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Wake Up and Live is a 1937 Fox musical film directed by Sidney Lanfield and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, starring Jack Haley and Alice Faye plus Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie as themselves.
The film tells the story of a man attempting to overcome his fear of singing into microphones in a manner loosely based upon the principles of the 1936 best-selling self-help book Wake Up and Live! by Dorothea Brande. It also traded on the comedic rivalry Winchell and Bernie had played up throughout the 1930s in newspaper columns and on their radio shows, though they were in fact good friends.
Later in 1937, Wake Up and Live was followed by Love and Hisses - not a direct sequel as such, but another film featuring Winchell and Bernie playing themselves.
In 1944, Wake Up and Live was adapted for radio as an episode of Lux Radio Theatre. The Lux production starred Frank Sinatra, Bob Crosby, Marilyn Maxwell and James Dunn.
Plot
Eddie Kane (Jack Haley) comes to town to make it as a singer in a vaudeville duet act with Jean Roberts (Grace Bradley). Unfortunately, he fails an audition at a radio station because he turns out to suffer from "mic fright." Jean goes off to perform on her own, and Eddie obtains work as an usher at the same radio station instead. While at work, Eddie overhears a motivational radio show called Wake Up and Live hosted by Alice Huntley (Alice Faye). He decides to befriend the host and apply the Wake Up and Live techniques to conquer his fear of microphones.
One day, while alone in a studio, Eddie sings into what he thinks is a dead mic as a means of practice and inadvertently goes out live over the air. Audiences across America are charmed by his voice yet nobody knows who he is. A media sensation follows as all attempt to identify the "Phantom Troubadour." Rival radio announcers Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie (playing themselves) get involved, each attempting to outdo each other by being the first to unmask the "Phantom." Eddie himself follows along with interest, not realising that it is him.
Meanwhile, Alice realises what is going on and begins to manipulate the situation for profit. She tells the radio station she knows who he is and will set up broadcasts of his voice from her apartment for money, but will not disclose his identity; she also does not tell Eddie the truth of the situation, and manufactures several convoluted situations in which he is made to sing into a microphone he thinks is off but is in fact live to air. An increasingly complex farce follows before the truth finally comes to light, and Alice and Eddie end up falling in love along the way.
Cast
Walter Winchell - as Himself
Ben Bernie - as Himself
Alice Faye - Alice Huntley
Patsy Kelly - Patsy Kane
Ned Sparks - Steve Cluskey
Grace Bradley - Jean Roberts
Jack Haley - Eddie Kane
Walter Catlett - Gus Avery
Joan Davis - Spanish Dancer
Paul Hurst - McCabe
Etienne Girardot - Waldo Peebles
Condos Brothers
Brewster Twins
Elyse Knox - Nurse
Soundtrack
Music by Harry Revel, lyrics by Mack Gordon
"There's a Lull in My Life", which has become a jazz standard, was written for Alice Faye by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. It was released as a single and became her only major hit record. The film also features the songs:
"Never in a Million Years"
"Wake Up and Live"
"I'm Bubbling Over"
"Oh, But I'm Happy"
"Bernie's Love Song"
"I Love You Much Too Much, Muchacha"
"Red Seal Malt"
"It's Swell of You"
Songs that were supposed to feature Haley were dubbed by Buddy Clark.
References
External links
Wake Up and Live at IMDb
film clip on YouTube- Source: Wake Up and Live!
Wake Up and Live! is an album by the American musician Floyd Dixon, released in 1996. He was backed by the Full House band. Dixon supported the album with a North American tour. In recognition of Wake Up and Live!, Living Blues bestowed on Dixon its "Most Outstanding Blues Musician (Keyboards)" award. The album also won the W. C. Handy Award for "Comeback Blues Album".
Production
The album was produced by Dixon's guitarist, Port Barlow, who used vintage recording equipment to achieve a 1950s sound. Dixon wrote or cowrote all of the album's songs. "Hey, Bartender" is a version of Dixon's first hit, from 1954. "My Song Is Don't Worry" is adapted from a poem Dixon used as his answering machine message. The album liner notes are by Chip Deffaa.
Critical reception
The Chicago Tribune noted that, "unlike some of the bland revivalists now exploiting [jump blues], Dixon helped to develop the idiom, and his supple piano style and infectious vocals render this set irresistible." The Vancouver Sun stated that Dixon "plays the jazz-blues of the 1950s, with his piano and vocals leading the way, acoustic bass providing the bottom and, on most tracks, a horn section kicking in for the ride." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel listed Wake Up and Live! among the 10 best blues albums of 1996, writing that "his slow songs, such as 'My Song Is Don't Worry', have a believable desperation." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette determined that the album "shows how alive and vital the music remains." The Ithaca Journal considered it the sixth best album of 1996.
AllMusic wrote that Dixon's "voice had not aged much, his enthusiasm is very much intact and his piano playing (whether on slow blues, medium-tempo novelties or the closing instrumental blues 'Gettin' Ready') is quite jazz-oriented."
Track listing
References
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