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Document 258820

COMPOSERS and LYRICISTS: JOLSON, AKST, RUBY and KALMAR
They sell a song to Loew's, the parent company of MGM.
Typewritten Contract signed: "Al Jolson", "Harry Akst", "Herman Ruby" and "Bert Kalmar", 4p, 8½x11. Los Angeles County, California, 1944 April 7. In part: "Al Jolson, Harry Akst, Herman Ruby and Bert Kalmar (herein referred to as the Writers), jointly and severally warrant and represent to Loew's Incorporated (herein referred to as Loew's), that they are the sole composers and authors of the words and music of an unpublished original musical composition entitled 'THE KID THAT I'VE NEVER SEEN', words by Herman Ruby and Bert Kalmar, and music by Al Jolson and Harry Akst...Said musical composition, including its title, words and music, is herein referred to as the MUSICAL COMPOSITION...The WRITERS now acknowledge the receipt of the sum of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) in hand paid to the WRITERS by LOEW'S...The WRITERS now sell, assign and license unto LOEW'S the sole, exclusive and irrevocable right, license and privilege to record and/or synchronizes the MUSICAL COMPOSITION in a motion picture or motion pictures...as many times as LOEW'S may desire...." There is no record of Loew's ever using "The Kid That I've Never Seen" in one of its motion pictures. In 1944, the song "Who Said Dreams Don't Come True?", music by Jolson, Akst and Benny Davis, was used in Columbia's The Impatient Years starring Jean Arthur, Lee Bowman, Charles Coburn and Edgar Buchanan. It was the only Jolson/Akst collaboration that made it into the movies. JOLSON, of course, starred in Warner Bros.' The Jazz Singer (1927), the first feature-length Hollywood "talkie" film in which spoken dialogue was used as part of the dramatic action. Among AKST's other songs were "Dinah" (1925) and "Baby Face" (1926). RUBY and KALMAR collaborated on 19 motion pictures, including the Marx Brothers' Animal Crackers (with Groucho's theme song, "Hooray for Captain Spaulding"), Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, A Night at the Opera and A Night in Casablanca. Lightly rippled. 2 file holes and staple holes at upper blank margin. Overall, fine condition.

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