For the first dozen years in the existence of the Oscar song, America's choices were clear. In these years of depression and war, the leading lights of the Hollywood musical were, in no particular order, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, and Busby Berkeley - Harry Warren, the songwriter most associated with Berkeley, would compose three Oscar songs in these years.

In 1934 and '35, songs connected to movie musical spectacles copped the prize. In '39 and '40, songs that voiced the forlorn yearnings of the New Deal, as introduced in elaborate technicolor fantasy musicals, won the nation's heart. Interestingly, however, while at no other time in history would songsmiths have so much to write about in terms of topical material, no Oscar song from this period has any connection to the warring landscape of the day - with the exception of "The Last Time I Saw Paris." It's an era of fantasy and escape, to be sure, but it's also the era of the greatest songs that our culture has ever known.

1935: The nominees are...

"Cheek To Cheek"Top Hat Irving Berlin
"Lovely To Look At"Roberta Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh
"Lullaby Of Broadway"Gold Diggers Of 1935 Harry Warren/Al Dubin

And The Winner Is...

"Lullaby Of Broadway" - Dick Powell
Film: Gold Diggers Of 1935
Winning Songwriters: Harry Warren/Al Dubin
Film Version: Wini Shaw and Dick Powell

For the second year in a row, the Oscar goes to the underlying motif behind the most extravagantly epic song-and-dance sequence of the season. In one of the most gloriously over-the-top numbers ever staged by Busby Berkeley, the Ballanchine of Beverly Hills, we get a slice-of-life view into 24 hours in the existence of a "Broadway baby," a gorgeous hussy with loose morals but a heart o' gold.

Harry Warren and Al Dubin - who, amidst extremely fierce competition, triumphed as the preeminent songwriting team in the golden era of the Hollywood musical - crafted a powerful tale that's not just the story of a single girl, but the anthem of an era. As told by Warren and Dubin and visualized by Berkeley, the Broadway baby (played by vocaliste Wini Shaw in the film) sleeps all day and trips the light fantastic all night with her well-heeled beau, played by Dick Powell (who sings it here). In post-Hays code Hollywood, such a sinful life must, by necessity, lead to God's own retribution, which our dancing sweetie receives in spades in an ending that's more Cecil B. DeMille than Berkeley: She accidentally plummets off the top of a Rainbow Room-like skyscraper. "Lullaby" marked the first of three Oscars for Harry Warren (each, incidentally, with a different lyricist), the signature composer of Tinseltown's greatest era.

1937: The nominees are...

"Remember Me?" Mr. Dodd Takes The Air Harry Warren/Al Dubin
"Sweet Leilani" Waikiki Wedding Harry Owens
"That Old Feeling" Vogues Of 1938 Sammy Fain/Lew Brown
"They Can't Take That Away From Me" Shall We Dance George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin
"Whispers In The Dark" Artists & Models Frederick Hollander/Leo Robin

And the winner is...

"Sweet Leilani" - Bing Crosby
Film: Waikiki Wedding
Winning Songwriter: Harry Owens
Film Version: Bing Crosby

George Gershwin never won an Academy Award, but after his death in July 1937, friends (especially Oscar Levant) lobbied hard to convince the Academy to award the statuette to "They Can't Take That Away From Me," the major song for the composer's last great film, Shall We Dance. No dice: In the '30s, the Holy Trinity of the movie musical consisted of Astaire, Berkeley, and Bing Crosby, and now it was Der Bingle's chance at bat.

During a vacation in Honolulu, Crosby had heard this song being played by Harry Owens, bandleader at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and it turned out to be the leader's own composition. Paramount balked when Crosby insisted that he sing it in his forthcoming Hawaiian opus Waikiki Wedding. However, the groaner's perseverance eventually earned the studio its first Oscar song and the singer himself his earliest-recorded million-seller. "Leilani," incidentally, means "flower of heaven."

1938: The nominees are...

"Always And Always" Mannequin Edward Ward/Chet Forrest/Bob Wright
"Change Partners" Carefree Irving Berlin
"The Cowboy And The Lady" The Cowboy And The Lady Lionel Newman/Arthur Quenzer
"Dust" Under Western Star Johnny Marvin
"Jeepers Creepers" Going Places Harry Warren/Johnny Mercer
"Merrily We Live" Merrily We Live Phil Craig/Arthur Quenzer
"A Mist Over The Moon" The Lady Objects Ben Oakland/Oscar Hammerstein II
"My Own" That Certain Age Jimmy McHugh/Harold Adamson
"Now It Can Be Told" Alexander's Ragtime Band Irving Berlin
"Thanks For The Memory" The Big Broadcast Of 1938 Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin

And the winner is...

"Thanks For The Memory" - Bob Hope & Shirley Ross
Film: The Big Broadcast Of 1938
Winning Songwriters: Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin
Film Version: Bob Hope and Shirley Ross

1940: The nominees are...

"Down Argentina Way" Down Argentine Way Harry Warren/Mack Gordon
"I'd Know You Anywhere" You'll Find Out Jimmy McHugh/Johnny Mercer
"It's A Blue World" Music In My Heart Chet Forrest/Bob Wright
"Love Of My Life" Second Chorus Artie Shaw/Johnny Mercer
"Only Forever" Rhythm On The River James Monaco/Johnny Burke
"Our Love Affair" Strike Up The Band Roger Edens/Georgie Stoll
"Waltzing In The Clouds" Spring Parade Robert Stolz/Gus Kahn
"When You Wish Upon A Star" Pinocchio Leigh Harline/Ned Washington
"Who Am I?" Hit Parade Of 1941 Jule Styne/Walter Bullock

And the winner is... "When You Wish Upon A Star" - Cliff Edwards (as "Jiminy Cricket")
Film: Pinocchio
Winning Songwriters: Leigh Harline/Ned Washington
Film Version: Cliff Edwards

Going for the same genre twice in a row, the Academy once again honored a song steeped in fantasy and astral imagery. Dorothy and Pinocchio are, in effect, children whom adults and kids alike can identify with; grown-ups rhapsodize over these highly idealized states of childhood, while youngsters are in accord with the protagonist's desire to metamorphose into something better - to, in effect, grow up and leave childhood behind. Both films conclude with their protagonists achieving a state of wholeness.

Both "Over The Rainbow" and "When You Wish Upon A Star" would be career pegs for the artists who introduced them, Garland and Cliff Edwards. Ironically, these two particular careers, Hollywood Babylon style, could hardly be described as the stuff that dreams are made of. The setting of "When You Wish Upon A Star," with Edwards' voice drifting tranquilly (and ending on a beautiful high note) over nostalgic imagery of stars gleaming above a quaint old town, is one of the most moving in cinema history, so much so that the mood isn't broken when we are visually informed that a cricket has been doing the singing.

1941: The nominees are...

"Baby Mine" Dumbo Frank Churchill/Ned Washington
"Be Honest With Me" Ridin' On A Rainbow Gene Autry/Fred Rose
"Blues In The Night" Blues In The Night Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" Buck Privates Hugh Prince/Don Raye
"Chattanooga Choo Choo" Sun Valley Serenade Harry Warren/Mack Gordon
"Dolores" Las Vegas Nights Lou Alter/Frank Loesser
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" Lady Be Good Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II
"Out Of The Silence" All American Co-Ed Lloyd B. Norlind
"Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" You'll Never Get Rich Cole Porter

And the winner is...

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" - Kate Smith
Film: Lady Be Good Winning
Songwriters: Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II
Film Version: Ann Sothern

Over the course of a train ride, Oscar Hammerstein wrote this love lyric to a city immediately after he learned Gay Paree had fallen to the Nazis. When Metro producer Arthur Freed heard the topical piece, he incorporated it in his forthcoming film Lady Be Good, in which Ann Sothern, hardly a great balladeer, introduced it. Practically the only song Kern or Hammerstein had ever written that was not intended for a specific show or film, it caught the Awards committee in a reminiscing mood and earned the team a statuette.

In retrospect however, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" may be the first tune so honored by the Academy not to go on to become a standard. In fact, right down to its borrowing of the taxi-horn effect from George Gershwin's "An American In Paris," it's very much a period piece. The song has hardly been performed at all since the war, although the best rendition ever was pianist Bud Powell's 1951 solo version; Powell himself had spent quite a bit of time in Paris. Hammerstein and music writer Jerome Kern even felt guilty about winning the award, mutually expressing the opinion that it should have gone to Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Blues In The Night." (Talk about sore winners!)

1942:The nominees are...

"Always In My Heart" Always In My Heart Ernesto Lecuona/Kim Gannon
"Dearly Beloved" You Were Never Lovelier Jerome Kern/Johnny Mercer
"How About You?" Babes On Broadway Burton Lane/Ralph Freed
"It Seems I Heard That Song Before" Youth On Parade Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn
"(I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo" Orchestra Wives Harry Warren/Mack Gordon
"Love Is A Song" Bambi Frank Churchill/Larry Morey
"Pennies For Peppino" Flying With Music Edward Ward/Chet Forrest/Bob Wright
"Pig Foot Pete" Hellzapoppin Gene de Paul/Don Raye
"There's A Breeze On Lake Louise" The Mayor Of 44th Street Harry Revel/Mort Greene
"White Christmas" Holiday Inn Irving Berlin

And the winner is...

"White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
Film: Holiday Inn
Winning Songwriter: Irving Berlin
Film Version: Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds

Perhaps the best-known Tin Pan Alley product of all time, "White Christmas" only came into existence because Holiday Inn's setup required one song for every major holiday of the year. Still, when Irving Berlin finished "White Christmas," he realized he had indeed come up with something special. The songwriter was a genuine neurotic New Yorker and quite excitable, whereas Bing Crosby, true to form, tended to be more the laconic type, which made for quite a contrast when Berlin presented what he considered his masterpiece to Crosby. "Of course, he's not the one to throw his arms about and get excited," Berlin later reported, "he just took his pipe out of his mouth and said, 'I don't think you have to worry about this one.'"

Crosby introduced "White Christmas" around the time of the bombing on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, some time before Holiday Inn was released the following year. The song was phenomenally popular from the start, although entertainers were not to realize the pure power of "White Christmas" until deep into World War II. When singers like Crosby and Jo Stafford toured U.S. bases in England and France around the time of the D day invasion in the summer of 1944, they learned that Berlin's deceptively simple tune was acclaimed by soldiers internationally as not only a song of seasonal warmth and nostalgia, but a hymn for peace. While Crosby's 78 version is perhaps the biggest event in the history of recording, this live reading from Christmas day 1946 is steeped in the same majesty and meaning and is only enhanced by Crosby's rapport with his in-person audience.

1943:The nominees are...

"Change Of Heart" Hit Parade Of 1943 Jule Styne/Harold Adamson
"Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" Cabin In The Sky Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg
"My Shining Hour" The Sky's The Limit Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer
"Saludos Amigos" Saludos Amigos Charles Wolcott/Ned Washington
"Say A Prayer For The Boys Out There" Hers To Hold Jimmy McHugh/Herb Magidson
"That Old Black Magic" Star Spangled Rhythm Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer
"They're Either Too Young Or Too Old" Thank Your Lucky Stars Arthur Schwartz/Frank Loesser
"We Mustn't Say Good Bye" Stage Door Canteen James Monaco/Al Dubin
"You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" Something To Shout About Cole Porter
"You'll Never Know" Hello Frisco, Hello Harry Warren/Mack Gordon

And the winner is...

"You'll Never Know" - Dick Haymes
Film: Hello Frisco, Hello
Winning Songwriters: Harry Warren/Mack Gordon
Film Version: Alice Faye

Harry Warren's second Oscar winner came from his long tenure both at 20th Century Fox and with lyricist Mack Gordon (in fact, their fresh and vital "Chattanooga Choo Choo" should have won over the maudlin "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in 1940).

Although Alice Faye introduced this in one of her zillions of costume "period" musicals, Hello Frisco, Hello, she couldn't record it: Fox, for some reason, seems to have forbade all of its singing stars from making commercial recordings. However, when Dick Haymes made a hit record for Fox's publishing interests (in spite of the 1942-44 musicians strike), the studio seems to have been so grateful it summarily signed the former band singer to his own movie-star contract.

1946:The nominees are...

"On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" TheHarvey Girls (1946) Harry Warren / Johnny Mercer "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" Blue Skies Irving Berlin
"Ole Buttermilk Sky" Canyon Passage Hoagy Carmichael / Jack Brooks
"All Through the Day" Centennial Summer Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II
"I Can't Begin to Tell You" The Dolly Sisters James V. Monaco / Mack Gordon

And the winner is...

"On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" - Judy Garland
Film: The Harvey Girls Winning
Songwriters: Harry Warren/Johnny Mercer

1952:The nominees are...

"Zing a Little Zong" Just for You Harry Warren / Leo Robin
"Am I in Love" Son of Paleface - Jack Brooks
"Thumbelina" Hans Christian Andersen - Frank Loesser
"High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')" High Noon Dimitri Tiomkin / Ned Washington
"Because You're Mine" Because You're Mine Nicholas Brodszky / Sammy Cahn

And the winner is...

"High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')" - Tex Ritter
Film: High Noon
Winning Songwriters: Dimitri Tiomkin / Ned Washington
Film Version: Tex Ritter

1953:The nominees are...

"That's Amore" The Caddy Harry Warren / Jack Brooks
"Secret Love" Calamity Jane Sammy Fain / Paul Francis Webster
"Sadie Thompson's Song (Blue Pacific Blues)" Miss Sadie Thompson Lester Lee / Ned Washington
"The Moon Is Blue" The Moon Is Blue Herschel Burke Gilbert / Sylvia Fine
"My Flaming Heart" Small Town Girl Nicholas Brodszky / Leo Robin

And the winner is...

"Secret Love"
Film: Calamity Jane
Winning Songwriters: Sammy Fain / Paul Francis Webster

1957:The nominees are...

"An Affair to Remember" An Affair to Remember Harry Warren / Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey
"April Love" April Love Sammy Fain / Paul Francis Webster
"All the Way" The Joker Is Wild Jimmy Van Heusen / Sammy Cahn
"Wild Is the Wind" Wild Is the Wind Dimitri Tiomkin / Ned Washington
"Tammy" Tammy and the Bachelor Ray Evans / Jay Livingston

And the winner is...

"All the Way"
Film: The Joker Is Wild
Winning Songwriters: Jimmy Van Heusen / Sammy Cahn