Harry Warren and the Hollywood Musical

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Summary: Harry Warren:Genius of the Hollywood Musical
Review: This is the definitive book on Harry Warren. 344 pages dedicated to Harry's life at Tin Pan Alley, Warner Brothers, Fox MGM, Paramount and Broadway. Includes hundreds of photos.

Harry Warren was undoubtably the most important tune smith during Hollywood's Golden Era of Musicals. His success is unrivaled in the motion picture industry.

In the years of the greatly popular radio program Your Hit Parade, between 1935 and 1950, forty-two songs by Harry Warren were placed in the coveted top ten, with 21 of them being #1 Hits. The song writer next best represented was Irving Berlin with thirty-three songs.

He was nominated for 11 Oscars for best song and won three times.

Although he had success on Broadway (ie. 42nd Street, the fifth longest running musical), his primary claim to fame is his importance in the history of the motion-picture musical. No other composer can match his record for the 25 year period between 1932 and 1957, when he was employed by all four major studios when they were specializing in musicals.

During this time with Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century-Fox, MGM, and Paramount, some 250 of his songs were published and performed, with 56 of them becoming standards.

His Songs have appeared in over 300 films. (and over 100 looney-tune cartoons)