Twenty Million Sweethearts
Twenty Million Sweethearts was William Powell's eighth film as a star, and in this he co-starred with Ginger Rogers, who by now, had made her first picture with Fred Astaire (Flying Down to Rio) and the plot was as usual, light and frothy. Powell plays a singing waiter who is picked up by a promotional agent, a brash character played by Pat O'Brien. Pat gets Bill Powell into lots of crazy publicity schemes and later, onto the radio. Playing the shy crooner, Bill needs a little extra help from another singer, (played by Ginger) and she coaches him towards a new found fame on radio.

Mr. Powell had found great success with team of Warren and Dubin, presenting most of their materials on film in the last several years and supplemented his success with radio and public appearances. Harry said of him that "of all the singers I've ever dealt with, he was just about the easiest to get along with. I don't think he ever made an objection to any song we handed him. Music was easy for him-he'd been a musician, and he'd been singing since he was a chorboy. his only problem at Warners was getting more money. Even when he was doing 42nd street, he was only earning $175.00 per week, and it was a constant fight to raise it".

Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers
There were several songs that were of interest like the song "Out for No Good and the sly ballade "What are your Intentions" . The much more substantial song "Fair and Warmer" was a song with a jazzy beat and an optimistic viewpoint. The major song from the picture, is "I'll String Along with You" which endures today as a Warren/Dubin favorite. The title, was one of Dubin's great 'off the street' observations which always made his lyrics so fun. Harry said that he thought Dubin had heard the term "I'll String Along with You" in a movie, and it stuck with him as a lyric idea. The melody just came easily to Harry, and the opening words are ..."you may not be an Angel, 'cause angels are so few, but until the day that one comes along, I'll string along with you"

Harry's recollection of this song, is when they were recording the song, it took over 27 takes for Ginger to get it right on cue..and so it was a tough day in the recording studio! Leo Forbstein at the time, was running the Warner Brothers music department. Harry recalled that he enjoyed the fact that it was a well run department, and the Leo brought in the best musicians around to make what was at that time, a well run musical machine that was top quality. Leo Forbstein was responsible for bringing Max Steiner, among other great film composers who remain today as the giants in the industry for film music.

Like most of the Warner product at the time, this film TWENTY MILLION SWEETHEARTS was designed to showcase vocal performances, great tunes and topical jokes of the day.

Leo Forbstein, head of the Warners music department, leads the band for Dick Powell

Ted Fiorito and his Orchestra in the background as Dick Powell sings "I'll String Along With You"