Evening star., 1938-03-20
SongTean
Tried for
A Laugh
But Soft Weeping
Greeted Thanks
For the Memory
By Harold Hefernan.
HOLLYWOOD

A LTHOUGH the year is still
~ young and studies are busy
~ fashioning many more musi-
\ Gals, HollywoodS Tin Pan
Alley is willing to admit that Thinks
For the Memory" will be rated in De-
cembG- it is today-the best-selling
H6v1S song Of 1898. 80 -
Thanks for the Memory" is prob
ably the most unusual song ever writ
ten for motion picture. Never in the
history Of sound has tune built to
fit a special picture situation struck
such 4 responsive chord. It is intro
duced about halfway through The
Big Broadcast Of 1885," when Bob
Hope and Shirley Ross. playing a boy
and girl once Darried. but now di-
vorced. meet under the moonlight to
recall old times together 1t has that
something" that gets everybody Pc
culiarly. the story Of the song carries
much more solid plot meat than the
entire picture script.
Because Thanks for the Memory"
carves such unique place for itself in
current movie matters, its composers
became interesting people. Not that
they weren't interesting people before
they wrote that song; as a matter of
record. they have score OF big musical
hits to their credit.
The storytelling movie song now
hummed and whistler by the Nation
was written by Leo (Words) Robin.
former Pittsburgh advertising writer
and Ralph (Music) Ranger, one time
New York attorney. They've been trick
ing up tunes together on the Para
mount lot for five years and through
recent scores have pulled up as the COL
ony's leading tunesmiths. Some of
the numbers that turned the trick are
Love in Bloom" June in January,
Moonlight and Shadows" Blue
Hawail" and Whispers in the Dark"
NEITHER of the boys cares much
about Thanks for the Memory" :"
Us a little puzzling to ahem that the
tune proved the salvation of the movie
and went on to such heavy record and
sheet sales.
I didn't like it when we wrote it
and don't like it any better now" said
Robin. the word-fitter. Its Just a
trick piece to me-"
1t was ground out. on order, Just like
any other song-writing assignment the
team usually gets-to fit two people
performing a certain bit OF acting.
Only it was intended to be funny. and
not sad Robin and Ranger can't un-
derstand yet why people are weeping
softly over it.
Bewildered by the emotional recep-
tion the song got from a few friends
whose reactions they sought, Robin
and Rainger didn't know whether to
send the piece to the production de-
partment or toss it in the files and
start anew. They finally took the
chance-and were surprised a couple
of days later to learn the whole film
sequence for which it had been
planned was being rebuilt to bathe the
scene in pathos instead of comedy.
Were the same about picking hits
or fops." said Robin. I'VE never
know what the public will go for or
what it will run from. We just write
and trust to luck"
WRITING movie songs isn't much
different from writing advertis-
ing, according to matter-of-fact Robin.
You Just get . punch line and go
ahead. he says.
That's lot of bunk about song
writer's getting up in the middle of
the night to iot down inspirational
bits, he said. And I never yet have
written q score across a tablecloth at
the Brown Derby. As far as I'm con-
cerned. it's just another job-and I
try to forget about 1t after the day at
the studio is over"
The two composers battle gustily
over their opposite attitudes toward
the art" Of song writing. Ranger,
the art-for-art's-sake member of the
duo, dreams Of day when he can
write music to please his own taste
and he says 20. To which Robin re-
plies. In disgust: mo artist Is any
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