Word: berlin
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...Berlin's largest contribution to the war effort was a revue called "This Is the Army." The War Department had asked him to consider reviving "Yip Yip Yaphank," but the project soon became grander, and kept growing as the show moved from Broadway to Washington (where President Roosevelt attended a special matinee) to legit theaters and military bases around the world. Berlin eventually wrote nearly three dozen songs for various permutations of the 300-man show, refining some as the war mood changed ("Dressed Up to Kill" was softened to "Dressed Up to Win"). He not only supervised the production...
...film "This Is the Army" - which uniquely features a future U.S. Senator (George Murphy, as a song-and-dance man and Berlin surrogate) playing the father of a future U.S. President (Ronald Reagan) - gave "God Bless America" an impressive mounting. Smith sings the number over a poignant montage of families anxious over the coming war. Murphy hears the song on the radio and says, "You know, I threw that song out of 'Yip Yip Yaphank' 22 years ago. Sounds better...
...Berlin could twist his lyrics to make fun of himself and others. During the Vietnam War, the Republican composer wrote a new version of his anthem to tweak his left-wing friend, the lyricist E.Y. Harburg: "God bless America,/Land I enjoy,/ No discussions with Russians/ Till they stop sending arms to Hanoi." He also knew that, at the right moment, patriotism could sell songs...
...Next time: a Berlin biography...
That is where the mad dreamers are vulnerable: the dream can be defeated by reality. What was left of Nazi ideology with Hitler buried in the rubble of Berlin? What was left of Bonapartism with Napoleon rotting in St. Helena? What was left of Fascism, an idea that swept Europe and entranced a generation, with Mussolini's body hanging upside down, strung up by partisans...