Category Archives: Video

Bloomer Girl

Bloomer Girl. On May 28, 1956, NBC-TV broadcast a color presentation of the hit 1944 Broadway musical (lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Harold Arlen, book by Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy, based on a play  by Dan and Lilith James). The broadcast, with a cast including Barbara Cook, Keith Andes and Paul Ford, was … Continue Reading ››

Gay Purr-ee

Gay Purr-ee (1962). Feature-length musical cartoon about a French country cat who goes to Paris in the Gay 1890's, with the voices of Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermione Gingold and others. The songs by Yip and Harold Arlen include "Paris Is a Lonely Town," "Mewsette" and "The Money Cat." Warner Bros. 24497.

Finian’s Rainbow

Finian's Rainbow (1968). Starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Includes all the songs from the original 1947 stage musical except "Necessity," the cutting of which is discussed by Coppola in one of the extra features.

The Great Man’s Whiskers

The Great Man's Whiskers (1973) (aka The Grate Mans Wiskurs) Yip's last movie project, filmed in 1969 but not shown until 1973. Based on a one-act play by formerly blacklisted writer Adrian Scott, it is based on the true story of a little girl who wrote to President Lincoln urging him to grow a beard. Yip … Continue Reading ››

Paper Moon

Paper Moon (1973). Based on Addie Pray, a best-selling novel, this movie's title is taken from the well-known Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen song "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1932). In an extra feature ("The Next Picture Show") on the Paramout DVD, director Peter Bogdanovich explains how and why he changed the title of his project, with … Continue Reading ››

A Quip with Yip and Friends

A Quip with Yip and Friends (1976; video released in 1990). An episode of PBS's Anyone for Tennyson? ("Ogden and Dorothy, Phyllis and Yip") in which Jack Lemmon, Cynthia Herman and Jill Tanner recite five of Yip's verses from Rhymes for the Irreverent, concluding with Lemmon's spoken rendition of the lyric to "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music

All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music (1976), a landmark TV series from the late 1970’s, features several clips of Yip Harburg (parts 7 and 12) who, along with several of his peers from the mid-20th century era of Broadway-Hollywood-Tin Pan Alley songwriting, was interviewed especially for this project.

Look to the Rainbow

Look to the Rainbow (1997). On April 6, 1997, Pete Seeger and friends launched the opening of the Yip Harburg Auditorium at P.S. 19 in New York City’s Lower East Side, near where Yip grew up. Other participants in the ceremony were State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and District 1 Superintendent Dori Collazo-Baker. … Continue Reading ››

Yip and Gersh 1998

Yip and Gersh (1998). On June 14, 1998 the Yip Harburg Foundation presented a concert at the annual Lower East Side Festival, an outdoor event celebrating the traditions of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where Yip grew up. The concert focused on Yip's relationship with his close friend Ira Gershwin, who also lived in … Continue Reading ››