Lullaby of Broadway (1945) User Reviews

This Soundie of Lullaby of Broadway as performed by the Mel-Tones was another one I enjoyed on YouTube

[tavm · 7/10 · 18 July 2011]

Just watched this Soundie on YouTube. This classic song (the second movie tune to win the Oscar as it initially appeared in Goldiggers of 1935) is performed by the Mel-Tones with Mel Torme singing lead. Well, that may be his voice you hear but, according to the comments on YT, it's Bernie Parke lip-syncing to him since Torme had a previous engagement. Some comments also mention one of the female members as being Ginny O'Connor who later married Henry Mancini and another being Les Baxter who I'm guessing is the same one that composed many scores for American International pictures. Anyway, this was another "music video" from the '40s that originally played on Panorams (film jukeboxes) in restaurants, bars, and train or bus stations. Worth a look if you're interested in this sort of thing.

Mel Torme

[boblipton · 6/10 · 8 July 2023]

Mel Torme and the Mel-Tones sing the title song in this soundie.

Soundies were short films, usually about three minutes. They were meant to be played on a machine called the Mills Panoram, a musical jukebox of the era. For a dime, you got one short film from a selection of ten that was changed weekly. From 1940 through 1946, Mills and other companies produced more than two thousand of these movies.

Torme's singing career continued for decades, with a fine voice and great skill in a large number of jazz genres. At the time this soundie was made, he was a big band singer branching out into movies (with an appearance in the musical GOOD NEWS), but better known for his close-harmony swing group.