Alexander's Ragtime Band
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| Alexander's Ragtime Band | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Henry King |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Written by | Irving Berlin Richard Sherman |
| Starring | Tyrone Power Alice Faye Don Ameche Ethel Merman |
| Music by | Irving Berlin Alfred Newman |
| Cinematography | J. Peverell Marley |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| IMDb profile | |
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is the name of a song by Irving Berlin. It was his first major hit, in 1911.
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is not itself an example of the ragtime musical idiom; apart from some mild syncopation, it has almost none of ragtime's characteristic features. Nonetheless, the lyrics clearly refer to the arrival of African-American musicians on the popular scene with their then-new idea of playing standard songs in a more exciting up-tempo style.
The first lines establish the African-American context:
- Oh ma honey . . . ain't you goin' to the leaderman, the ragged meter man
References to "jazzing up" popular music include:
- They can play a bugle call like you never heard before
- So natural that you want to go to war
- That's just the bestest band what am, honey lamb
and:
- If you care to hear the Swanee River played in ragtime
The new style included new ways of playing traditional instruments as well:
The song has been recorded by many artists, including Billy Murray, Louis Armstrong, George Formby, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ray Charles.
[edit] Filmed version
Alexander's Ragtime Band is also the name of a 1938 film that takes off from the Berlin song to tell a story of a society boy who scandalizes his family by pursuing a career in ragtime instead of in "serious" music. It stars Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley and Jean Hersholt.
The story was written by Irving Berlin himself, with Kathryn Scola, Richard Sherman and Lamar Trotti. It was directed by Henry King.
The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The story, nominated for an Academy Award, strings together about 30 Irving Berlin songs. It was written in 1938, but related to World War I (1914-1918). As a result, there were some anomalies; for example the song, "Heat Wave" sung by Ethel Merman in the movie, was not written until 1933, as was "Easter Parade."
