The House I Live In
About The House I Live In
Frank Sinatra finishes a recording of "If You Are But a Dream" and steps outside for a cigarette. He finds a pack of boys chasing a dark-haired boy and stops them. He tells them they are all Americans and that one American's blood is as good as another's. He then sings "The House I Live In."
Cast & crew
More about The House I Live In
Albert Maltz wrote the short. Frank Ross and Mervyn LeRoy produced it, and LeRoy directed. Robert De Grasse photographed. RKO released it on November 9, 1945. It was made to answer anti-Jewish attacks at the end of the Second World War.
Themes
Background
RKO put the short out in November 1945, after the war in Europe and while American argument about Jews, race, and what counted as loyalty was still loud.
Making
The alley speech is the whole drama. Sinatra moves from the recording studio, where he has just sung "If You Are But a Dream," to the boys outside, and he closes by singing the title song to them.
Look
Robert De Grasse shot the recording-studio opening and the alley where Sinatra stops the chase.
Music
Sinatra sings "If You Are But a Dream" in the studio and "The House I Live In" to the boys. Earl Robinson wrote the music of the title song and Abel Meeropol the words.
Preservation
The short is in the public domain and was selected for the National Film Registry in 2007.
Notes
- Earl Robinson wrote the music of "The House I Live In." Abel Meeropol wrote the lyric under the name Lewis Allan.
- Meeropol objected when the film dropped the verse about "my neighbors white and black.
- Brooks Atkinson had already heard Mordecai Bauman sing the song on stage and wrote that Bauman sang it with earnest sincerity.
- Sinatra's recording of the title song became a national hit.
- The Library of Congress added the short to the National Film Registry in 2007. The picture is in the public domain.
Awards
- Honorary Academy Award (1946)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding (1946)
Scenes
- Sinatra steps out of the recording session and breaks up the chase.
- He sings "The House I Live In" to the boys in the alley.
Also available
- Internet Archive (THE_HOUSE_I_LIVE_IN)
