Paris in the Springtime Porter, Rodgers, Gershwin, more (DVD)

Dan Dailey and Gale Sherwood star in this treasure from the golden age of live television. Paris in the Springtime is an original musical produced by Max Liebman’s indomitable creative team. As late as December 24, 1955, The Cat and the Fiddle (a 1931 Kern-Harbach musical) was announced for the live telecast of January 21, 1956. However, a copyright issue arose suddenly and another musical had to be found — or invented. In short order, Liebman’s script writers William Friedberg and Neil Simon came up with a charming story of an acting troupe seeking artistic acclaim in Paris. Under the musical direction of Irwin Kostal (who would later create orchestrations for such legendary shows as West Side Story and The Music Man), the score was assembled from the songbooks of Gershwin, Rodgers, Porter, Arlen, Styne, and more. The result is a delightfully satisfying and varied show that brilliantly showcases the talents of the sparkling cast of film, theatre, and cabaret greats: Dailey, Sherwood, Helen Gallagher, Jack Whiting, Carleton Carpenter, and Geneviève. An historical footnote: the Arlen-Harburg classic “Down With Love” is here sung by Jack Whiting, who introduced the song on Broadway in 1937, in the show Hooray for What!

Black & White, approx. 86 minutes (including the original commercials)

Songs:

“Sunshine” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Jule Styne and Leo Robin)
“Mademoiselle de Paris” (Paul Durand, Henri Contet, Eric Maschwitz)
“Did You Ever Get Stung?” from I Married an Angel (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart)
“Back in the Old Routine” (Wilson Stone)
“From Another World” from Higher and Higher (Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart)
“Nobody’s Chasing Me” from Out of This World (Cole Porter)
“Il Est un Coin de France” (Francisco Jean Lopez and Raymond Vincy)
“Paris canaille” (Léo Albert C.A. Ferré)
“Down With Love” from Hooray for What! (Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg)
“Delicado” (Valdir Azevedo and Jack Lawrence)
“I Can’t Be Bothered Now” from the film A Damsel in Distress (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)
“I’ll Never Be the Same” (Gus Kahn, Matt Malneck, Frank Signorelli, Trine Von Stolzenau)
“That’s What Makes Paris, Paree” (Vernon Duke and Sammy Cahn)
“La jardinière du Roi” (attrib. Marie Antoinette)
“Happy Mood” (Irwin Kostal and Max Liebman)