Triggered By An 85-Year-Old Song

Movie Music Haunted Me With Flashbacks Of My Doomed Romance

Bob Hope had never appeared in a major studio full-length movie before. He wasn’t a household name in Hollywood. Yet. (Fair Use Under U.S. Copyright Law)

My Saturday afternoon played like a movie matinee. Not a whole movie, mind you — just a trailer, a preview.

I know two sisters who run a funky downtown gift shop. At Paradox, they will play vintage music, jazz or 1950s and 60s rock for shoppers. Their music creates a time warp, a whole new atmosphere to appreciate the vintage treasures available. But today, I knew this song too well. This music was too close for comfort.

The song “Thanks for the Memory” was performed in the all-star musical revue movie The Big Broadcast of 1938, by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. The pair played a divorced couple who went their separate ways, then met up by accident on a cruise ship. “Thanks for the Memory” is a half-sung, half-spoken ballad between Hope and Ross. They take turns with each verse, alternating every couple of lines. Both singers are filled with fond appreciation, longing and regret for each other. She’s overwhelmed with emotion and walks away, as he looks on.

The film itself got lukewarm reviews upon release. A critic wrote that the film was a hodgepodge of “loose ends and tatters.” However, “Thanks for the Memory” won that year’s Academy Award for Best Original Song. Based on the song’s success Hope and Ross co-starred…