Yours Sincerely

Yours Sincerely is an abbreviated version of the Rodgers&Hart Broadway show Spring Is Here. I have to say that the Brothers Warner in this Vitagraph short got all the essential plot elements of the stage show and oddly enough more of the original score than they did when a feature film was made three years earlier by them.

The plot is light and frothy which was typical of most of the Broadway musicals of that era. One song from the show became a classic. With A Song In My Heart became better on noted for being identified with Jane Froman and became the title of her biographical picture.

With A Song In My Heart is sung here by Lanny Ross who was a fine singer of the era, but was known for having incredible stage fright. Performing before a live audience or a sound stage was torture for him. Radio and records were the salvation of his career.

These things were called Broadway Brevities and this is the second one of I've seen, the first was The Desert Song. This one I'm glad has been preserved.

Betty Braley has several suitors. Her father Peter Braley wants her to marry millionaire Steve Alden. The ukulele-playing poor boy Terry Clayton has her younger sister Mary Jane's help.

I like the "What's the big idea?" song. It's comedic silliness. This is a musical short. I wish the other songs are as light and fun. The dramatic ones are boring. The other lighter songs aren't as good. It does get weird with the baby dolls dancing. It's interesting to see a nothing short from this time like some kind of representative of this era. In truth, it is probably nothing. I don't recognize these actors and I don't know anything about this song-writing team, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

Yours Sincerely (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Two-reeler from Vitaphone is rather interesting because it's actually a remake (or re-do) of the 1930 film SPRING IS HERE. In the film, a father plans to have his daughter (Nancy Welford) marry a rich man but the plan backfires and she meets Steve Alden (Lanny Ross). To date I haven't seen the 1930 film but from the various reviews found online, this short here actually contains more musical from the original Broadway musical by Rogers and Hart. The songs here are certainly pretty good and it's easy to see why they would make for such a hit but at the same time it makes me wonder why so many weren't used in the original feature. With that said, this is a fairly entertaining movie thanks in large part to the two stars who at least have some nice chemistry and make you interested in their story. Another major plus are the songs including "Spring is Here" performed by Richard Keene, "Yours Sincerely" by Ross and Welford and "With a Song in My Heart." The musical numbers are also slightly better than you'd typically see in a film like this and especially one involving some dolls. Not all of the humor works here but there's no question most people are going to be watching this for the music and it's certainly good enough to make this worth seeking out.

Just found this on the DVD of Billy Rose's Jumbo which, like this short, is full of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart tunes. The story concerns a rich family, two daughters, and the men who want them. Complications ensue but all seems well by the end. If you've seen many movies with plots like the one that's presented in this one, you can probably predict what happens. Anyway, this was a fascinating early talkie musical so on that note, Yours Sincerely is worth a look.

Fans of this delightful short ought to seek out the full musical treatment (sadly with little more music but one Broadway cast holdover) three years earlier of Rogers & Hart's Broadway musical, SPRING IS HERE . . . or at least the comments filed under that film's title.

The show actually registers slightly better in this abbreviated form since the Hollywood know-it-alls chose to omit so much of the theatre score in transferring the stage work to the big screen. The short preserves nearly all of the music and lyrics used in the full film(!) and the "Broadway Brevity" doesn't lose any essential parts of the screen story.

These Broadway Brevities are essential documents for any theatre historian in preserving a number of shows not otherwise recorded.