The greatest gap has to be between Unchained Melody, a hit several times over, and Unchained, an obscure 1955 movie starring Crazylegs Hirsch.
One of their choices actually has TWO songs more famous than the movie. Meet Me in St. Louis is not only the source of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” but “The Trolley Song” (the Oscar nominee) as well.
They missed a bunch of these from the early days of film:
| The Famous Song | The Forgotten Movie |
| “The Way You Look Tonight” | Swing Time |
| “Cheek to Cheek” | Top Hat |
| “How About You?” | Babes on Broadway |
| “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” | Born to Dance |
| “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” | Shall We Dance |
| “Thanks for the Memory” | The Big Broadcast of 1938 |
| “One For My Baby (and one more for the road)” | The Sky’s the Limit |
| “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” | Sun Valley Serenade |
| “Baby It’s Cold Outside” | Neptune’s Daughter |
| “Mona Lisa” | Captain Carey, USA |
| “That’s Amore” | The Caddy |
| “High Hopes” | Hole in the Head |
| “Call Me Irresponsible” | Papa’s Delicate Condition |
| “Last Dance” | Thank God It’s Friday |
| “On the Road Again” | Honeysuckle Rose |
| “I Just Called to Say I Love You” | The Woman in Red |
If you’re a real movie buff, you’ve heard of some of those films, but these names didn’t even sound familiar to me: Sun Valley Serenade; Neptune’s Daughter; and Captain Carey, USA
I think some of those aren’t right. Mannequin, Against All Odds, and Batman Forever are all attached to those songs, even to this day. As well as Vision Quest. Although I guess if these songs are popular with the younger crowd they might not know the movies.
I would’ve included “That’s what friends are for”, although the cover version is more well known than the version in Night Shift. There was also “Through the Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles, “You Light Up My Life”, “The Rose”, and a bunch of James Bond movies. And “Separate Ways” from White Nights. But maybe those songs aren’t that well known any more.
And then there’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” Although maybe people still remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Or maybe that song isn’t popular anymore either.
Yeah, now that I think about it, maybe the list really is pretty on spot. Because out of all of the songs the article mentions, I still hear most of them on the radio. So maybe the younger generations ARE familiar with them but not the movie… well, that’s if they even listen to the radio.
It’s difficult to fit all the pegs in the right holes – familiar song, forgotten movie.
Take for example, “The Shadow of Your Smile.” It’s a great song, and Tony Bennett nailed it, but does anyone under 40 know of it? It came from The Sandpiper. In my generation that was a well-known movie starring the ultimate power couple, Taylor and Burton. But is anyone under 40 aware of it?
See what I mean?
Ultimately, I just tried to take some good guesses. I feel pretty confident that most people have heard “Baby It’s Cold Outside” because they resuscitate it every year, and I feel confident that almost nobody is aware of Neptune’s Daughter, so that pair seems like a no-brainer, as do a small number of others like “Last Dance” and Thank God It’s Friday. But some pairs on the list are just SWAG (standard wild-ass guesses).
Your list is so much better than theirs.
I think their list is fine. I just felt they could have added many more by looking back a bit.
Swing Time and Shall We Dance are NOT forgettable if you’re a fan of Fred and Ginger. I’m a fan of Fred and Ginger.
I’m also a big fan of the musicals of the 1930s and 40s when the songs were written by Kern, Gershwin, Berlin, Van Heusen, Porter, Arlen, etc. (And many were danced to by Astaire or Astaire/Rodgers)
But I think my point is that the average person if asked “have you ever heard of this song” and “have you ever heard of this movie?” would give the song a much higher recall score.
When there’s an eel in the lake that’s as long as a snake that’s a moray.
I agree that Scoop’s list is so much better. The weakness of certain choies on the original list is no more stark than in their TOP pick. Chariots of Fire was a great film that stands up to current viewing, but the song, while good, comes off as having a dated synthesized sound by today’s standards. In any event, the movie and the song were BOTH big back in the day, and are still reasonably well known now.
Phoebe Cates song in Paradise outshined the movie. OK, not really, but apparently the ultimate Blu-ray of Paradise has been released.
Getting older it’s been weird to see movie spoilers go from being public knowledge back to being spoilers for the next generation who haven’t been exposed to the movie or the spoiler “everyone knows”. Some of these songs are similar, like do most young people know the song or the movie Against All Odds?
I’ve listened to the Judgement Night soundtrack many, many times over the years.
Still haven’t seen the movie.
Though I object to Fred and Ginger movies being classified as “forgettable,” while we’re doing so, we should note that “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” debuted in “Roberta” long before The Platters perfected it.
I changed “forgettable,” which implies judgement, to “forgotten,” which is just a recognition of reality.
You can then posit (and I would agree) “undeservedly forgotten.”
Here’s one that I think really fits the concept: White Christmas. I think most people would guess it’s from the movie of the same name, but it originated in the delightful Holiday Inn.
Count me among those who remember most of these films, especially the Fred & Ginger movies, which I have in a DVD box set. “Sun Valley Serenade” was notable for the appearance of Glenn Miller’s Orchestra, which in the era of 78s made their best-sounding recordings ever for it, thanks to recording in the movie studio for the film’s soundtrack.
Trivia: “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” was awarded the first-ever gold record. Also, the film’s star, Sonya Henie, was referred to by my late father as “Sawyer Heinie.”