I'll See You in My Dreams Page #2

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Excuse me.

Father.

Mr. Kahn. Mr. Kahn, I want to apologize.

What for? He's right.

What's a mug like me

doing with a pencil?

But nobody expects you to write like that.

Express yourself in

your own way, Mr. Kahn.

And if you can make others feel

what you feel, that's poetry.

Some people are meant to write poems.

Some people are meant

to move crockery.

I wouldn't expect my horse to get up

on the seat and start driving.

Good night.

I'm sorry if I've troubled you.

Well, what about the lyric

you walked through the snow with?

Have yourself a laugh.

"Gee, I wish that I had

a girl like the other fellows have."

Gracie, look at these figures.

"Smiling Through,"

450,000 copies already.

It was an inspiration you had to let

John McCormack introduce it.

I wanna talk to you

about something.

You don't have to. Without a word,

I'm raising your salary $5 a week.

Get back to work on the two dogs

we are trying to push.

- Mr. Rossiter.

- What?

I've written a song.

It happens every time.

Every good demonstrator

wants to be a bad songwriter.

But this is a wonderful lyric

I ran across, just crying for a tune.

Better it should cry than me.

No, Gracie, look.

How many good songs do we have

lying in the catalog...

...that die

because they've not been plugged?

And how many bad songs

have you yourself helped to become hits?

Now, Gracie, believe me, to me, you are

a much greater artist than Victor Herbert.

I'll make that a $ 10-a-week raise.

- Don't you even wanna hear the song?

- No. I might like it.

Then I'll take it someplace else,

because this song has to be published.

But you can't go to another publisher

while you work for me.

I don't work for you anymore,

Mr. Rossiter.

Then you don't get that raise.

I'm sorry, Ms. LeBoy. I just can't do it.

But you wouldn't have to pay us very

much for the song. Say $ 10?

You say it. Business is so bad,

I can't say anything.

We don't care.

We'll work just for royalties.

We'll work night and day

and do our own plugging.

What's this "we"?

Who's the silent partner in this deal?

- Mr. Kahn, the lyricist.

- Where is he, in hiding?

I don't know. I haven't seen him

since he gave me the lyric.

That's why I've got to have

this song published.

I don't follow.

Then I'd have reason

to see him again.

Mr. Townsend, would it cost me very much

to have a few copies printed?

- Go on, play the number.

- Thank you.

Oh, what can I lose?

I'm in receivership now.

Hurry, before they come

and take the piano.

How do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth

And breadth and height

My soul can reach

I love thee purely,

As they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs

Who is opening the door?

And with my childhood's faith.

Me. Like always.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints.

I love thee with the breath

Please come in.

- Smile, tears...

- Gus, it's for you. A girl.

- Mr. Kahn.

- Ms. LeBoy.

Excuse me for being so forward, but

I just had to come and congratulate you.

- For what?

- For this.

- When did this happen?

- I put a tune to it that same night.

What'd you do that for?

Let me see.

"Lyrics by Gus Kahn."

Gus, your name, printed.

What's the matter?

Couldn't your father have lived

to see this?

Ma, it's just a song.

It's not the Declaration of Independence.

How could you understand it?

Five years old you were

when we came to this country.

But your father and I,

how long we struggled with the language.

Me, I'm still struggling.

But my son, he makes a song out of it.

Gee, if it means that much to you,

I'm glad she did it.

- Thanks, Ms. LeBoy.

- Gus!

This is the way

how you treat a lady visitor?

You should have some strudel with us.

- Oh, yes.

- Thank you very much.

- Sit down.

- And coffee.

My mother makes

the best strudel in town.

You should excuse the dishes.

But if a little bit is chipped off,

he gets it free from the warehouse.

Gus, I forgot,

some more saucers we need.

Okay, Ma. I'll chip some tomorrow.

Mr. Kahn, you're not going back to the

warehouse after writing a song like this.

Well, why not?

I promised the publisher

we'd do our own plugging.

- Plugging?

- Get the song heard and played.

It takes 24 hours a day, Mr. Kahn.

You mean you want me to quit my job?

But this is your big chance.

What if the song doesn't go over?

Who's gonna help pay the rent?

Listen to him with the rent.

Who paid the rent

while you were growing up?

And what are your brothers,

pushcart peddlers?

Believe me, we won't starve.

- And there'll always be strudel.

- Yup.

She's very sweet.

She gets so excited.

Ma, what are you excited about?

When I walk down Michigan Boulevard,

people should say:

"There goes the mother of Gus Kahn,

the songwriter."

Not "The mother of Gus Kahn who chips

dishes for Albert Pick and Company."

Now what are you doing?

- Please.

- What's that for?

I would like to buy the first one.

Here. Mrs. Kahn, I'd love to play it

for you sometime.

What for? Gus didn't write the music.

Come on, now. Everybody sing.

Gee, I wish that I had a girl

Like the other fellows had

Someone to make a fuss over me

To cheer me up when I feel sad

On Wednesday night, I'm all alone

When I ought to be up

At some sweetheart's home

And I'm lonesome

Awful lonesome

Gee, I wish I had a girl

Follow the pointer!

- How do you do, Mr. Kahn?

- It's raining like a son of a gun.

Where are the folks?

Oh, they're out. They're both out.

They'll be out for quite a while.

Good, we can get right to work.

And, boy, do we need it.

We've written quite a few songs,

but we've had only one hit.

That's not exactly a career.

It's nothing against you,

but we've gotta dig a little harder.

I've written two new lyrics.

Take a look, one of them

could be a real good song.

- Do we have to start right away?

- Sure. What else is there to do?

- What could I have been thinking of?

- What?

Oh, nothing.

All right. Sit down. Sit down.

There's two of them.

One, I like a little better than the other.

Here's "Love in Springtime."

And this one is

"The Month of June is a Song of Love."

You know, June is the month of love.

Everybody... Everybody gets married in June,

and that's the whole idea.

Now, let's try the verse, huh?

"Every lassie loves a laddie in

the month of June."

Yeah.

Mind if I move these? They're in the way.

All right, go ahead. The first two lines.

Now, the third line is "Mid..."

Why have you got it so dark in here?

How do you expect us

to work in the dark?

Holy smoke. There, that's better.

Go ahead. From the third line.

"Mid the roses..."

"Mid the roses, man proposes,

for the world's in tune."

From "mid the roses,"

right from there, from the third line.

- "Mid the roses, man proposes..."

- Yeah, right from there.

Play it. See what you hear from that.

- What is that? What do you got on?

- Real perfume, Nuit d'Amour.

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