Harry Warren

Born Salvatore Guaragna, 24 December, 1893, Brooklyn New York. Died Los Angeles 22 September 1981, Harry Warren was recently inducted into the Smithsonian Museum of American History

Who is Harry Warren????

by Robert Walls

In 1932, good ol' Warner Brothers was in financial straights. They bet the farm with a Movie musical 42nd Street. It was a smash success and launched the career of Director Busby Berkeley, and brought fame to Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler.

The budget for "42nd Street was set at four hundred thousand dollars, a large one for that time, particularly in view of Warners' lagging financial condition. It is doubtful whether the film would have materialized without the enthusiastic drive of Darryl F. Zanuck. His gamble paid off handsomely, and such was the zest and zip of the movie that it opened the door to a new concept in making movie musicals. Much of this was due to the appealingly bizarre and visually fascinating choreography of Busby Berkeley, but it was also due to Lloyd Bacon's taut, upbeat direction and the music of Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin.

The success of 42nd Street spawned many other musicals by Warner Brothers, ALL featuring the music of Harry Warren:

The Warner Brothers Movies

Many more hits than the Gershwins or Irving Berlin or Rodgers and Hammerstein or Sammy Cahn (or Elvis, the Beatles and Madonna)!

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. At one point he had four of the top ten songs! 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 (i.e. 42nd Street), 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 specialising in musicals.

During this time with Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century-Fox, MGM, and Paramount, some 450 of his songs were published and performed, with some 76 of them becoming standards.

His Songs have appeared in over 300 films and no fewer than 112 of Warner Brothers "Looney Tunes" cartoons.

Here is a partial list of the movies for which he wrote the music for other studios:

At MGM

1. Roman Scandals (Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Ray Heindorf's Orchestra)
2. Ziegfeld Follies
3. Honolulu (Robert Young, Eleanor Powell, George Burns, Gracie Allen)
4. Yolanda And The Thief (Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremmer)
5. The Harvey Girls (Judy Garland, Kenny Baker, Cyd Charisse, Angela Lansbury)
6. Summer Holiday (Mickey Rooney, Gloria De Haven, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorhead, Marilyn Maxwell)
7. Barkleys of Broadway (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers)
8. Summer Stock (Judy Garland, Gene Kelly)
9. Pagan Love Song (Esther Williams, Howard Keel)
10. Belle of New York (Fred Astaire, Vera Ellen)

At Fox

1. Young People (Shirley Temple)
2. Down Argentine Way (Bette Grable, Carmen Miranda)
3. Sun Valley Serenade (Glenn Miller and his Orch., Sonja Henie, John Payne, Lynn Bari)
4. Weekend in Havana (Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero)
5. That Night In Rio (Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Don Ameche)
6. Iceland (Sonja Henie, John Payne, Jack Oakie, Joan Merrill)
7. Springtime In The Rockies (Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero, Harry James and his orch)
8. Orchestra Wives ( Glenn Miller, George Montgomery, Jackie Gleason, Ann Rutherford, Lynn Bari, and Cesar Romero)

At Paramount

1. Just For You (Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman)
2. The Caddy (Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin)
3. Artists And Models (Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Eva Gabor, Anita Ekberg, Shirley MacLaine, Dorothy Malone)
4. An Affair To Remember (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr)
5. Cinderfella (Jerry Lewis, Ed Wynn, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Count Basie)

Who performed his songs?

Here are just a few of the artists from over the years:

What about the lyricists?

Broadway?

Yes, he did write songs for Billy Rose while working "Tin Pan Alley" in the 1920's, but with the constant work in Hollywood from 1932 until the late 1960's, he didn't have the time. However, he did write all the music for 42nd Street, which is the FIFTH longest running musical in Broadway history.

You can read more about this prolific composer by visiting a web site devoted to him and his work.

Here is the website address: www.harrywarrenmusic.com 

Harry was Hollywood's most successful composer, by far!!! Please visit his page. This man was amazing!!! All his movies are here with Synopsis, real audio and video files, star of the month pages, hundreds of his sheet music pages, and more!  

Any questions? e-mail me. I am the Webmaster at Four Jays Music. Harry's publishing company which is run by his two granddaughters. webmasterbob@earthlink.net