Paul Francis Webster's Missed Opportunity
In my last blog entry, I was talking about missed opportunities, "the roads not taken," and I told you about how I once passed up the opportunity to work with director King Vidor on a book about the William Desmond Taylor murder case. The writer who did form an alliance with Vidor wound up with a best seller, A CAST OF KILLERS.
Today, I've been thinking about another "missed opportunity". I learned about it from a friend and former publicity client of mine, lyricist Paul Francis Webster. Indeed, what he passed up makes A CAST OF KILLERS look like chicken feed.
In case you didn't know, Webster was one of, if not the greatest lyricist of his day. He won three Academy Awards for "Best Song," and his list of tunes include such standards as "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "The Twelfth of Never," "Secret Love," "The Green Leaves of Summer," "Somewhere My Love" and many, many more.
Paul Webster loved telling this story:
Back in 1942, he was approached by song writer/film producer Buddy G. DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs to invest in a record company that they were starting. $25.000.00 would buy him a 25% interest.
Webster seriously considered the offer, but this was not too long after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese were invading and taking over the islands in the South Pacific.
These islands were a key source of shellac, and shellac was a key ingredient in the manufacture of phonograph records.
Webster figured that this was not a good time to invest in a record company, so he passed and that 25% was picked up by song writer Johnny Mercer.
The name of the company that the men formed was Capital Records.
Ouch!
Years later, Webster got back at Mercer...sort of.
Mercer was hired to write the lyrics for a song in a Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton move, THE SANDPIPER.
I don't know if Mercer was ill or just couldn't "lick" the tune, but he eventually gave up and the assignment went to Webster.
That song became "The Shadow of Your Smile," which won Webster his third Academy Award.
© Michael B. Druxman
Today, I've been thinking about another "missed opportunity". I learned about it from a friend and former publicity client of mine, lyricist Paul Francis Webster. Indeed, what he passed up makes A CAST OF KILLERS look like chicken feed.
In case you didn't know, Webster was one of, if not the greatest lyricist of his day. He won three Academy Awards for "Best Song," and his list of tunes include such standards as "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "The Twelfth of Never," "Secret Love," "The Green Leaves of Summer," "Somewhere My Love" and many, many more.
Paul Webster loved telling this story:
Back in 1942, he was approached by song writer/film producer Buddy G. DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs to invest in a record company that they were starting. $25.000.00 would buy him a 25% interest.
Webster seriously considered the offer, but this was not too long after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese were invading and taking over the islands in the South Pacific.
These islands were a key source of shellac, and shellac was a key ingredient in the manufacture of phonograph records.
Webster figured that this was not a good time to invest in a record company, so he passed and that 25% was picked up by song writer Johnny Mercer.
The name of the company that the men formed was Capital Records.
Ouch!
Years later, Webster got back at Mercer...sort of.
Mercer was hired to write the lyrics for a song in a Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton move, THE SANDPIPER.
I don't know if Mercer was ill or just couldn't "lick" the tune, but he eventually gave up and the assignment went to Webster.
That song became "The Shadow of Your Smile," which won Webster his third Academy Award.
© Michael B. Druxman
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