More soundies: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/search/label/soundie
"Once in a While" is a popular song, written by Michael Edwards with lyrics by Bud Green. The song was published in 1937.
The song is a much-recorded standard. Tommy Dorsey's recording in 1937 went to number one in the United States. One of the best-known recordings was made by Patti Page in 1952.{MERCURY 5867} The song was revived in doo-wop style by the Chimes in 1960, and their version peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1961.
Al Bishop & The Cold Fingers recorded the song in Oslo on January 16, 1967. It was released on the single HMV 45-AL 6143.
UK singer Elkie Brooks released a single of the song in 1984 in support of her hit album Screen Gems.
Joe Bushkin included the song on his 1950s album After Hours with Joe Bushkin
In 1968, Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song on her "30 by Ella" album.
Educational Pictures (or Educational Film Exchanges, Inc.) was a film distribution company founded in 1915 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882--1962). Educational is probably best known today for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton.
Hammons originally established the company to make instructional films for schools, but when he found that making comedies for theaters was more lucrative, he repurposed the company. Educational did indeed issue many educational, travelogue, and novelty shorts to theaters, but its main enterprise was comedy. Educational's heyday was the 1920s, when the popular silent comedies of Al St. John, Lupino Lane, Lige Conley, Lloyd Hamilton, and Monty Collins complemented many a moviehouse bill as "the spice of the program". Educational also released silent cartoons including the Felix the Cat series. In 1930, cartoonist Paul Terry signed with Educational to distribute his cartoons.
Educational made a smooth transition to sound movies by handling the early talking comedies of comedy pioneer Mack Sennett. Comedians Monty Collins, Vernon Dent, Harry Gribbon, and Edward Everett Horton all starred in the studio's early talkies. Educational's most prolific comedian in the 1930s was undoubtedly the Sennett star Andy Clyde, who made 54 comedies. Sennett also introduced singing star Bing Crosby to movie audiences. But Sennett soon became plagued by financial problems, and he left Educational in 1932.
Educational replaced the Sennett films with star-name comedians. Andy Clyde and Harry Langdon led Educational's release schedule for a few years, then Buster Keaton headlined a series that yielded 16 popular two-reel comedies.
For a time Educational maintained studios on both coasts. New York-based talent from vaudeville and radio starred in Educational's East Coast productions: Joe Cook, Tim and Irene Ryan, Sylvia Froos, Warren Hull, Tom Howard and George Shelton, Stoopnagle and Budd, Bert Lahr, and Willie Howard. Many stars-to-be made their debuts in Educational shorts: Bob Hope, The Ritz Brothers, June Allyson, Imogene Coca, and Danny Kaye in New York; and Shirley Temple, Joan Davis, and Roy Rogers in Hollywood. During its last year of production, Educational showcased the young comedy/dance team of Herman Timberg, Jr. and Pat Rooney, Jr., singers Niela Goodelle and Lee Sullivan, comic Charles Kemper, and comedienne Harriet Hutchins.
Twentieth Century-Fox and its predecessor, Fox Film Corporation, had been distributing Educational product to theaters. In 1937, the studio dropped its line of short comedies, and withdrew its support from Educational. President Hammons tried to keep his company going while trying to enter the feature-film market with the financially-troubled Grand National Pictures. The drain on his finances forced both companies into bankruptcy. The final Educational comedies were released in January 1939, and the film library was sold at auction in 1940. Most were obtained by Astor Pictures that re-released them to cinemas with a compilation of Bing Crosby's shorts released as the feature The Road to Hollywood to exploit Paramount's "Road to..." film series.
Much of Educational's silent film library was lost in a laboratory fire in 1937, but the sound comedies survive today.
The quality of Educational's films varied widely in a large part consequent from the low-budget nature of the studio. Many future stars (such as Bing Crosby) made their first few film appearances at Educational when they were still unknown, and many former stars (such as Harry Langdon) found work with Educational when they couldn't get jobs elsewhere. Because Educational maintained its New York area studio for so long, it also relied on Broadway and vaudeville talent (such as Joe Cook), figures who were famous among theatregoers and New York nightclub patrons but sometimes little known elsewhere.
Loading...
2:41
Once in a While - Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra w/ Male Quartetby ZipporahIrie12,976 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (1)