Alexander’s Ragtime Band is a movie based on a song that doesn’t really tie into the plot of the film in any meaningful way. The song was an Irving Berlin staple released in 1911, which many misattribute to being his first global hit. The song is more of a march than a ragtime tune and was a follow-up to his earlier composition, Alexander and His Clarinet. While Berlin was accused of plagiarism with some of the melodies, it was never proven in court, though the allegations followed him for decades.
In the late 1930s, Irving Berlin was approached by 20th Century Fox to adapt the song into a screenplay that would take on the same title. He wrote a treatment for the picture along with Richard Sherman. This became a movie in the summer of 1938 that was a smash hit with the audiences and critics of the time. Unfortunately, just like the song that inspired it, the movie was hit with a plagiarism lawsuit, one that resulted in a guilty verdict in 1944. This verdict was then overturned two years later for lack of evidence to support that Berlin, Sherman, or any other entity involved in the making of the film had ever read the script they had allegedly copied from. As it stands, we will probably never know for sure what the truth is.
Looking at the film now, after nearly ninety years, is like going back into time to an era where the world is the same but the music is different. We are decades beyond the heyday of ragtime music and its quasi-successor swing-time. The music may be old-fashioned, but the plot isn’t. That’s not to say it felt contemporary, just that it is what we still see in a lot of generic soap operas and poorly written melodramas. It opens with Alexander (Tyrone Power), a young man intent on making a go at a ragtime band despite the objections of his parents. When he secures an audition, performing before a small audience at a restaurant, he discovers the band has left their sheet music on the bus and has nothing to play. The bartender hands them some sheet music, a single song left on the counter by one of the women dining that evening, and they elect to play that out of desperation.
As they begin to play, the woman, Stella Kirby (Alice Faye), recognizing her song, hops up on stage and sings along with the band. Once they finish, she accuses them of stealing the music. The owner of the establishment, liking what he heard, offers them a full-time gig, but only if they all are involved, Stella included. Reluctantly, they all agree, and their careers begin to climb. As time passes, Alexander and Stella fall in love, but careers interfere, and they go their separate ways, including most of the band being called into the military during the Great War. Upon their release, Alexander tracks Stella down only to find out she has married Charlie Dwyer (Don Ameche), one of his former band members. Disappointed, he leaves her behind, eventually reforming his band with Jerry Allen (Ethel Merman) in Stella’s old role.
But Stella hasn’t gotten over her love for Alexander and Charlie, seeing this, grants her a divorce so that she can go back to him. Years pass, and Stella has given up her career on the stage. Meanwhile, Charlie, who has rejoined Alexander’s band, finds a way to remind Alexander that he still is in love with Stella. This leads to a big performance by the band that is being broadcast on the radio and concludes with the song Alexander’s Ragtime Band, the song that started it all. Stella, who is outside the venue, hears it and is moved to join the band on stage and perform it with her old band, reunited at last with her true love.
This film starts out strong when the central drama is Alexander trying to make a go at being a band leader. The conflict between him and Stella adds excitement and drama to the proceedings thanks to the solid chemistry between Powers and Faye. Once Stella leaves the band, though, and the story shifts focus to their pining for each other, it becomes a much less interesting film. This is the kind of romantic drama that just doesn’t work for me, and it tries my patience for far too long. The only thing saving the second half of the film is some truly wonderful musical numbers by vocal powerhouse Ethel Merman. For those out there who only know Ethel from her brassy, bitter characters later in life, you need to see what she could do in musicals. She is truly stunning to hear, bringing a completely different sound to Alexander’s Ragtime Band.
This isn’t a dismissal of Alice Faye’s vocal performance. Alice is a great singer in her own right and what few times we get to hear her sing we can see why the audiences went crazy over her. She has a stage presence that is electrifying and there is no doubt Alexander’s band would not have gotten a foothold in show business without her.
While the musical numbers really are the highlight of this film, especially the latter half, the story lets everything down. Don Ameche is wonderful in a supporting role and brings a lot of life into his scenes, but when he graciously steps aside and gives up his wife for her to run back to Alexander, it’s played so nonchalantly that it strains credulity. We never see him struggle with his own feelings of love for her. It makes sense that he might put on a brave face in front of her if he was willing to make this sacrifice, but we never see a private moment with him where he struggles with this decision. This makes him more of a plot convenience than a real character, which is double unfortunate because he is one of the real highlights of this film.
The most I can recommend of this film are the musical numbers, most of which are Irving Berlin staples from the era. They’re performed well, and the choreography is at times stunning. But the story is pretty threadbare, and what we do get is hammy and cliché. It makes for an overall disappointing experience. Still, if you like ragtime and swing music from the twenties and thirties, this film will deliver that in spades. This alone helps overcome the worst of the drama and makes it a recommendable feature; a weak recommendation but still a recommendation.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Production: Darryl F. Zanuck and Harry Joe Brown
Best Writing, Original Story: Irving Berlin
Best Music, Song: “Now It Can Be Told” Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Best Art Direction: Bernard Herzbrun and Boris Lehmann
Best Film Editing: Barbara McLean
Best Music, Scoring: Alfred Newman (won)
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Release Date: August 5, 1938
Running Time: 106 minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, Jean Hersholt, Helen Westley, John Carradine, Paul Hurst, Wally Vernon, Ruth Terry, Douglas Fowley, Chick Chandler, and Eddie Collins
Directed By: Henry King
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