Monday, April 22, 2013

Suddenly It's Spring

The Cinema News and Property Gazette   August 18, 1943
Miss Ginger Rogers recorded the song "Suddenly It's Spring" for the movie Lady in the Dark.  When the movie was released in 1944, the song had been left on the cutting room floor BUT the recording was put on a record AND that recording can now be found on archive.org:

http://archive.org/details/OutakesFromClassicHollywoodMusicals

Look for the entry "GINGER ROGERS SUDDENLY IT'S SPRING" in the middle of the block of recordings listed there or go directly to:

http://ia601501.us.archive.org/12/items/OutakesFromClassicHollywoodMusicals/GingerRogersSuddenlyItsSpring.mp3

There are a lot of other items available that were left out of movies, or cut short, and this page is only volume 4 in which you may explore.  "Suddenly It's Spring" is the only song from the series that is attributed to Ginger Rogers, however.  The recording includes the orchestration which was left in the movie and can be heard during the dream sequence of the dance in the gazebo.  Ginger wrote about that dance in her autobiography, Ginger:  My Story, page 254 and 255:

We devised a little routine that we had to execute through a fog, created by dry ice.  For over two and a half hours I worked on the dream dance.  To keep the dry ice from melting too rapidly, all the outside doors were shut.  Inside, I was groping through the fog and inhaling the overwhelming dry ice.  It was like swimming underwater on one breath.  I went outside and took big gulps of the fresh air.

It was no wonder she felt like she was holding her breath because dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide.  As it sublimates, it creates a fog of itself as a gas which blocks oxygen from getting into the lungs.  It makes for a nice effect but breathing enough carbon dioxide instead of air will cause you to suffocate.  Imagine dancing in that!  (For more fun facts on dry ice, check out Wikipedia or head to your friendly, neighborhood library.  Your library may also have a copy of Ginger:  My Story that you can borrow.)

Meanwhile, back on archive.org...
On this same page of cut songs is the full version of "Swing Trot" from Barkleys of Broadway.  Look for "MGM STUDIO ORCH SWING TROT" on the list or go to:

http://ia601501.us.archive.org/12/items/OutakesFromClassicHollywoodMusicals/MgmStudioOrchSwingTrotcomplete.mp3


For some pretty pictures of the dress Ginger wore in the movie Lady in the Dark see this blog (note:  the images on this blog page aren't in the public domain.)
http://katandbaby.blogspot.com/2013/02/hollywood-costumes-exhibition.html

For more information on songs Ginger Rogers recorded that are available on archive.org, go to the "Ginger Sings" page of The Ginger Rogers Resource (this one is an actual link):
http://thegingerrogersresouce.blogspot.com/2012/09/ginger-sings.html

The Cinema News and Property Gazette image seen above is available here:
http://archive.org/stream/cinproper00cine#page/n269/mode/2up
Made available by the Media History Digital Library.  I thank them very much for all of their hard work.

4 comments:

  1. nice stuff, 'e'!!! I am going to sort out all of these one day... I REALLY want to have a 'one-stop shop' for GingerTunes, GingerRadioShows, etc... all this stuff is public domain, no? wait, don't answer that... :-)
    ...seems like by the time I get to 'blogging', it's 11 PM...oof... this '9 to 5' deal is getting old, I tell ya! ...have you figured out how we can all make a living being full-time Gingerologists yet? :-)

    At any rate, as usual...

    KIG, 'e'!

    Hu
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    1. I'm glad you liked it. I finished it rather late at night and when I read it now, it sounds a little punchy or maybe that was me. Oh well.
      You had a player on Gingerology that had a ton of great Ginger songs but it is gone now. Was that a feature that stopped working?
      A 'one-stop shop' for all things Ginger Rogers would be very awesome! (can you say very awesome?) Would you link it to Gingerology? I'd be there everyday :)
      If I come up with a way to make a living as a Gingerologist, I'll let you know and please do the same if the idea comes your way. The work a day world has got the better of me in far too many ways.

      I think all the 5th grade math problems and spelling words are keeping you pretty busy ;) but it will be worth it when your daughter goes to U of 'Bama!

      I'll be thinking of Ginger and you and all the Gingerologists out there tomorrow, the 25th, and I'll be thinking "gone but not forgotten".

      KIG, Hu!

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  2. Awesome finds. This blog would be a "library" for Gingerologists. All the archives and everything lol.

    Yeah the music player was a feature that stopped. I had one too, and it eventually went out sadly.

    Yes tomorrow is going to be a sad day. But again, we must remember her for the amazing things she did(which was a lot!).

    KIG!!! :)

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    1. I'd love it if this blog were as useful as a library. It is at least a digital card catalog and that's not bad.

      Today has been a sad day but I've been trying to take your advice and remember the amazing things Ginger did. I admire her for never giving up.

      KIG!

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