by a lyric saying racism is "not born in you! It happens after you're born..)
You'vegot to be taught to hate and fear,
You'vegot to be taught from year to year,
It's got to be drum in your dear little ear,
You'vegot to be carefully taught.
You'vegot to be taught to be afraid
Of people who's eyes are oddly made
And people who's skin is a different shade.
You'vegot to be carefully taught,
You'vegot to be carefully taught.
You'vegot to be taught Before it's too late
Before you are six Or seven or eight.
To hate all the people Your relatives hate
You'vegot to be carefully taught,
You'vegot to be carefully taught
"Getting to Know You"
"Shall We Dance?"
"We Kiss in a Shadow"
"I Whistle a Happy Tune"
"Hello, Young Lovers"
"Something Wonderful"
"No Other Love"
"Everybody's Got a Home but Me"
"All at Once You Love Her"
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"
"In My Own Little Corner"
"Love, Look Away"
"I Enjoy Being a Girl"
"You Are Beautiful"
"The Sound of Music,"
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
"My Favorite Things"
"Maria"
"Edelweiss"
"Do-Re-Mi"
Herman Hand
Currently No Information Available on this composer who spent most of his musical career working in the Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
Of the 30 or so films on which this composer worked, he was uncredited in all except 5.
Man in the Dark (1953) ... aka Man Who Lived Twice, The (uncredited)
Racing Luck (1948) (stock music uncredited)
Fighting Frontiersman, The (1946) (... aka: UK: Golden Lady. stock music uncredited)
Crusades, The (1935) (uncredited)
Devil Is a Woman, The (1935) (uncredited)
Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The (1935) (uncredited)
Here Comes the Groom (1934) (uncredited)
Double Door (1934)
Lone Cowboy (1934) (uncredited)
Hell and High Water (1933) (... aka in UK: Cap'n Jericho. stock music uncredited )
I'm No Angel (1933) (uncredited)
Golden Harvest (1933) (uncredited)
Song of Songs, The (1933) (uncredited)
Terror Aboard (1933)
Farewell to Arms, A (1932) (uncredited)
Forgotten Commandments (1932) (uncredited)
World and the Flesh (1932) (uncredited)
Sky Bride (1932)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (uncredited)
Rango (1931)
Rich Man's Folly (1931)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1931) (uncredited)
False Madonna, The (1931) (... aka in UK: False Idol, The. -uncredited )
Once a Lady (1931) (uncredited)
Man of the World (1931) (uncredited)
Dishonored (1931) (uncredited)
Fighting Caravans (1931) (... aka Blazing Arrows)
Monte Carlo (1930) (uncredited)
Young Eagles (1930)
Night Watch (1928)
Lou Handman
b. Sept. 9. 1894, New York, NY, USA. d. Dec. 9, 1956, New York (Flushing), NY, USA.
né: Louis A. Handman
Here's a photo of Handman, with his sister Edythe on the left, and his wife, vaudeville star Florrie Le Vere, on the right. Lou's early career was spent touring in vaudeville and playing piano for soldier shows in the First World War. With the end of WWI, he found work as a song plugger for Irving Berlin. He worked also as an accompanist to vaudeville star Marion Harris. Shortly thereafter, he began writing his own songs
In 1930, Lou began writing for the Hollywood studios (Universal and Republic Pictures). His first film was Czar of Broadway, and his last was the 1938 production of The Old Barn Dance. In between, he worked on such widely acclaimed films as All Quiet on the Western Front, the film that made actor Lew Ayres a confirmed Pacifist, and got him into so much trouble with the U. S. Military Draft during WWII, when he refused to kill enemy soldiers. Other films on which Handman worked included The Hit Parade, and the 1937 film A Star is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Interestingly, among the scenes that were cut from the final release was the "Santa Anita Race
Track scene with a young unknown "extra", Lana Turner. (Lana would go on to become a very popular star in the Hollywood musicals - basically replacing Alice Faye for those roles. ) Janet had previously appeared in one of the very early "talkies" where she sang the DeSylva, Brown and Henderson hit "If I Had A Talking Picture of You". Lou didn't score films, but rather contributed the music for some of the songs. For example, the 1937 film A Star Is Born, had Handman's song "Bye Bye Baby". His tune "Are You Lonesome Tonight" (lyric: Roy Turk, 1926) has been heard in various films as late at 1999. (In 1960, Elvis Presley also covered the tune; so far, this song has endured for more than 75 years, and seems likely to continue for another 75 years -at least.) The 1974 film The Great Gatsby", had Lou's song "I'm Gonna Charleston Back To
Charleston", a tune he wrote in 1925, when it was recorded by 'Fry's Million Dollar Pier Orchestra', and again in 1926 by the great Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawks Orchestra. In 1975, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
1920 "Give Me A Hand And A Kiss"
1922 "Blue and Broken-Hearted" (Lou Handman music, with Grant Clarke & Edgar Leslie lyric.)
1922 "My Sweetie Went Away (He Didn't Say Where, When, or Why)", lyric by Roy Turk. Handman
composed the tune in 1922, and famed Blues "Belter" Bessie Smith sang it and recorded it on
Oct. 15, 1923, as did many others.
19?? "The Fox Waltz", recorded by the Atlantic Dance Orch.
1923 "Twelve O'Clock At Night", with Billy Rose and Herman Ruby Lyric.
19?? "Remarkable Girl", with Henry Creamer lyric.
1923 "Lovey Come Back", with lyric by that great team of Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young.
1924 "Can't Get The One I Want(Those I Get I Don't Want)", Herman Ruby and Billy Rose lyric.
1927 "Nothin'", Roy Turk and Lou Handman
1933 "Puddin' Head Jones", lyric by Al Bryan, music by Lou Handman (introduced by Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
During 1936 and '37, Lou and lyricist Walter Hirsch collaborated on 5 tunes inclcuding:
1936 "Me and the Moon"
1936 "Bye Bay Baby" (Polly Bergen recorded the tune again in 1963)
1937 "Don't Ever Change"
1937 "Love Is Good For Whatever Ails You"
1937 "Was It Rain"
1938 "Now They Call It Swing", Norman Cloutier & Lou Handman
1936 "Me And The Moon", Lou Handman music; Walter Hirsch lyric.
1939 "Baby Me", written with Archie Gotder and Harry Harris.
1938 "Let This Be A Warning To You", written with Benny Davis.
The BigBands Database thanks Ms. Allison Caine, Lou's neice, for her help with this entry on her famous uncle. The
Lou Handman Website, is a very good source of Sheetmusic for all of Lou's hits.+
