Music in Wartime Films
Movie-makers seemed much more aware of the fact that the country was at war than popular music-makers. And, increasingly, movie studios controlled their own music publishing houses, so their films almost always featured at least one popular song that could be showcased in an effort to help market the movie.
Movie-makers seemed much more aware of the fact that the country was at war than popular music-makers. And, increasingly, movie studios controlled their own music publishing houses, so their films almost always featured at least one popular song that could be showcased in an effort to help market the movie.
A number of films featured the singing talents of an American sensation, the trio known as the Andrews Sisters. These young women were genuine sisters from Minnesota; Laverne (1911–67) sang the alto part, Maxene (1916–95) took the upper treble part, while Patty (1918–2013) had the lead. Even though they did not read music, they were adept at harmonizing melodies. John Bush Jones believes that their “perky presence and close harmonies were in many ways the central icon of wartime music.”59 Buck Privates was a comedy that intended to help Americans adjust to the reality of the draft that clearly lay ahead. It was the music that boosted Buck Privates the most, however.
One reviewer wrote: The Andrews Sisters make the picture swing. Watching them belt out ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ makes you want to enlist. The musical numbers are crisp and snappy. If the movie was made on a shoestring budget, these production numbers certainly don’t show it.
Ironically, the film’s biggest hit, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (Listening Example 10) was almost cut from the movie because the studio executives didn’t think the Andrews Sisters would be able to sing in the boogie-woogie style. Fortunately, the executives relented, and, as it turned out, the tune ended up with an Oscar nomination for Best Song. [To see the film clip in which the song is sung, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qafnJ6mRbgk.]
Listening Companion - Listening Example 10:
“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” from Buck Privates (1941) Don Raye and Hughie Prince
“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” from Buck Privates (1941) Don Raye and Hughie Prince
Although “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” did not win the Academy Award, it was ranked Number 6 in the 2001 “Songs of the Century” ranking (while “In the Mood” was placed at Number 11).62 Its infectious energy enhances its appeal, and much of that energy derives from the song’s boogie-woogie style. Boogie-woogie originated as a jazz (and blues) piano style designed to be audible in noisy, crowded situations
The singers employ jazz stylings at several places during the song. As William H. Young observes, the song’s “rolling boogie-woogie beat reflected a jazz style that had become all the rage at the time and challenged jitterbugs everywhere, and its tongue-twisting lyrics provided great fun for listeners. The war becomes secondary to the music in such cheerful songs, and the lyrics carry no hints of suffering or sadness. Instead, they stand first and foremost as good dance tunes.”