A young up-and-comer

It’s kind of fun, isn’t it, to imagine a time when Jimmy Stewart was known primarily as a Broadway actor and his successful transition to the silver screen was not at all a certainty.

Here’s what Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times wrote on January 31, 1936, of Stewart’s performance in one of his very first movie roles, in Next Time We Love:

James Stewart, known to playgoers for his work in “Yellow Jack,” “Divided by Three” and “Page Miss Glory,” promises in this his first picture to reach New York to be a welcome addition to the roster of Hollywood’s leading men.

25 Aug 10 | Tags: Broadway, James Stewart, Next Time We Love, The New York Times
| Cladrite Culture, Cladrite Movies

Are You Having Any Fun?
Hey fellow with a million smackers
And nervous indigestion
Rich fellow, eats milk and crackers,
I'll ask you one question,
You silly so and so,
With all your dough...

Are you having any fun?
What you getting out of livin'?
What good is what you've got
If you're not having any fun?

Are you having any laughs?
Are you getting any lovin'?
If other people do,
So can you, have a little fun.

After the honey's in the cone,
Little bees go out and play.
Even the old grey mare down home
Has got to have hay. Hey!

You better have some fun.
You ain't gonna live forever.
Before you're old and gray, feel okay.
Have your little fun, son!
Have your little fun!

Why do you work and slave and save?
Life is full of ifs and buts.
You know the squirrels save and save,
And what have they got? Nuts!

Better have a little fun.
You ain't gonna live forever.
Before you're old and grey, still okay,
Have your little fun, son!
Have your little fun!
Are you havin' any fun?

---Sammy Fain (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics), 1939