Thursday, May 31, 2018

"Once in Love with Amy"

For the past few days the song "Once in Love with Amy" has been stuck in my head. Those of you familiar with the song might know that it originated in the 1948 Broadway musical Where's Charley?. With a book by George Abbott and lyrics and music by Frank Loesser, Where's Charley? was based on the highly successful 1892 British farce Charley's Aunt. Where's Charley? starred popular song and dance man Ray Bolger in the title role. It was Ray Bolger as a smitten Charley who sang "Once in Love with Amy" in the musical's second act. The song proved so popular that audiences would insist Mr. Bolger sing it a second time and they would even sing along.

It was in 1952 that Warner Bros. released a feature film adaptation of Where's Charley?, starring Ray Bolger and Allyn Ann McLerie as Amy. While the movie version of the musical would not prove particularly successful at the box office, it would air regularly on television until the Seventies, disappearing from the small screen afterwards. It has never been released on VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray. It appears that Jo Sullivan Loesser, the widow of Frank Loesser, consistently blocked the release of Where's Charley? on video for whatever reason. Fortunately, Mrs. Loesser would eventually relent and give her permission for a video release. Sadly, as of yet, none have been forthcoming.

Fortunately, someone uploaded the "Once in Love with Amy" sequence from the movie to Dailymotion. Here it is, so now it can get stuck in your head as well...

1 comment:

Caftan Woman said...

Once that song gets stuck in your head it takes root. Thanks for finding those clips.