Commentary

Sometimes a passing moment in a movie grows more poignant as years go by. A brief scenario or simple line may be relatively insignificant at the time of a film’s release but gain deeper relevance long after its release. That’s one reason why classic movies are so valuable to watch today. Besides their inherently high artistic value, they are full of meaningful moments, whose lessons are more important now than ever before.

Today’s moment of movie wisdom is from “Seven Sweethearts” (1942). The scene takes place 12 minutes into the 97-minute movie. A young woman (Kathryn Grayson) expresses disgust at hearing a jazzy version of Mozart’s “Cradle Song” and demonstrates how it should be performed with an impromptu vocal performance at the piano. Although the musical charm of the moment is totally wasted on the grumpy newspaperman (Van Heflin) whom she is trying to teach the lesson, it’s a meaningful message, nonetheless.

In the film, Henry Taggart (Heflin) is a New York newspaperman who has been assigned to cover Tulip Time in Little Delft, Michigan. He is less than thrilled with covering a tulip festival while major news is being made around the world, so he has a bad attitude about the whole assignment. When he finally finds the Dutch settlement, he checks into the local hotel, The House of the Seven Tulips. It’s run by a traditional Dutchman, Mr. Van Master (S. Z. Sakall), and his seven beautiful daughters, who all have male names because their father was hoping for sons.

Two of the daughters quickly distinguish themselves to Henry, the youngest, Billie (Grayson), and the oldest, Reggie, or Regina (Marsha Hunt). Billie is a hard worker with a beautiful singing voice and a sweet, gentle personality. Reggie, on the other hand, is spoiled and privileged as her father’s favorite because she looks just like their late mother. Both sisters take an interest in Henry—Billie for personal reasons and Reggie because she thinks he can help her pursue her dream of becoming an actress. The other five sisters have local beaux, but Mr. Van Master insists that his daughters must marry in order of age.

The Scene

When Henry arrives at the House of the Seven Tulips, he meets the six younger Van Master daughters, since they all work at the inn. One works at the front desk, another is the elevator operator, one delivers the mail, and another is the waiter. Finally, he meets Billie, who helps with various odd jobs around the inn. She comes to clean up his room as he is yelling at the waiter, protesting her nutritional advice. Billie gives him some advice about not losing his temper, slowing him down mainly by catching him off guard with her sudden appearance.

Henry turns on his portable radio, and a jive song with a female singer starts playing. Making a face, Billie turns the radio off, saying “That’s enough of that.” Henry protests, naturally, saying that he likes the music. Billie says, “Well, can’t you hear that that’s perfectly terrible?” Thinking she’s talking about the radio, Henry argues, “It’s a cheap radio. Maybe you’d squawk, too, if you only cost eleven bucks.” “I mean the music,” Billie explains. “That’s Mozart’s Cradle Song, and they’re making a jazz number out of it. If Mozart had wanted it that way, he would have written it that way in the first place. ... Listen to that, all cluttered up with syncopation.” Muttering “boogie woogie” in disdain, she sits down at the piano which is conveniently located in the room and sings a classical rendition of the song, while Henry listens in disbelief.

Its Significance

Billie isn’t the only sister who tries to give Henry some advice, but she’s the first one who has any success. This scene introduces us to Billie, and it helps us get to know Henry better. He seems like a pretty disagreeable smart aleck at first, but he really is just having a bad day and a bad attitude about his current assignment. Billie helps break down his tough exterior, revealing the playful and sentimental fellow he is at heart. The first step is her beautiful rendition of “The Cradle Song.”

Billie’s point about Mozart’s song has little impact on the story, but it is a very important message about musical integrity. It’s a lesson which needs to be remembered today. It has become common practice to put a rock beat to classical music, give ballets bizarre updated settings, and “modernize” grand operas. It seems that little or no thought is given to what the original composers, librettists, and choreographers had in mind for their work. As Billie says, if they had wanted it that way, they would have written it that way in the first place!

Jazz, boogie woogie, and jive music of the mid-20th century may seem classic compared to the pop music of the 21st century. However, they were the pop music of their day. In principle, a jazz arrangement of a classical song is just as much a corruption of the composer’s intentions as a rap rendition. I certainly don’t mind hearing a Benny Goodman arrangement of a piece by Liszt or Bizet, but we need purists like Billie to remind us that such renditions are no substitutes for the original.

Musical Integrity

“Seven Sweethearts” is a delightful MGM musical. It has an interesting cast of characters and a charming story. In addition, it features a charming collection of songs. Kathryn Grayson is the only musical star in the cast, so she does all the solo singing. Nevertheless, all the other sisters, besides Reggie, of course, join her in a charming chorus in several songs. They also all play instruments to form an all-girl six-piece orchestra.

The scene when Henry and Billie meet sets the standard for her singing throughout the film, since the rest of the music is also in a classical style. Besides Mozart’s “Cradle Song,” she sings a famous opera aria, “Je suis Titania,” and the traditional hymn “We Gather Together.” The rest of the songs she and the chorus sing were original songs written for the film by resident MGM composers with a classical sound. The festival’s rousing theme, “Tulip Time,” was written by Burton Lane and Ralph Freed. The other two songs, the playful “Little Tingle Tangle Toes” and the touching waltz “You and the Waltz and I,” were both composed by Walter Jurmann with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

“Seven Sweethearts” is a wonderful movie about the importance of family, tradition, and integrity, from honoring your parents to respecting Mozart.