by Cole Porter
MONDAY, MAY 11th, 1936
CONFERENCE IN OFFICE OF SAM KATZ
Present: Sam Katz, Jack McGowan, Sid Silvers, Jack Cummings, Roy Del Ruth, Seymour Felix, and a strange man, whose name I did not get.
Frances Langford came in with her manager, and sang the concerted number which I had just finished, “LOVE ME, LOVE MY PEKINESE” and “I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN”.
The concerted number was received with great enthusiasm, and as for “I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN”, as sung by Miss Langford, it was what is called in Hollywood “colossal”.
Then Sam said, “Now, Cole, I want you to write a SKATING WALTZ. We haven’t enough beauty in this picture and I want to sign Sonja Henie† for an Ice Ballet.” I said, “But, Sam, where can you put it?” He replied, “Well, instead of taking the male lead and the Broadway star to a nightclub, we will take them to a skating rink. The only difficulty about the whole thing is that Henie wants too much money, she wants $100,000, and we only want to give her $50,000.” I said “Sam, how long will the sequence take?” He said, “Oh, two minutes.”
I left this conference, feeling very happy about the picture but definitely worried as to Sonja Henie and the SKATING WALTZ.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13th, 1936
Sam Katz telephoned me to say that Del Ruth had been to see him and wanted me to throw out the opening to the picture, “ROLLING HOME”. Sam asked me to think this over and let him know.
FRIDAY, MAY 15th, 1936
Jack Cummings and Sid Silvers came to the house. They looked rather embarrassed, and I knew there was bad news in store for me. The bad news WAS that they had all met and decided my opening was no good. After questioning them a little bit I found out WHY they found it no good, and saw an easy solution to adapt it to all their wishes, so the opening stays in.*
SATURDAY, MAY 16th, 1936
Sam Katz telephoned me saying “Cole, I have a great script for next year when you come back to me. It is by Bill McGuire, who wrote The Great Ziegfeld, and it is a wonderful story.”† Then he began to describe the story, and it became more and more complicated, and when he finished I had no idea whether it was good or not. But it was nice to know that Sam was thinking seriously of the future.
SUNDAY, MAY 17th, 1936
Sam Katz telephoned – said he had Al Newman for my orchestra director, and Eddie Powell to make the orchestral arrangements.‡ This is a great break for me, as they are the two best men in their lines in Hollywood.
I had been worrying ever since a few days ago about Sonja Henie and the SKATING WALTZ, so I asked Sam the news, and he said, “No, Cole, that’s out, she won’t come down on her price.”
TUESDAY, MAY 19th, 1936
Present: Jack Cummings, Roger Edens,* Eddie Powell, Al Newman, Sid Silvers, and the head of the Music Department (whose name I do not know).
They all came to the house. I plied them with whiskies and sodas, and then played the entire score. Even if the score had been awful, none of them would have known it, as they all felt so well, but they left saying it was the greatest thing they had heard in years.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th, 1936
CONFERENCE IN ROGER EDENS’S OFFICE
Present: Sam Katz, Seymour Felix, Mr. Pye (the art director), Sid Silvers, Jack McGowan, Roy Del Ruth, Al Newman, Eddie Powell, Commander Haislett [sic],† Virginia Bruce.
Virginia Bruce gave us an audition of “I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN” and “LOVE ME, LOVE MY PEKINESE”. She sang them very well indeed and, after she had left, they definitely decided to throw out Frances Langford and use Bruce instead.
Then I played the finale to them,
“SWINGIN’ THE JINX AWAY”
and it went with a bang. So my troubles are nearly over.
Just as I was leaving, somebody came in and said, “Sonja is making her tests,” so I said “Sam, are you going to use Sonja Henie after all?” He said, “Well, Cole, we haven’t quite decided yet, but if her tests are good, I think we will take her, although I still think $100,000 is too much money.” So I shall have to begin thinking about that SKATING WALTZ again.
Then Sam took me to his office and gave me the McGuire script, about which he telephoned me a few days ago. I left the studio very happy about the picture, as the enthusiasm from everybody is so great. They start shooting on June 15* and it is practically sure that they have the Pacific fleet. Del Ruth says the picture should be ready for release on October first.†
TUESDAY, MAY 26th, 1936
Sam Katz called me to the telephone while I was in the midst of an excellent egg, and said “Cole, can you take a great shock?” My reply was a groan, and then he said, “Your Finale ‘Swingin’ The Jinx Away’ is out.” When I recovered sufficiently to speak I said, “Sam, I know this is wrong,” and he said “Everybody has decided the lyric is wrong and the tune hasn’t enough drive”, so I gave him a “Goodbye” and hung up the telephone. I called Sid Silvers and Jack McGowan immediately and they were outraged. It seems that all this developed from Mr. Del Ruth and Mr. Seymour Felix having planned elaborate production effects on the water, which they felt could not follow my number, even if the tune were any good, and they had decided it was not. One of the details of the production was to be a fleet of motorboats covered with girls.
I called up Sam Katz in the evening and told him I still felt that my tune was right, and that my lyric was right, in that it established the swing as a National institution, and that if he would only arrange for a curtain back of the singer this number, showing the capitol of Washington, those concerned with the production of it could go anywhere afterwards, as long as it was America. Also pointed out that the song would have value on account of the elections next autumn. By this time Sam completely agreed with me regarding the lyric, but still thought the tune was not any good. So, I called up Silvers and McGowan again and told them what had happened. They recounted their interview with Sam Katz in the afternoon. It seems that Del Ruth and Felix had turned him to such an extent against the finale that he was not at all sure that any of my tunes were any good, or that I had ever written a good tune. So they had to get up and give an audition and sing every hit I have had since I started writing.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27th, 1936
Jack Cummings telephoned me and asked if I would come out to the studio and discuss the Finale with them all. I refused, saying that as far as I was concerned the Finale was the best I could possibly do, and that furthermore it seemed very topsy-turvy that a director and a dance director should dictate to me what I should write, and pointed out that if this occurred in the Theatre and the director and the dance director announced that they could not produce a number which I had written, we always got a new Director and a new Dance Director. Then I rang off.
In the evening Linda and I dined with Sam Katz at his house. It was a very pleasant dinner with excellent Chinese food, followed by beautiful singing by Igor Gorin.* There was no mention made of the Finale until we left, and then Sam came out to the car with me and said “Well, Cole, old boy, you were right; I had two piano arrangements made of your Finale, and after hearing it several times, I think the lyric is not only right, but you have written a great tune, so your worries are over.” But in the meantime, I called up Arthur Lyons† and told him to cancel any arrangements with Sam Katz about making my contracts for next year. We shall not go into that until all my work has been accepted and approved on this present job.
FRIDAY, MAY 29th, 1936
Miss Moore‡ telephoned me at the swimming pool to say that Jack Cummings wanted me to come out and discuss the Finale with Del Ruth and Eddie Powell. So I called up Jack and said “Has Del Ruth teamed Eleanor Powell with him against me on my finale?” and he replied “Well, he is very set against it and Eleanor says she can’t dance to it.” I made an appointment to go out to the studio at 4 in the afternoon.
Then I began telephoning. First I telephoned to Roger Edens and to Eddie Powell, and asked them to be there. Then I telephoned to Silvers and asked him if he c
ould possibly go to the studio quickly and persuade Edens to get busy with Eleanor Powell and try to work out some routine for the number. At four o’clock I arrived at Sam Katz’s office, and he took me for a long walk to a large rehearsal hall, where I found Del Ruth, Seymour Felix, Sid Silvers, Roger Edens, Eddie Powell, Finston* (head of the Music Department at MGM), Eleanor Powell, her mother and an upright piano. When I came in I realized there was battle in the air. Then Sam said “Now, Cole, my boy, Roy Del Ruth will tell you what he thinks of the finale.” Everybody became very silent and Del Ruth began. He said, “This is not personal at all, but I definitely do not like your Finale. I think it is a great let-down after your other numbers and will ruin the picture. It seems to me the lyric is entirely wrong, and as far as the tune goes, it reminds me of everything I have ever heard since I was a small boy. I had hoped so much that you would write a hit song that had the brilliance of BROADWAY RHYTHM, our great number in BROADWAY MELODY.”† When he had finished I said “I understand your point of view perfectly, but I disagree with you in every way. I think my lyric is excellent and applies completely. As to the tune, you tell me it reminds you of everything you’ve ever heard since you were a little boy, which is exactly what I wanted to do. For weeks, I studied all of the American folk-songs and tried to write a melody which would be essentially American, not fashionable jazz, but a spirited folk-song, such as the ARKANSAS TRAVELER.”* Then I asked Eddie Powell what he thought of the number in regard to its orchestration, and he said “Well, as far as I go, it’s a great chance for me, because it is obviously written for orchestration and military band, and I can easily make it much more brilliant than I made ‘Broadway Rhythm’ last year, because it lends itself to scoring.”
Then Finston got on his feet and said “Mr. Del Ruth, I am sure you are wrong about this number. You say it won’t be a ‘hit song’. I will bet you on the other hand that the orchestras throughout the country will take up this song to such an extent that you will curse Cole Porter for having written it.”
At this moment Eleanor Powell stood up and said “Nobody has asked my opinion, but the number suits me perfectly. In fact, I already have a routine which I would like to show you.” At which she took the middle of the floor, her accompanist went to the piano and she proceeded to do one of the most exciting dances I have ever seen in my life. When this was over, Sam Katz said “Well, Cole, my boy, I guess you were right, if the number suits our star, and Eddie Powell says he can arrange it even better than ‘BROADWAY RHYTHM’, I think there should be no more discussion about it, so the number is definitely in.”
Then Seymour Felix took the floor and he said “But, Mr. Katz, how am I going to bring on my motor boats filled with girls after that lyric.” Sam completely lost his temper and said “I don’t want your motor boats filled with girls. I want this number to lead up to our star, and if you want to use girls, the only way I will allow it is if you can shoot them out of cannons. And by the way, that would be a swell effect.”
But Felix was not to be “downed”. He said “But the number is corny. I have always hated that old-fashioned one-step rhythm and you are going to kill your picture if you leave it in.” Then Sam exploded, and by the time he finished, there was very little left of Mr. Seymour Felix.
When I realized that the battle was over and that there was nothing more to discuss, I said “goodnight” to everybody. When I shook hands with Del Ruth he smiled and said “Well, Cole, thanks for everything.”
Then Sam stood up and addressed everybody, saying “Ladies and Gentlemen: The discussion is over, the Number is set for the Finale, and we are going to have a swell picture. It is going to be a million dollar picture, maybe it will cost a million and a half,” and he beamed with satisfaction.
When I got home I telephoned Sam Katz and said “Sam, is this settled definitely or not, because it’s very worrying when people change their minds as often as they have about this Number.” He said “Cole, my boy, just put it all out of your mind, the number is definitely in and there will be no more discussion about it.” Then I said “But, I am still worried about Felix. Felix dislikes it so much that I’m afraid he won’t do a good job on it.” To which Sam replied “Don’t you worry, Cole, my boy, I already have another dance director in mind. I’m sick of Mr. Felix and I’ve practically decided to get rid of him.”*
TUESDAY, JUNE 2nd, 1936
Sam Katz telephoned and said “Cole, will you do me a favor?”, and I said, “Probably, what is it?”, and he said “Will you come out and play and sing your score to Louis B. Mayer and Thalberg† tomorrow afternoon?” I said “Why?” and he answered, “Well, Cole, my boy, after all, they are slightly interested.” So I agreed to do it, however, with dread.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3rd, 1936
After a stiff whisky and soda, and my arms full of books which Miss Moore had prepared, containing the lyrics in the order which they come in the picture, I left for the studio. A few minutes later I was in Louis B. Mayer’s office. He was there, also Sam Katz, Jack Cummings, Roger Edens, Sid Silvers, Mrs. Koverman, (L. B’s secretary and an angel), Eleanor Powell and Virginia Bruce. Suddenly the door opened and in crept Thalberg, looking more dead than alive, and obviously angry at being disturbed to hear this score. I passed out the lyric books and began. By the time “ROLLING HOME” was over, I realized that the atmosphere was friendly. When I finished “Hey, Babe, Hey”, there was wild applause and L. B. began jumping around the room whispering to people. I attacked “ENTRANCE OF LUCY JAMES” next, and it was during this that Thalberg suddenly became a different person and began smiling. Then the door opened and in walked Eddie Mannix (General Manager of MGM),* and L. B. said “Cole, you’ve got to repeat ‘Hey, Babe, Hey’ for Eddie,” which I did, and they all sang it. From then on it was clear sailing and the moment I finished the Finale, Thalberg leaped out of his seat, rushed over to me, grabbed my hand and said “I want to congratulate you for a magnificent job, I think it’s one of the finest scores I have ever heard.” He was followed by L. B., who came up and put his arms around me and said “Cole, how about coming into the next room and signing your contract for next year,” to which I replied, “No, L. B., I don’t understand money matters.” Then Mrs. Koverman said “Gentlemen, I think this is worth a celebration, what do you all want to drink?” So we ordered big whiskies and sodas, and everybody stood around the piano and sang the entire score again. It was completely jubilant.
Then L. B. addressed the house and said “Now, Sam, this material is so fine that I don’t want you to take any chances with it. I want every lyric heard, and in order to assure that, I want you to make ‘rushes’ of these numbers and then show them in theaters as ‘shorts’ to find out whether the audiences can understand every word. And another thing, this Finale is so brilliant, that I want you to go to town and spend $250,000 on that Number alone.” When everybody had hugged and kissed everybody else, I went over to Sam Katz’s office with Jack Cummings, to see the model for the LONELY HEARTS CLUB and the drawings for the FINALE. The model for the LONELY HEARTS CLUB was so beautiful that I wanted to join the club at once. As for the FINALE, it’s staggering.
While this was going on, more whiskies and sodas were brought in for everybody and I motored home, exhausted and just a little bit tight.
On arriving home I found that the minute I left L. B.’s office, he telephoned to Arthur Lyons to come to the studio and arrange my contract for next year.
TUESDAY, JUNE 9th, 1936
I signed for $90,000 for one picture* beginning December 1, 1936.†
Born to Dance was released on 27 November 1936 and was both a critical and financial success. The New York Times wrote that, ‘If, in this necessarily fragmentary discussion of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s ‘Born to Dance’ as it came yesterday to the Capitol, some feature is overlooked, some item of comedy or mimicry unmentioned, it will not be because of a lack of enthusiasm. It will be because the producers have crammed the film so full of pleasantry and gayety, as a setting for El
eanor Powell’s exquisitely tapped-out rhythms, that it leaves one ga-ga for a time . . . No fewer than seven Cole Porter compositions, most of them destined to a good measure of the ephemeral fame of modern song hits, punctuate the proceedings. According to this reviewer’s eagerly attuned ear, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Easy to Love” and “Hey Babe Hey” are due for top billing on the subway song sheets, while “Rap-Tap-Tap on Wood” and “Swinging the Jinx Away” should be items of importance for the swing set. “Rolling Home” is something choice for roysterers . . .’ Variety described the film as ‘corking entertainment, more nearly approaching the revue type than most musical films, despite the presence of a “book”. It is out of the ordinary both in that respect and because of its exceptional production merit. And it’s box office. Cast is youthful, sight stuff is lavish, the specialties are meritorious, and as for songs, the picture is positively filthy with them. Cole Porter included at least two hits among the seven numbers delivered.’33 The Orpheum, an RKO theatre in Denver, reported ‘continuous packing them in’ (Variety, 2 December 1936), and in New York, where Born to Dance showed at the Capitol Theatre, ‘Musical may be held back a bit by shopping and weather but at $53,000 on the first week, it is still a bangup first in this week’s N.Y. Handicap. Plans holdover until Christmas.’34
In his Born to Dance diary entry for 21 January, Porter mentioned the ‘Boland part’, the role of the Queen that Mary Boland took in his Broadway show with Moss Hart, Jubilee, which opened at the Imperial Theatre, New York, on 12 October 1935. The New York Times was generally lavish in its praise, even suggesting that some of the songs in the show had been inspired by Porter’s and Hart’s South Seas cruise: ‘As thousands cheer,* Jubilee has finally hung its hat in the Imperial Theatre, where it had a tumultuous première Saturday evening. It is a rapturous masquerade . . . There is, perhaps, a hint of distant splendors in some of Mr. Porter’s tunes and in one Eastern dance, “Begin the Beguine” . . . [“Jubilee”] is an aristocrat of American festivals to music. It is the dome of many-colored glass that Broadway artisans know how to stretch above the raw materials of entertainment . . . Last year Mr. Porter wrote a brisker score† than the one the Franconia brought home as cargo. But the music for “Jubilee” is jaunty, versatile and imaginative . . .’35