Bell Telephone Hour Tribute to Harold Arlen

I have to confess, I don't know much about the music or career of Harold Arlen. Yes, his most famous song is "Some Where Over the Rainbow." But what else did he do? Well, this Bell Telephone Hour Tribute gives only a sense of his musical contributions. The problem with the format may be that producers try to accomplish too much in a very limited amount of time.

Dinah Shore presents nearly half the songs in this presentation, which offers 37 of Arlen's songs. That allows for about a minute and a half per song--not enough to really give them their due. Ms. Shore is a very likeable performer, as are her castmates--Gordon MacRae, Gretchen Wyler, and Leslie Uggams. I was taken aback by the appearance of Mr. MacRae, who appeared to have aged significantly from his Carousel/Okalhoma days a decade earlier. He sings well enough, but perhaps not as robustly as I remember from his heyday.

Included is a performance of "Stormy Weather", but it's not sung--it's performed by Duke Ellington and his band. Given the strength of this song in a catalogue that is not all that familiar to people, why would they not have Leslie Uggams (who seems to channel Lena Horne) sing this song? Ms. Uggams gives a lovely rendition of "Sleepin' Bee" from the Arlen/Truman Capote musical House of Flowers; that song was introduced in the show by Diahann Carroll in her Broadway debut.

I also have some qualms about there being NO duets in this performance.

Bell Telephone Hour Tribute to Harold Arlen
Broadcast in December 1965
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Ted Koehler, Truman Capote, Yip Harburg and others
Cast: Dinah Shore, Leslie Uggams, Gretchen Wyler, Gordon MacRae, Duke Ellington