A man sits at a piano and plays a brief melody. The camera moves in as he pauses to light a cigarette. He notices the camera and introduces himself, his gravelly voice warm and wistful. As nostalgia takes over, he recalls the time he spent with the legendary trumpeter Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas). “Ordinarily, I don’t talk much about it,” the man remarks. “But I think a lot about it.” This scene perfectly encapsulates the film persona of Hoagy Carmichael, the brilliant songwriter who often played the sage, piano-playing sidekick to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Douglas in Young Man with a Horn (1950).
Before, during, and after his sporadic film career, Hoagy crafted some of the most unforgettable music to come out of the 20th century. His most famous pieces are “Stardust” (Bette Davis’s personal favorite) and “Georgia On My Mind,” but there is also the timeless “Skylark,” the achingly beautiful “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” the immensely catchy “Heart and Soul,” and the unfairly forgotten “Two Sleepy People.” (To hear my favorite versions of these songs, click on their titles.)
Hoagy’s songs weren’t just radio hits; they were popular in Hollywood, too. Films like A Song is Born (1948), The Las Vegas Story (1952), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) displayed some of his finest work. 1951’s Here Comes the Groom, however, was the one that supplied Hoagy and his frequent partner Johnny Mercer with the Oscar for Best Original Song, thanks to Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman’s spirited rendition of “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”
Decades after Hoagy’s heyday, his tunes still permeated Hollywood. In Two Weeks Notice (2002), “The Nearness of You” drifts in the air when Hugh Grant first realizes he is falling for Sandra Bullock. “Stardust” occurs prominently in numerous movies, including Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and Stardust Memories (1980). And who could forget the joyful scene in Big (1988) when Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia play “Heart and Soul” on a giant keyboard? The fact that filmmakers used Hoagy’s songs for many important, and in some cases iconic, moments is a testament to the strength of his artistry.
While Hoagy’s music has been reinterpreted and reused countless times, his work as a character actor hasn’t quite been replicated. Armed with endless cigarettes and relaxed charm, Hoagy was always there to provide comfort to the protagonists and simple musical interludes for the audience. His presence was never obtrusive; instead, he helped color whatever filmic world he was in. For Topper (1937), he sang a boozy duet with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett that illustrated the glamorous couple’s wild partying. In To Have and Have Not (1944), Hoagy could be found through the smoke of a Martinique bar, crooning with Lauren Bacall. Night Song (1948) and Young Man with a Horn saw him be the best friend to complicated Great Men who had to hit rock bottom before they could achieve success.
The best film Hoagy was a part of, though, was The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), William Wyler’s elegant masterpiece about life after WWII. Playing the uncle of Harold Russell’s tortured veteran, Hoagy is still chained to a piano, but he winds up representing the bridge between Russell’s pre- and post-war lives. With the loss of his hands, Russell struggles to be treated as the regular Joe he used to be. When he first returns to his Uncle Butch’s bar, Butch tries not to stare as his nephew holds a glass of beer with his prosthetic hands.
Unlike the rest of Russell’s family, though, Butch easily embraces the difference and even teaches Russell how to play the piano. The scene of their duet is one of Wyler’s best due to its use of Gregg Toland’s sublime deep-focus photography and its ability to expertly synthesize two individually complex storylines (Russell’s and a plot concerning his friends Dana Andrews and Fredric March).
Besides being a calm presence that helped Jane Russell, Doris Day, and more through their suffering, Hoagy gave his films an authenticity that they needed. Who better to portray a wise piano man? He could sing, he knew his way around the keys, and let’s face it, he was movie-star handsome. Perhaps a reflection of his own eccentric nickname (his real name was Hoagland — still peculiar), the monikers for Hoagy’s characters were usually odd and somewhat folksy, such as Cricket, Celestial, Happy, Smoke, and Jingles. With his slight twang and his unpretentious attitude, Hoagy’s Midwestern roots were plain to see.
Of course, one of the reasons why I feel such an affinity for Hoagy is his Indiana connection. Born in Bloomington, he graduated from Indiana University with a law degree and frequently returned to his hometown during his life. His final resting place can be found at Rose Hill Cemetery, where visitors respectfully leave pennies on his headstone. If you’ve ever been to BuffaLouie’s (formerly the Book Nook) by the Sample Gates, you may know that it’s the spot where Hoagy first wrote “Stardust,” the melody coming to him while walking on campus. IU has completely welcomed his legacy, from creating the Hoagy Carmichael Room in Morrison Hall to unveiling a resplendent sculpture of him outside of the IU Cinema in 2008.
The Cinema has continually honored the multi-talented man with its Celebrating Hoagy Carmichael series, a five-year tribute that began in 2013 and continues this month. If you’re like me and are unable to attend the screenings (I’ll be sobbing while I sit at work, trust me), you can still check out an array of Hoagy materials downstairs at the Cinema, which will be exhibited for the rest of the semester.
Indiana has been home to a lot of famous and influential people, and, in my opinion, Hoagy was one of the greatest. He never forgot where he came from, even penning the song “Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind.” Whether watching him on the silver screen, listening to his gorgeous music, or saying “hi” to his sculpture every time I walk into the Cinema, I obviously can’t get Hoagy off my mind. But why should I want to?
This month, the screenings for the Celebrating Hoagy Carmichael series are Night Song on Nov. 18 at 3 pm and Timberjack on Nov. 19 at 3 pm. Past films included To Have and Have Not, Topper, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Las Vegas Story.
The series has been endorsed by the Carmichael family and sponsored by the Archives of Traditional Music, IU Foundation, Indiana Memorial Union, Union Board Films, faculty friends in the Kelley School of Business, and IU Cinema.
For a more complete biography of Hoagy, check out this article by John Edward Hasse here.
Michaela Owens is thrilled to be the editor of A Place for Film. An IU graduate with a BA in Communication and Culture, Michaela has also been a volunteer usher at IU Cinema since 2016. She never stops thinking about classic Hollywood, thanks to her mother’s introduction to it, and she likes to believe she is an expert on Katharine Hepburn.