There was panic because one astronomer claimed that the gas from its tail "would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet." His first show of 1920 was The Night Boat, with book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell, which ran for more than 300 performances in New York and for three seasons on tour. "[27] The score is, arguably, Kern's greatest and includes the well-known songs "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" as well as "Make Believe", "You Are Love", "Life Upon the Wicked Stage", "Why Do I Love You", all with lyrics by Hammerstein, and "Bill", originally written for Oh, Lady! 133 talking about this. [citation needed], Bosley Crowther, reviewing the film for The New York Times, wrote:[9], "Why did Metrohave to cook up a thoroughly phoney yarn about the struggles of a chirpy young composer to carry the lovely songs of Jerry Kern? mobile homes with utilities included; nasr's restaurant omaha; chn pigeon club; 24 inch plastic cylinder vase. (He must be a rich man; presumably, the meter is still running). Robert Walker as Kern does prove likable enough in the lead role and there's an innocent charm at work in these proceedings but things do run on perhaps a little too long. James dismisses Jerome as one of the many song-writing hacks who come to him for advice until he hears one of Jerome's beautifully composed melodies. Traveling with the merest of props James manages to squeeze onto many flights which made his magic travel far and wide. The musical numbers are great. Between 1903 and 1905, he continued his musical training under private tutors in Heidelberg, Germany, returning to New York via London. Kern was one of the giants of American song-writing. Rhino Entertainment currently owns the rights to issue an authorized CD of the soundtrack, under license from Turner Entertainment; in the past, MCA Records and Sony Music Entertainment held such rights. The skills learned adapted very well to creating unique presentations for many corporate events. His brother showed him a 'card trick' and that was that! Posted on May 29, 2021 by Alix Cohen in Playing Around. The men partner up young, struggle to reach success, separate, and come together again to write 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Harts death. Change). When MGM in its heyday made so-called biographies of musical figures such as Jerome Kern, Rodger & Hart, and Sigmund Romberg, the story is about as consequential as they were in those early Broadway musicals. Now grown up, Sally Hessler asks her "Uncle Jerry" to help her get a stage role. VIEW FULL REPORT . He is a long-time Gettysburg and Little Bighorn enthusiast and also a speaker at Civil War Round Tables. Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 - November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. The 61-year-old musician died when a small plane . And these are more often than not almost impossible to reconcile. He talks about: his long time friendship with arranger James I. Hessler (Van Heflin), who, in large part, helped him hone his craft, and who wanted to get out of arranging, to focus on composing serious music; how . So what did they do they wrote the most sentimental glop ever filmed.Van Heflin overplays Kern`s (Robert Walker) friend & mentor ( a completly fictional character. we begin to Show & Tell who they were during particular moments in their lives. james i hessler composer. Notably absent are MGM luminaries Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, who could have been used to good effect.Musical performances are interspersed by dramatic scenes relating to Kern's life. The purpose was to "provide federal assistance to those unable to work". I am working on a new book, Michael Moore and the New American Documentaries, that . Discovering street magic, learning to attract a crowd and make them an audience is a skill that James has acquired over a career spanning 20 years and more. Kern and the Hesslers grow close, and he later visits them in London. Abandoned Little Round Top;Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder [10], The "Princess Theatre shows" were unique on Broadway not only for their small size, but their clever, coherent plots, integrated scores and naturalistic acting, which presented "a sharp contrast to the large-scale Ruritanian operettas then in vogue"[3] or the star-studded revues and extravaganzas of producers like Florenz Ziegfeld. "[47] For the 1936 film version of Show Boat, Kern and Hammerstein wrote three new songs, including "I Have The Room Above Her" and "Ah Still Suits Me". I like the deft rhyming of the song that is always sung in the last act by two comedians and a comedienne. [2], Stepping Stones (1923, with Caldwell) was a success, and in 1924 the Princess Theatre team of Bolton, Wodehouse and Kern reunited to write Sitting Pretty, but it did not recapture the popularity of the earlier collaborations. All Rights Reserved. It's a long movie (over 130 minutes) but moved along fairly well and is one of those infrequent films where there are no villains and no nasty people. Knowing how to create the energy required to fill a space has made James a much sought after magician, performer, and entertainer. The movie was directed by Richard Whorf as a great spectacle, one in which the magnificent talent employed by the studio is showcased interpreting Mr. Kern's music. [citation needed] "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" as sung by Lena Horne was filmed, like many of her other musical numbers in MGM films, so that it could be easily removed from the print by sensitive Southern distributors. On 27 December 1927, following the opening night performance of his Broadway musical Show Boat , world famous composer Jerome Kern visits the neighborhood where he began his career many years earlier.As he sits in his chauffeured limousine, Jerome remembers his early days as a young songwriter and the day he arrived at composer James I. Hessler's home seeking professional advice: While . It came out in 1946, right afterthe composerdied. Back home, Jerry's unceasing efforts result in the production of his first show. Previously, James was a Director, Coast Operations (West) at Al tman Plants. Death. [1][2] There was a break in production from some time in January 1946 to the middle of March of that year.[2]. It ran for 395 performances, a remarkable success for the Depression years, and transferred to London the following year. Dina Shore's solo renditions of "They'll Never Believe Me" and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" seem datedly tame. "More and More" was nominated for an Oscar. What is James' ethnicity and where did his parents, grandparents & great-grandparents come from? As for the non-musical numbers the "drama" is trite and everybody is so nice and squeaky clean you want to scream--and Walker seems VERY uncomfortable in the title role. +380662407506. The film is now considered lost, but Kern's music survives. 01444899 [email protected]. His most well known shows include Show Boat (1927), Roberta (1933), and the Marilyn Miller vehicles Sally (1923) and Sunny (1926). Kern himself is portrayed by creepy psychopath Robert Walker (best known from Strangers on a Train). The two composers become fast friends, and before James leaves for England, he advises Jerome to "think big" and not waste his time writing frivolous songs. Wodehouse. With Hammerstein, however, he remained on close terms for the rest of his life. The middle part of the film features other songs from Kern's pre-Hollywood period. Hammerstein hummed or sang the song "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" from Music in the Air (a personal favorite of the composer's) into Kern's ear. Many of these filmsare plenty entertainingthough forgettable, and nearly all of them err on the side of storytelling at the expense of facts. Summary. Hans [Johann] Leo Hassler [Haslerus, Haler] was the most distinguished of the three musician sons of Isaac Hassler, organist at Nuremberg and the trown musician. Despite the lavish sets and candy-box colors, this grand production tries to do too much, and comes across instead as an unwieldy package of story and song. Featuring, in part, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Tony Martin, Gower Champion Kern was involved with the production, but died before it was completed. Click a location below to find James more easily. Kern wrote well over 1000 songs, and though of course not all are memorable, finding 50 or 100 good ones is easy. Judy Garland is excellent as Marilyn Miller, singing a somber "Look For the Silver Lining", followed by an exuberant circus-located rendition of "Sunny", then another exuberant production to "Who?". With Dorothy Fields, he composed the new music for I Dream Too Much (1935), a musical melodrama about the opera world, starring the Metropolitan Opera diva Lily Pons. In 2002, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, featuring Kern's "All in Fun", won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. [21], Oh, Lady! [37] Roberta (1933) by Kern and Harbach included the songs "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let's Begin and "Yesterdays" and featured, among others, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, George Murphy and Sydney Greenstreet all in the early stages of their careers. Knowing how to create the energy required to fill a space has made James a much sought after magician, performer, and entertainer. So we get abbreviated songs, even of his best: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Make Believe", et al., plus a whole lot of now obscure ditties. Jerome enjoys a happy reunion with James and Sally, who calls Jerome "Uncle Jerry," and the three spend an afternoon at a fair. It was the first musical to enter a major opera company's repertory (New York City Opera, 1954), and the rediscovery of the 1927 score with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations led to a large-scale EMI recording in 1987 and several opera-house productions. Bakersfield (CA) (3) Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County (CA) (4) Sacramento-Yolo (CA) (5) San Diego (CA) (6) Kenji Kawai by Georges Seguin ( CC BY-SA 1.0) One of the best-known soundtrack composers, Kenji Kawai, was born on April 23, 1957, in Shinagawa, Japan. "[10] The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre.[14]. Any film that allows more of the "Roberta" score is a hit with me anyway. Kern contributed two songs to To-Night's the Night (1914), another Rubens musical. Hessler. James I Hessler of Brush Prairie, Clark County, Washington was born on October 16, 1910, and died at age 90 years old on October 14, 2001. Jim enjoyed life with interests to include wood working, carpentry, four-wheeling, and . Back in the day when Hollywood was doing biographical pictures of some of our most famous popular composers, it was generally acknowledged that they were nothing more than an excuse to string musical numbers together. What about Hollywood films like Till the Clouds Roll By (1946),The Big Circus (1959), and Some Like it Hot []. Featuring, in part, June Allyson, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore . Age: 86 years old . Select the next to any field to update. Seeing his first ever street magic performance changed his world for ever. Some of our most iconic songwriters have been given the Hollywood Treatment, which is to say ersatz biographies, none the less entertaining for recreated musical numbers and star chemistry despite sketched history. My heart aches for his loved ones. Edinburgh born James Hessler is a busking professional magician that brings his abilities to any function, event, or product launch that helps make it the success you wish it to be. Til the Clouds Roll By is one of these. Although the Act was supposed to be temporary, it stayed in effect until 1965. Every time these three gather together, the Princess Theatre is sold out for months in advance. [2] Kern grew up on East 56th Street in Manhattan, where he attended public schools. No mention of Harts homosexuality, minimization of self destructive behavior. [28] The show ran for 572 performances on Broadway and was also a success in London. Born: October 25 or 26, 1564 (bapisized: October 26, 1564) - Nremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. She lives in Manhattan. and you'll be alerted when others do the same. Hollywood still makes musical show biz bio pics, of course, but nowadays they tend to be at least marginally closer to real facts. Taking Sally to the fair, a swing ride inspires Kern to conceive a stage production for one of his songs. After concluding that Broadway is no longer hospitable to American composers, Jerome decides to try his luck in Europe and sets sail for England. [46], Their next film, Swing Time (1936) included the song "The Way You Look Tonight", which won the Academy Award in 1936 for the best song. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results James I Hessler (1910 - 2001) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. Sets, costumes, and dance steps match the original stage presentations. [2] There was a public reaction against the early glut of film musicals after the advent of film sound; Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931. Email address . A short time later, James dies of heart disease. I think of him as a crucial transitional figure between the European operetta style works of Victor Herbert and the more jazz oriented modern musical comedy period that came after (an era he helped usher in). Contact. Learning, practicing, and performing magic ever since has seen him around the world THREE times. Till The Clouds Roll By was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers: it was followed by Words and Music about Rodgers and Hart in 1948, Three Little Words about Kalmar and Ruby in 1950, and Deep in My Heart about Sigmund Romberg in 1954.[1]. The Act survived many Supreme Court challenges and the Administration continues until today. Among the more than 700 songs by Kern are such classics as "They Didn't Believe Me" (1914), "Look for the Silver Lining" (1920), "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "Make Believe", "You Are Love" and "Bill" (all from Show Boat, 1927), "The Song Is You" (1932), "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Yesterdays" and "Let's Begin" (all from Roberta, 1933), "I Won't Dance" (1935), "A Fine Romance" and the Academy Award-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" (both from Swing Time, 1936), "All the Things You Are" (1939) and "I'm Old Fashioned" (1942). Fred. Rent on Amazon Prime. The following are some of the most notable such shows from this period:[3]. And no matter which direction you take, fictionalizing, sticking with the facts, or trying to walk the line between both, its going to be somehow dissatisfying to a significant portion of the audience. Meanwhile, Minnelli who, it was rumored at the time, would be taking over the direction of the film was shooting Garland's sequences even before the beginning of principal photography, as she was pregnant and expected to give birth in March 1946; her shooting was completed on November 8, 1945. We encourage you to research and . He showed an early aptitude for music and was taught to play the piano and organ by his mother, a professional player and teacher. Its song "I Won't Dance" was used in the film Roberta. The average age of According to the theatre historian John Kenrick: "After the opening night audience filed out of the Ziegfeld Theatre in near silence, Ziegfeld thought his worst fears had been confirmed. Dr. James R. Hessler is a ENT-Otolaryngologist in Wooster, OH. [48] The film starred Astaire and Rita Hayworth and included the song "I'm Old Fashioned". [57], In the fall of 1945, Kern returned to New York City to oversee auditions for a new revival of Show Boat, and began to work on the score for what would become the musical Annie Get Your Gun, to be produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Ms. Shields:1/05/02 I do not have any Hessler ancestry, but I'm interested in the Hessler genealogy.Your message seems to be the only one from a person who has documents about the Hessler family.I am looking for information about a James Hessler who was the music arranger for Jerome Kern.He helped Kern put together his songs for stage productions.The first orchestra arrangement they did . [9] This was one of the first starring vehicles for Billie Burke, for whom Kern had earlier written the song "Mind the Paint", with lyrics by A. W. Pinero. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. [3] The piece ran for 135 performances and was a modest financial success. [7] From 1905 on, he spent long periods of time in London, contributing songs to West End shows like The Beauty of Bath (1906; with lyricist P. G. Wodehouse) and making valuable contacts, including George Grossmith Jr. and Seymour Hicks, who were the first to introduce Kern's songs to the London stage. Share highlights of James' life. [11], In May 1915, Kern was due to sail with Charles Frohman from New York to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but Kern missed the boat, having overslept after staying up late playing poker. A bit of history, When Jerome Kern was approached in regard to this musical biography he stated Do not tell the truth, as he felt his life story was uninteresting. Welcome to AncientFaces, a com "Thank you for helping me find my family & friends again so many years after I lost them. While in London, he secured a contract from the American impresario Charles Frohman to provide songs for interpolation in Broadway versions of London shows. So out with the story, and on with the songs. [18] The first opened at another theatre before Very Good Eddie closed. Kern songs were also used in the Cary Grant film, When You're in Love (1937), and the first Abbott and Costello feature, One Night in the Tropics (1940). He must abruptly sail back to New York to adapt The Girl from Utah for its Broadway debut. [55] In the film, Kern's songs are sung by Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, among others, and Gower Champion and Cyd Charisse appear as dancers. He is the award-winning author of Sickles at Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2009), the recipient of the Bachelder Coddington Award and Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Distinguished Book Award, and co-author of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg (Savas Beatie, 2015). They had one child: William Hessler. Composer (version 2.4.2) successfully installed to: /usr/local/bin/composer Use it: php /usr/local/bin/composer. However, when the show's producer assigns the title song to Marilyn Miller, Sally deserts both Jerome and her father. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joes Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. (1918). James Hessler is an Advisory Board Member at Clean WateR3 based in Dayton, Oregon. He writes the song "Who?" It also adds a light and highly stylized account of his career, which is often bland, but occasionally has some nice moments. Unlike with Cole Porter or George Gershwin, a heterosexual love story didn't have to be invented here. On Friday, Mr. Hessler, 59, was sentenced to 650 years in prison. Rent on Amazon Prime. In 1985, the U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp (Scott #2110, 22), with an illustration of Kern holding sheet music. Jerome's first Broadway show, The Girl from Utah , proves a great success, but while he and James collaborate on a complete score for a new show, Frohman leaves for England to search for new talent. Obituary for James Bruce Hessler | James B. Hessler, 77, of Stilesville passed away November 7th, 2018. Featuring an ensemble cast of well-known musical stars, it was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers. Back home, Jerry's unceasing efforts result in the production of his first show. James A. Hessler. Born July 21, 1941, he was the son of the late James and Mary (Clodfelter) Hessler. Blog Home Uncategorized james i hessler composer. Add James' family friends, and his friends from childhood through adulthood. Skills in the Vaudeville Tradition: Drag is Alive, Kicking, Yodeling, Fire-Eating | chelseanow.com. This star-studded film begins with the words ".based on the life of Jerome Kern" appearing on the screen. Kern's Three Sisters (1934), was his last West End show, with a libretto by Hammerstein. [36] It was filmed in 1934 with Jeanette MacDonald. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart: Words and Music 1948 Directed by Norman Taurog. Dixon (lyricist) [1] Fred. It starts with him leaving another triumphant Broadway opening night, but in a melancholy, reflective mood. Some of his most notable shows during this very productive period were as follows: During the last phase of his theatrical composing career, Kern continued to work with his previous collaborators but also met Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, with whom Kern wrote his most lasting, memorable, and well-known works. BY ANCESTRY.COM. Looking at it, he knew he could do better but the video had a life of it's own and now stands at 7,300,000 views. The composer proposes to Eva, and returns to New York to continue his string of theatrical successes, including Leave It to Jane. In 2004, Never Gonna Dance received two Tony nominations. [1], The film is one of the MGM musicals that entered the public domain when MGM failed to renew their copyrights.[5]. A side benefit of having researched my bookNo Applause is having become an expert on a largely defunct genre, the Hollywood musical show biz bio-pic. [1] His parents were Henry Kern (18421908), a Jewish German immigrant, and Fannie Kern ne Kakeles (18521907), who was an American Jew of Bohemian parentage. All attempts to locate Sally fail, and Jim Hessler dies, leaving a mourning Kern unable to work. James Horner, the Hollywood composer who wrote the Oscar-winning score for Titanic, has died in a California plane crash aged 61. By what name was Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) officially released in India in English. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopation and jazz progressions, built on, rather than rejected, earlier musical theatre tradition.