When the 1928 Broadway musical made its way to the screen by way of MGM in 1937, all but one of the original songs disappeared, to be replaced by Cole Porter tunes. The film, starring Nelson Eddy and Eleanor Powell, was an overblown disaster, mercifully forgotten today. One of Cole’s tunes made it out of the film alive and became immortal. We’ll dedicate tonight to that great entry to the Great American Songbook.
One of the great baritones of the Thirties sang this in the movie, and this is from the soundtrack. It’s operatic singing, and it comes across like Puccini or Verdi.