I'm not sure why I decided to write a diary on this Friday night about George Gershwin. Much has already been written about this musical genius of Broadway, the concert hall, and Hollywood. But it struck me last weekend as I was performing an all-Gershwin concert with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra just how unappreciated and unknown some of his works are, especially from late in his all too brief life.
In 1935, after the premiere of Porgy and Bess, Gershwin decided to move to Los Angeles to try his hand at Hollywood film music. He started by composing music for "Shall We Dance" starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. During production, he began having recurring blackouts and severe headaches. Gershwin soldiered on, and finished the score, and in 1937 began working on several songs for his next picture, "Damsel In Distress." One of the songs from that film, starring Astaire partnered this time with Joan Fontaine, is "Things Are Looking Up." Here is a performance of that song, played beautifully in a note-for-note transcription by the English pianist Jack Gibbons, accompanied by rare footage of George and Ira Gershwin in New York, as well as George playing tennis in California after his move to Hollywood.
https://www.youtube.com/...
The end of this story is not a happy one. Gershwin's headaches grew worse, and he started behaving bizarrely. He attempted to push his driver out of the car while it was in motion. He "smelled burnt rubber." His friends thought he was having psychological problems and recommended visits to a psychotherapist. Finally, in late June of 1937 he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and shortly thereafter slipped into a coma. Dr. Walter Dandy was summoned while he was fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, and brought in by the Coast Guard, but the emergency surgery was unsuccessful. He died on July 11, 1937 at the age of 38.