Turner Classic Movies Honors Frank Loesser On His 100th Birthday 6/29

One of America's greatest songwriters will be honored on his 100th birthday with the broadcast of the documentary, "Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of Frank Loesser." The film will air on Turner Classic Movies at 10:15pm EDT on June 29, 2010, the centennial of Loesser's birth.

Frank Loesser wrote music and lyrics for several hit Broadway shows (most notably, "Guys & Dolls," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," and "The Most Happy Fella") and contributed to over 60 Hollywood movie scores during the golden age of the movie musical. His best known Hollywood hits include "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "On a Slow Boat to China," and "I've Got Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle," not to mention the song every piano student knows, "Heart & Soul."

The 90-minute documentary is part of a Frank Loesser prime time evening on TCM, which also includes the movie version of Loesser's "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," "Neptune's Daughter" (music and lyrics by Loesser), "Red, Hot and Blue" (where appears as a gangster), and "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (Loesser contributed lyrics).

Loesser was a streetwise native New Yorker with a knack for writing songs that captured the speech - and experiences - of everyday Americans. One observer describes him as, "Cole Porter, without the martini in his hand."

He mentored a new generation of songwriters - providing encouragement and guidance to everyone from Jerry Herman to Stephen Sondheim.

The documentary features interviews with Loesser's family, contemporaries, and celebrities who performed his songs, plus clips from the golden ages of Broadway and Hollywood, performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Betty Hutton, Bob Hope, Ray Bolger, Matthew Broderick, and Danny Kaye.

Interviewees include Robert Morse ("Mad Men"), Matthew Broderick, James Burrows ("Cheers," "Will & Grace"), Charles Nelson Reilly, Composers Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked", "Godspell") and Jerry Herman ("Hello, Dolly!", "Mame"). Loesser's widow, Jo Sullivan Loesser, and his children Susan, Emily, and John Loesser tell first-hand stories about a husband and father who "shined in our lives like a comet, then burned out too fast." A lifelong smoker, Loesser died of lung cancer at the age of 59.

"Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of Frank Loesser" was written, produced, and directed by Walter J. Gottlieb in cooperation with Jo Sullivan Loesser and Frank Loesser Enterprises. It originally aired on PBS in 2006/2007. The film is available on DVD at www.loessermovie.org

The film received a CINE/Golden Eagle Award. The Wall Street Journal called it "a heart-stirring blast of a tribute." The San Francisco Chronicle deemed it "Superb," and Richard Corliss in Time.Com said the film was "toe-tappingly terrific!"

 

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