Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! Today’s post is in celebration of what would be the 114th birthday of composer Arthur Schwartz, who was born on November 25, 1900. One of the most prolific Broadway songsters of the ’30s (whose career spanned four decades) with several enormous hits, Schwartz’s reputation has not stood the test of time as well as some of his contemporaries — Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers, Arlen, Kern —  and it’s a shame because most of his work is really quite smart and, most importantly, memorable. I am happy to say that Musical Theatre Mondays on this site have done a pretty marvelous job of highlighting many of the shows that Schwartz composed. In honor of his birthday, I want to share a few lesser known songs from his ’30s scores — some of which have been shared before, and some of which haven’t. For complete neophytes to Schwartz’s work, I’d recommend checking out the 1953 film That’s Entertainment!, a jukebox musical film that contains songs from many of the shows featured in today’s post!

01) “Right At The Start Of It” from Three’s A Crowd (1930) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced by Fred Allen, Clifton Webb, and Libby Holman. Performed below by Ward Donovan and Company. Read the Musical Theatre Monday post here.

02) “New Sun In The Sky” from The Band Wagon (1931) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced and performed below by Fred Astaire. Read the Musical Theatre Monday post here.

03) “A Rainy Day” from Flying Colors (1932) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced and performed below by Clifton Webb. (Not yet covered on Musical Theatre Monday — stay tuned.)

04) “When You Love Only One” from Revenge With Music (1934) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced by Libby Holman. Performed below by Karen Morrow. Read the Musical Theatre Monday post here.

05) “Got A Bran’ New Suit” from At Home Abroad (1935) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced and performed (live) below by Ethel Waters and Eleanor Powell. Read the Musical Theatre Monday post here.

06) “An Old Flame Never Dies” from Virginia (1937) [L: Laurence Stallings & Albert Stillman]

Introduced by Anne Booth. Performed below by Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra; vocal by Jack Leonard. (Not yet covered on Musical Theatre Monday — stay tuned.)

07) “You Have Everything” from Between The Devil (1937) [L: Howard Dietz]

Introduced by Charles Walters and Vilma Ebsen. Performed below by Neal Kenyon and Nancy Dussault. (Not yet covered on Musical Theatre Monday — stay tuned.)

08) “Terribly Attractive” from Stars In Your Eyes (1939) [L: Dorothy Fields] 

Introduced by Jimmy Durante and Mildred Natwick. Performed below by Richard Smart. Read the Musical Theatre Monday post here.

Come back next Wednesday for another Wildcard post! And tune in tomorrow for more Xena!