Welcome to the official home of the lyricist par excellence who penned many Popular Standards -- "Blue Hawaii," "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "Easy Living," "If I Should Lose You," "Love Is Just around the Corner," "Prisoner of Love," "Thanks for the Memory" -- just to name seven.
A tender scene from Leo McCarey‘s Make Way for Tomorrow, a 1937 film about an elderly couple who are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents, there is a memorable poem written by Leo Robin — "Are You Afraid." The director McCarey believed that it was his finest film and when he accepted his Academy Award for Best Director for The Awful Truth which was released the same year, he said "Thanks, but you gave it to me for the wrong picture."
Lucy Cooper, played by Beulah Bondi, and Barkley Cooper, played by Victor Moore, travel back to their brief carefree time together as newlyweds, before time and duties and habits took over. They end up at the Hotel Vogard, where they honeymooned so long ago (still standing, as if waiting for them) ó drinking, reminiscing, flirting, dancingÖ and Lucy recites a memorable poem written by Leo Robin ó "Are You Afraid." Then as they part when Bark is boarding the train, he calls her ìMiss Breckenridgeî ó Wood says McCarey has managed to unmarry them. They have gone back to a time even before the honeymoon, to their courtship. And that is where they part, not as a sad, lost old couple but a tender young one. They will probably never see each other again, but nothing can rob them of the love they share.
* To go back to select another movie to view at Easy Living Theatre, click here Favorite Music Films
* To go back to the Leo Robin Songbook to select another Popular Song to listen to and/or view, click here The Popular Songs
