Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Harold Arlen

This film is a fairly good overview of the life of Harold Arlen. One letter writer is rightfully confused in the significance of Samuel being Harold's son, although I do not know why Ed Jablonski did not get this information right in his book on Harold; the rest of the book is very well done. I know this information firsthand as an old friend of the family. Samuel was born in 1957(?) to Harold's brother Jerry Arlen and his mate, before Jerry married Rita. Jerry was a troubled soul and not attentive to Samuel to put it nicely. Samuel most often found solace with Harold for all of his childhood years and on throughout his life. Harold very much wanted children, but Anya's health was for a long time questionable because of a later discovered brain tumor. Harold loved Samuel dearly and cared for him as his own. Harold spent much time with Samuel, and Samuel always looked to Harold as his father. Harold officially adopted Samuel sometime in the mid seventies. When Harold died in 1986, he named Samuel as his primary beneficiary of his estate. In the rumor mill, it has been said that Jerry's mate (Samuel's mother) may have also been Harold's mate for a while. I do not know this for fact, but it might stand reason in hindsight. I can say that Samuel is very much entitled to his designation as Harold's son. I Hope this clarifies the confusion.

The documentary traces Arlen's life & career from his early days playing the piano & singing on the S.S. Canadiana. There are film clips of Arlen as a young man, playing with the Buffalodians, and an interview in the 1960s in which he explains how he came to write some of his more famous works, as well as performances by Arlen and his home movies.

The documentary has a couple of odd inaccuracies. Arlen's sister-in-law (his brother's second wife) contends that Arlen's music was influenced by growing up in a black neighborhood in Buffalo. The fact is that the William Street neighborhood is black now, but it was, according to the recently deceased Marvin Lieberman, who still remembered the Arluck [pronounced AIR-lick] boys, a Jewish ghetto when Arlen lived there (it is noteworthy that two other great songwriters, Jack Yellen & Ray Henderson, grew up a few blocks from Arlen). Additionally, there are comments by a man named Samuel Arlen who is credited as Arlen's son, although Edward Jablonski's biography makes a particular point of noting that Arlen was childless. Samuel Arlen, according to Jablonski, is Arlen's nephew.

Nevertheless, this is a fundamentally excellent documentary if you like Arlen's music.