MovieChat Forums > The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) Discussion > Silver Bells

Silver Bells

posted 14 years ago by stomaino
3 replies | jump to latest

The great team of Ray Evans & Jay Livingston wrote "Silver Bells" for this movie. The song has since become a "holiday classic" and one of the most oft-recorded tunes.

But that would not have happened if Jay Livingston had used his original title and repeated lyric.

He wanted to name the song "Tinkle Bells" and use that phrase throughout.

His wife at the time said, "Are you out of your mind?" He changed it.

They subsequently got divorced and she should have come away with a percentage of the royalties on the song.

Sam Tomaino

[–] TabbyS 11 years ago

Great info about the origin of the song!

What a lovely film!

Tabby S.

[–] rjrmemorabilia2 9 years ago

Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell should've recorded too. But they never did. Bing Crosby recorded it first and Bob Hope simply said, "Nobody can outdo Bing" and he never recorded it. I also wonder what happened to the second verse that Marilyn Maxwell sang in the movie? It's certainly never sang these days and has basically been forgotten, just like the first verse of "White Christmas".

[–] thbryn 7 years ago

It is one of the better secular songs of Christmas. Not many written after this (51) that became standards.

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