The Story
In “They Shall Have Music” from 1939, Frankie (Gene Reynolds) is a tough New York kid who runs with a gang of street thieves. When he’s caught stealing money from another boy (Tommy Kelly), his abusive stepfather (Arthur Hohl) vows to send him to reform school if he gets caught once more. He locks him in the basement, where Frankie discovers his late father’s violin. He pawns it and puts the cash in the gang’s treasury. Later, he and his friend Limey (Terry Kilburn) hide in the concert hall lobby, where they pick up two discarded tickets. Unable to sell them to passersby, the boys watch the show, a symphonic concert with famous violinist Jascha Heifetz (himself). Frankie is deeply inspired by the beautiful music, so he takes the gang’s collection to get his violin out of hock. However, when his stepfather catches him playing the violin, he smashes it.Devastated, Frankie packs a few belongings into the violin case and runs away. The boy wanders the streets, earning change by shining shoes. Along the way, he picks up a stray dog as a companion, naming him Sucker. One day, he stumbles into a music school for impoverished children, where Professor Lawson (Walter Brennan) welcomes him, recognizing his musical talent and giving him a violin to play. That night, Frankie and Sucker seek shelter in the school’s cellar by climbing through an open window. Lawson discovers the new student there and invites him to stay, realizing his hard circumstances. However, the school is facing tough times of its own.
The charitable institution doesn’t receive money from the students, and they have been struggling to make payments since their sponsor died. The music store owner who provides their instruments, Mr. Flower (Porter Hall), is a stingy miser with no compassion for the school’s generous mission. He fires his clerk Peter McCarthy (Joel McCrea) because Pete is in love with Lawson’s daughter, Ann (Andrea Leeds), after Flower realizes that he hasn’t received money from the school. Pete and Ann must keep Flower from repossessing the instruments before the school’s concert, while Frankie tries to save the school by enlisting Mr. Heifetz’s aid.
A Musical Bounty
Samuel Goldwyn made this film around Jascha Heifetz, the world’s most famous violinist at the time. Having heard that Heifetz would be coming to California in 1938, he signed him to film concert performances for a film, even though he didn’t have a script or story formulated. William Wyler directed the musical sequences on a studio soundstage. Heifetz played the solos in pieces by Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Camille Saint-Saens, Felix Mendelssohn, and others. He played with the studio orchestra under music director Alfred Newman’s baton and with the Peter Meremblum California Junior Symphony Orchestra. Archie Mayo directed the rest of the film, receiving sole onscreen credit. Since Heifetz was needed for a few offstage scenes to complete the story, Goldwyn convinced him back to Los Angeles to film the additional scenes for a substantial fee.There is a wealth of musical talent in this film besides Jascha Heifetz. This is one of the first movies to feature the California Junior Symphony Orchestra, but there would be many afterward. This amazing youth orchestra was founded by violinist Peter Meremblum in 1936, starting as a string ensemble comprised of his students but quickly expanding to a full orchestra of talented musicians ages 8-18. Famous conductors came from around the world to conduct the symphony. Leopold Stokowski was inspired to start the All American Youth Symphony, including musicians from Meremblum’s orchestra and other young musicians from the West Coast, and take it on a tour abroad.
Inspiring Young Talent
“They Shall Have Music” is a brilliant tribute to young musical talent. The musicians in the youth orchestra sound as good as any professional symphony. It also offers an amazing opportunity to witness Jascha Heifetz’s unparalleled technique up close and personal. It’s very appropriate that Heifetz was in this story about young talent because he was a prodigy himself. His father, who was also a violinist, recognized his response to violin music as an infant and taught the boy simple fingering and bow techniques on his first violin at age two. He began formal lessons at age four, entered a conservatory at five, and made his public debut at age seven. He played extensively in Europe as an adolescent before making his American debut at Carnegie Hall at age sixteen. His recordings remain some of the finest ever made.Although Frankie and Professor Lawson were fictional characters, they represented common scenarios and types of people. Music is an avenue which has taken many people out of a life of crime, poverty, and obscurity. Just as Professor Lawson helps Frankie find a meaningful purpose for his life through music, many orchestra directors were inspired by Meremblum’s Junior Symphony Orchestra to start similar youth symphonies around the country, giving training and purpose to countless students. This is a truly great film which reminds us of the importance of inspiring young people with music.
