Sydney Chaplin - I'm just taking my time

A lovely number from the musical "Subways Are For Sleeping." The musical was inspired by an article about subway homelessness in the March 1956 issue of Harper's and a subsequent 1957 book based on it, both by Edmund G. Love, who slept on subway trains throughout the 1950s and encountered many unique individuals. With the profits from his book, Love then embarked on a bizarre hobby: over the course of several years, he ate dinner at every restaurant listed in the Manhattan yellow pages directory, visiting them in alphabetical order.

Music by Jule Styne.
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

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[miamidad]

I actually saw the original Broadway production. Despite some nifty Stein tunes, it was pretty awful - and a flop. Chaplin always had to strain to hit notes (you can tell here) and his voice is just unpleasant. Not a fan of his singing, though his acting was OK.

[Loejyrrab]

@lunashot Thanks Luna, I'll look for that film. Sounds good. Peace!

[lunashot]

@Loejyrrab Did you ever watch Limelight (1952), which was Charlie Chaplin's last American movie? At any rate, Sydney Chaplin plays a composer/pianist in that movie. You should check it out if you haven't already done so.

[Loejyrrab]

@lunashot I'll certainly take your word for it and revel in the fact that this cute little musical is still remembered, and particularly Syd's excellent singing and acting. Thanks for the info!

[lunashot]

@Loejyrrab Yes, while it's true that Charlie had a half-brother named Sydney, he also named one of his sons Sydney and this is his son Sydney singing in this clip. You can look it up in Wikipedia or some other website.

[Loejyrrab]

@lunashot Sydney Chaplin was Charlie's brother, not son. But close enough. I loved this musical, especially the title song.

[lunashot]

Sydney Chaplin, the singer of this song, was the son of the legendary comedian, Charlie Chaplin.

[Harlan346]

Wow! YouTube has this! Awesome musical. I was in New York when it was playing. And I was so "busy" that my girl friend and I didn't see it. So I urge you all, if you love this song, get the album. We found one on the web for cheap. It's based on one of my favorite books of all time by the same name. The author was an ad exec who got fired and lived among the homeless. I'm writing my own story as well on this topic, from personal experience.

[bronxboy47]

Love the FX