The World of Harry Warren

I’m a little stymied as to how I have not yet done a post on the great Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood songwriter Harry Warren (Salvatore Antonio Guaragna, 1893-1981). My best guest is I skipped him initially because I hadn’t seen that he was in vaudeville (my original content stream) per se, but honestly he did perform in carnivals, silent movie houses, cabarets, and wrote for Broadway, etc, all of which I have long since expanded to include, so now here we are.

As a composer, Warren comes close (maybe even exceeds) Irving Berlin for the number of popular tunes her turned out as a composer, although unlike Berlin he usually worked with partners to write the lyrics. A Brooklyn native, he started out on accordion, true to his Italian heritage, then expanded to drums and finally piano. From 1915 through 1918 he worked at Vitagraph, playing mood music for actors (this was the silent era), and performing a number of other odd jobs, including some assistant directing. He began writing his own tunes while serving in World War One.

The guy wrote over 800 songs, 500 of which were published, so I’m only going to hit a few highlights. His first hit was “Rose of the Rio Grande” (1922), with Edgar Leslie. Another early one was “I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me)” (1925). For Broadway he wrote songs for Billy Rose’sSweet and Low (1930), and the Ed Wynn revue The Laugh Parade (1931). From this period came “I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store).”

From 1932 through 1938 Warren worked at Warner Brothers, partnered with Al Dubin, writing scores for 33 musicals including the pictures 42nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933, Roman Scandals (1933), Moulin Rouge (1934), Dames (1934), Gold Diggers of 1935, et al. He also wrote music for Warner Brothers cartoons. From this period came “You’re Getting to Be a Habit With Me” (1933), “Forty-Second Street” (1933), Shuffle Off to Buffalo” (1933), The Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (1933), “Keep Young and Beautiful” (1933),  Pettin’ in the Park” (1933), We’re in the Money” (1933), I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934) About a Quarter to Nine” (1935) and “Lullaby of Broadway” (1935). Those were all with Dubin. With Johnny Mercer he wrote “Jeepers Creepers” and “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”, both in 1938.

From 1940 through 1944 he was teamed with Mack Gordon at 20th Century Fox. There, he wrote the theme song to Down Argentine Way, as well as “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941), “Chica Chica Boom Chic”, “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” (1942), “Serenade In Blue” (1942), and the “The More I See You” (1944).

He reteamed with Mercer on MGM’s The Harvey Girls (1945), for which they wrote the Oscar winning “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”. Later stuff included “That’s Amore” (1953) with Jack Brooks for the Dean Martin–Jerry Lewis vehicle The Caddy; the theme song to the TV show The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp(1955), the theme song to Marty (1955), the theme song to An Affair to Remember (1956), Shangri-La, a musical based on Lost Horizon (1956), the theme music to the tv show Tales of Wells Fargo (1961), and tunes for movies like Thoroughly Modern Millie and Rosie! (both 1967).

But of course his songs have been covered so many times, and used in films and on television and in live shows so many times — just multiply this out times thousands!

For more about show business historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.