"Thanks for the Memory"

Word & Song by Anthony Esolen

Sometimes a Song is about thanks and hope. “Thanks” ( a very specific version of it) was our Word of the Week. And in the case of our song, the “hope” involved is also a very special kind of hope, a fellow named “Bob,” whose lifetime and work spanned the whole of the 20th Century.

An actor/comedian who was at the center of the American entertainment scene from Vaudeville, to Broadway, to Hollywood, and beyond, Bob Hope was borne Leslie Townes Hope in the then-rural village of Eltham (long since incorporated into the city of London). His family emigrated to American in 1910, settling in Cleveland. Who could have guessed that seven-year-old “Bob” would become one of the most beloved men in not only in the United States but around the world?

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I can’t do justice to the life of Bob Hope in this short essay, but I will say that his good humor and altogether good will were legendary even in his own long lifetime. Although he had already become well known in Vaudeville, on Broadway, and on radio, Bob Hope “premiered” for a mass American audience in a film with comedian W. C. Fields called “The Big Broadcast of 1938.” Hope moved to Hollywood to work on this project, and thus began a feature film career that spanned four decades. “Thanks for the Memory” was written specifically for Bob Hope and the film’s female lead, Shirley Ross to sing in the movie. To say that this tune became his signature song is an understatement. He sang it everywhere he appeared and the end of every show for the rest of his days. There were some orchestral releases of the song over the years, but relatively few singers covered it — unless as a hat-tip to Hope — so firmly was it associated with him. Thy lyrics were easily varied for one after another purpose, so a nightclub singer could pull off a round of it. Bing, and Ella, and Frank were among the handful who actually covered the song as a song, and not as a parody. And Bob himself, with the help of joke writers, adapted the song freely over his long career, customizing it to particular audiences, venues, and shows. One of my favorite versions of the song is the one he sang with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez in an episode of “I Love Lucy.”
But first let’s listen to the original screen version, released as a single in 1938. The song won the Academy Award for Best Song that year, and was a real feather in the cap of its composer, Ralph Rainger, a piano soloist, arranger, and sometimes band leader, who wrote only a handful of songs, but among them another signature song (for Jack Benny), “Love in Bloom.” That may be a small composing legacy, but I’d settle for it! And speaking of Academy Awards, Bob Hope never starred in the sort of film which would earn him a nomination for an acting role, but he nevertheless won five special honorary Oscars over his career for service to the Academy, and to American morale, and particularly to the troops he tirelessly entertained at home and abroad.
Thanks for the memory, Mr. Hope!

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For anyone who is interested, I found the complete film (below).

Here is Bob Hope’s “Thanks for the Memories,” adapted for the episode he guest starred in on “I Love Lucy. Hope was a great baseball fan, and the scene begins with a novelty song called, “Nobody Loves the Ump!”

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Word & Song by Anthony Esolen is an online magazine devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true. We publish six essays each week, on words, classic hymns, poems, films, and popular songs, as well a weekly podcast for paid subscribers, alternately Poetry Aloud or Anthony Esolen Speaks. Paid subscribers also receive audio-enhanced posts and on-demand access to our full archive, and may add their comments to our posts and discussions. To support this project, please join us as a free or paid subscriber. We value all of our subscribers, and we thank you for reading Word and Song!