I am a major Cagney fan and I did enjoy this movie, but man oh man, I was soooo sick of "The Band Played On" by the time the film ended. Then to my horror there was an invitation for the theater audience to sing along at the end just before the credits roll. I couldn't believe it! LOL Went up to bed right afterward and could not get that tune out of my head. Anybody else get tired of it as well?
Morse's Law: There's always time for one more pint.
Though it has been quite awhile since I have seen it, but the very end where they played that sing along , is one of my very favorite movie memories.
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me too! I love that song! Especially with the added "biff" part and just the whole strawberry blonde, i just love that saying "strawberry blonde"
shareI saw "The Strawberry Blonde" for the first time when I was in college and I got hooked on the song "The Band Played On". I used to perform at open mics and talent shows in the town where I was living at the time and "Band" was always my finale.
shareInterestingly, the song also plays a prominent role in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.
"And take that filthy dog out of here!"
dizexpat wrote: "Interestingly, the song also plays a prominent role in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train."
Holy MacGuffin!! You're right! How did I not remember that? Oh. I know, I must have blocked it out because it was so painful. That stupid carousel going faster and faster, the song speeding up... aauuugggggghhhh! LOL
I do like Strangers on a Train quite a bit and am surprised I didn't even think of it when I wrote my original post about the song in question.
Morse's Law: There's always time for one more pint.
To counteract the effect of "The Band Played On", try watching Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train". The song is featured there in a very different context. ;) ("Is your name Miriam?...")
share I wonder if audiences who saw this movie in theaters back then stuck around
to sing along at the end, or if they went bolting for the exits the way theater
audiences do today.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
Just as the old tradition of live performers in a movie showing setting, handling introductions or doing a raffle or fund-raising went out of style, so did the sing-a-long. Audiences at the time were accustomed to sing-a-longs, part of the communal experience. It is not totally dead, sort of kept alive with the Rocky Horror Picture Show chant along with the dialog routine we see nowadays at midnight movies.
When I lived in Cleveland, Ohio we had a movie theater the New Mayfield located in our Little Italy, near the cemetery where Pres. Garfield is famously buried, and the owner named Sheldon Wigod (who died a couple of months ago) would introduce each film with a background about the actors or director and some anecdote. This was a revival house, not a first-run theater, but even art houses & revival theaters rarely did this. It was just his personal touch and I'll never forget the extra mile he would go to connect with an audience. Progress (that illusion) means now our theaters are automated so we don't even have a real live projectionist to talk back to (when things went wrong, as in lamp going out in the projector or film breaking). Digital projection is the rule and I miss the old methods, warts and all, just as I prefer the warmer sound of 45s and LPs to modern music playback methods.
Here, I thought you might like this :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oePEVM1nE
shareWas the "Strawberry Blonde" song actually popular in the early 1900's, or was it only written for the movie?
share