Dancing in the Dark
New York: Quadrangle, 1974. Item #05874
“Dancing in the Dark”
Howard Dietz’s Autobiography, with an Inscribed Photograph of the Legendary Broadway Lyricist
DIETZ, Howard. Dancing in the Dark. Words by Howard Dietz. New York: Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., [1974].
First edition. Octavo (9 1/4 x 6 inches; 235 x 152 mm.). [xiv], [1]-370 pp. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs.
Publisher’s blue boards, spine lettered in silver. In the original blue dust jacket, lettered and decorated in white with the opening music and lyrics of “Dancing in the Dark.” A fine copy.
Affixed to the front free endpaper is a photographic portrait of Howard Dietz, boldly inscribed and signed in blue ink: “To / Paul R. / Palmer / Howard Dietz.”
An appealing copy of the autobiography of one of the great lyricists of the American musical theater, enhanced by an inscribed photograph of Dietz himself.
Published in 1974, Dancing in the Dark takes its title from perhaps the most enduring song created by Dietz and his longtime collaborator, composer Arthur Schwartz. Introduced in the 1931 Broadway revue The Band Wagon, “Dancing in the Dark” rapidly became an American popular standard. Twenty-two years later it achieved another celebrated incarnation when Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse danced to the melody in the 1953 MGM film The Band Wagon.
Dietz’s memoir encompasses an extraordinary period in American entertainment, during which Broadway, Hollywood, popular songwriting, and the great motion-picture studios produced much of what became the twentieth-century American songbook. His reminiscences provide a first-hand account of the personalities, productions, songs, and theatrical culture in which he played so significant a part.
Howard Dietz (1896-1983) was an American lyricist, librettist, advertising executive, and one of the important figures of Broadway’s golden age. His enduring reputation as a songwriter rests principally upon his long collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Together they contributed to a succession of Broadway revues and musicals, including The Little Show (1929), Three’s a Crowd (1930), The Band Wagon (1931), Flying Colors (1932), and Inside U.S.A. (1948).
Their remarkable catalogue includes “Dancing in the Dark,” “Alone Together,” “You and the Night and the Music,” “Something to Remember You By,” “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan,” “By Myself,” and “That’s Entertainment!”-songs which survived their original theatrical settings to become standards performed by generations of singers and musicians.
Dietz also occupied an important position behind the scenes of Hollywood. He enjoyed a long career as a publicity and advertising executive for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, eventually becoming the studio’s director of advertising and publicity. He is traditionally credited with devising MGM’s famous Leo the Lion trademark and its motto, Ars Gratia Artis (“Art for Art’s Sake”), thereby contributing not merely to the music of Hollywood but to one of the most recognizable identities in motion-picture history.
The title song itself epitomizes Dietz’s gift. With Schwartz’s haunting melody and Dietz’s sophisticated lyric, “Dancing in the Dark” moved effortlessly from Broadway to recordings and Hollywood, becoming one of the quintessential romantic standards of its era. Among its early interpreters was Bing Crosby, who recorded the song in 1931; its subsequent performers constitute a virtual roll call of twentieth-century popular music.
A fine copy of Howard Dietz’s engaging autobiography, significantly enhanced by the boldly inscribed photographic portrait of one of the master lyricists of the Great American Songbook.
Price: $350.00