Centennial Summer n 1944, Meet Me in St. Louis and E.Y. Harburg. In the end, ev- favorably compared to Meet Me in captivated moviegoers the world eryone ends up where they want St. Louis by critics of the day, but Iover. The unbridled nostalgia for to be and happy endings abound. Centennial Summer is not that film a simpler time was very appealing and can stand proudly on its own in the turbulent war years. Two Centennial Summer was Jerome all these years later. It did receive years later, Twentieth Century-Fox Kern’s final score – he died in No- two Academy Award nominations, made its own film to appeal to that vember of 1945 at sixty years of both in the music category – for same audience – Centennial Sum- age, a great loss to the world of Best Music, Scoring of a Motion mer. With an excellent screenplay musical theatre and film. At the Picture for Alfred Newman, and by Michael Kanin and elegant and time of his death, Metro-Gold- Best Music, Original Song for “All stylish direction by Otto Preminger, wyn-Mayer was making a film Through the Day” by Kern and Centennial Summer takes a color- loosely based on his life (Till the Hammerstein – it lost both, but it ful, fun and even touching look at Clouds Roll By) and he’d just was a very competitive year. the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition begun work on a new musical, and one family’s trials and tribula- Annie Get Your Gun (Irving Berlin None of the stars of Centennial tions and follies and foibles. Like would, of course, go on to write Summer did their own singing. Meet Me in St. Louis, Centennial that score). Kern’s contribution to Jeanne Crain was dubbed by Summer was a love letter to a by- musical theatre and film was ex- Louanne Hogan, Linda Darnell gone era and like Meet Me in St. traordinary, from the game-chang- was dubbed by Kay St. Germain Louis, Centennial Summer was a ing, Showboat, to Music in the Air, Wells, Cornel Wilde was dubbed musical. Roberta, Very Warm for May, and by Ben Gage and William Eythe his extraordinary work in Holly- was dubbed by David Street. A wonderful cast was assembled, wood, including scores for Swing including two stunningly beautiful Time, You Were Never Lovelier, This is the official world premiere young women, Linda Darnell and Cover Girl and Can’t Help Singing. release of the complete Centen- Jeanne Crain (both barely into His list of classic songs is endless nial Summer, transferred from their twenties), along with Cornel and astonishing, some of the most the 1/4” archival elements in the Wilde, Walter Brennan, Dorothy performed songs in the history of Twentieth Century-Fox vaults and Gish and William Eythe. Over the popular music. lovingly restored by Mike Mates- course of its 102 minutes, we get sino. It just doesn’t get better than sibling rivalry (for the affections of In Centennial Summer, Kern’s Jerome Kern, Leo Robin, Oscar Frenchman Wilde), a visiting aunt music could not have been in bet- Hammerstein, E.Y. Harburg and, from Paris (lovely Constance Ben- ter hands than that of Fox’s music of course, Alfred Newman. It is a nett), a father who’s a dreamer/ director extraordinaire, Alfred thrill to bring this underappreciated inventor (Brennan, simply won- Newman, who also adapted the musical to CD and we hope you derful in this role as is Dorothy beautiful underscore for the film. enjoy this delightful, tuneful and Gish as his wife), comedy (some The songs are charmers and sev- beautiful score, sounding incredi- of the interplay between rival sis- eral went on to become staples of ble over sixty years later. ters Darnell and Crain is really fun the Great American Songbook – to watch and a costume ball with “Up with the Lark,” “All Through the — Bruce Kimmel multiple Napoleans is very funny), Day” and “In Love in Vain.” There the bumpy road to love (Wilde and is also a magical specialty number Eythe are the suitors, both impos- called “Cinderella Sue” performed sibly handsome and charming), by Avon Long that is one of the gorgeous settings and costumes, highlights of the movie. In a fitting unbelievably lush Technicolor pho- tribute, Fox had the main title read: tography (by Ernest Palmer) and, Jerome Kern’s Centennial Sum- of course, some wonderful musi- mer. cal numbers by the brilliant com- poser Jerome Kern and lyricists At the time of its release, Centen- Leo Robin, Oscar Hammerstein nial Summer was unfairly and un-