MovieChat Forums > Hello, Dolly! (1969) Discussion > 'Just Leave Everything to Me'

'Just Leave Everything to Me'

posted 16 years ago by Mickorola
7 replies | jump to latest

That was such a fun opener for the movie. I was disappointed when I found out it was not included in the Broadway version, although no so much so because I was fairly fond of the play's opening number, "I Put My Hand in Here." Well, I went about to find out why this song was movie-only. At first I assumed it was written specifically for the film -- MORE specifically, for Barbra Streisand. Then I read that it WAS written for the Broadway show, but Carol Channing couldn't sing it well enough, so it was dropped and replaced with the new opener that I mentioned.

Now, if what I read was true, then why didn't producers or directors leave it in to be sung by succeeding Dollys? Actresses like Pearl Baily, Mary Martin and Ethel Merman were certainly competent enough singers, and would have been capable of performing the song. So, why wasn't the song ever included on Broadway?

Also, what about the song, Love is Only Love, which, in the movie, Dolly performed in a hotel room just before the title number? Was that written for the movie?

"What did we do to deserve this? Were we those guys who killed Jesus in a past life?"

[–] murph24 16 years ago

At first I assumed it was written specifically for the film -- MORE specifically, for Barbra Streisand. Then I read that it WAS written for the Broadway show, but Carol Channing couldn't sing it well enough, so it was dropped and replaced with the new opener that I mentioned.

This is news to me, because Jerry Herman has given interviews in which he's stated that "Just Leave Everything To Me" was indeed written for the film version of HELLO, DOLLY! - and specifically for Barbra Streisand. In fact, producer Ernest Lehman had engaged Herman to write two new songs for the movie, and he wasn't entirely pleased when he learned that one of the songs - "Love Is Only Love" - was actually a discarded number from MAME. Herman's interview has been reprinted here -

http://www.barbra-archives.com/films/hello_dolly_streisand.html

(In the interview, Herman talks about how Gene Kelly had misplaced "Just Leave Everything To Me" in the film, resulting in "a solid half hour of talk" after the number ended. But in reality "Just Leave Everything To Me," is followed by the overture/opening credits, and six minutes later those are followed by Walter Matthau's "It Takes A Woman," which, in turn, is followed a few minutes later by Streisand's reprise of "It Takes A Woman." Seven minutes after that, "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" begins - and that comprises the film's first half hour.)

[–] Mickorola 16 years ago

Well, thank you! My source information was not reliable, but the guy who shared his supposed knowledge with such conviction that I had little reason to doubt him. Thanks again!

"What did we do to deserve this? Were we those guys who killed Jesus in a past life?"

[–] mikwalen 16 years ago

I'd like to share this - I recently directed HELLO DOLLY! at my church. Since I love "Just Leave" so much, I actually contacted Jerry Herman's company, and he was gracious enough to grant me the rights to perform it INSTEAD of "Put My Hand In". He also let me use "Love is Only Love". They sent me the sheet music for both, although since there was no full orchestration available (20-Century Fox would have had to provide that), my musical director fashioned an orchestration for them both.

I guess I love the film so much, I wanted my production to resemble it!

"Cut the ballet. It stinks anyway"

[–] Mickorola 16 years ago

That's nice. It's impressive that you liked the song so much that you went to the lengths you did to perform it in your church's production. Such a fun song. It's so much more up-beat than the original opener (which, as I've stated, I DO like).

Something I have never noticed before, and I'm sure you have, since you did the show: there are a number of songs which require VERY high vocal ranges to sing them well. My voice teacher and I used a "Hello, Dolly!" songbook today, and he kept having to change songs because the notes were entirely too high. Now, don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic singer . . . but he's a LOW singer. Though he can sing higher notes well, those notes were just too high for him to sing. I myself am a very HIGH singer, and I don't usually have trouble with high notes, but I was becoming breathless, and my throat tired, just trying to sing "Put on Your Sunday Clothes". (My damned throat also chose today to remain as tight as a pastor's concience, anyhoo).

"What did we do to deserve this? Were we those guys who killed Jesus in a past life?"

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Harold_Robbins 16 years ago

Only within the past year or so did I buy the 1964 Original Broadway Cast Album with Channing and Co. and listen to the whole thing - (I'd played the Pearl Bailey version to death in the late '60s/early '70s) - I was astonished at how poorly-sung the score was - back then Cast Albums were traditionally recorded on the first or second Sunday after a show opened, so of course a certain amount of fatigue has to be considered; also, according to an interview with Channing on the CD, most of the cast had colds - although one expects to make allowances for Channing's husky tones, the Yonkers accent she affected was appalling, and sometimes her singing was just plain flat or off-key. Eileen Brennan was perfect, though.

The Collector's Edition of the 1964 recording also includes the Bailey version of the title song, Mary Martin singing "I Put My Hand In" and "So Long, Dearie" as well as Ethel Merman singing the two ballads Herman wrote for her when he thought she was going to appear in the original production, "Love, Look in My Window" and "World, Take Me Back" - she does them superbly, accompanied only by a piano (it was recorded by a small label and sold in the theater lobby during her run in the show), and it's a pity she never recorded them with a full orchestra or performed them in her many post-DOLLY concerts.

"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

[–] murph24 15 years ago

Only within the past year or so did I buy the 1964 Original Broadway Cast Album with Channing and Co. and listen to the whole thing - (I'd played the Pearl Bailey version to death in the late '60s/early '70s) - I was astonished at how poorly-sung the score was

When it came to awards in 1964-1965, Hello, Dolly! took just about every prize it was nominated for. One of the glaring exceptions was the Grammy for Best Original Cast Recording. Voters preferred Funny Girl and gave it the Grammy - so it appears you weren't the only one who found the Hello, Dolly! OCR hard to listen to.