Editing Alexander's Ragtime Band (section)

=== Continued popularity ===
{{further|Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)}}
[[File:Irving Berlin - Ragtime.JPG|left|thumb|Publicity photograph of [[Irving Berlin]] with actors [[Tyrone Power]], [[Alice Faye]], and [[Don Ameche]] on the set of ''[[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|Alexander's Ragtime Band]]'' (1938).]]
<!-- Do NOT add either unsourced or non-noteworthy song covers to this paragraph. They will be removed. -->
As the years passed, Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" had many recurrent manifestations as many artists covered it: <!-- Do NOT insert covers made after 1959 into the following list. This list is for hit versions made within half-a-century of 1911. --> [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]], in 1912;{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=43}} [[Bessie Smith]], in 1927;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]], in 1930;{{sfn|Lantz|2004}} the [[Boswell Sisters]], in 1934;{{sfn|Boswell Sisters|1934}} [[Louis Armstrong]], in 1937;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Connee Boswell]], in 1938;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Johnny Mercer]], in 1945;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} Al Jolson, in 1947;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Nellie Lutcher]], in 1948, and [[Ray Charles]] in 1959.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} <!-- Do NOT insert covers made after 1959 into the preceding list. This list is for hit versions made within half-a-century of 1911. --> Consequently, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" had a dozen hit covers within the half-a-century prior to 1960.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}}

Reflecting decades later upon the song's unlikely success, Berlin confessed his amazement at its immediate global acclaim and continued popularity.{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=69}} He ascribed its unexpected success to the [[farce|farcical]] and silly lyrics which were "fundamentally right" and "started the heels and shoulders of all America and a good section of Europe to rocking."{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=69}}

In 1937, [[20th Century Fox]]  approached Irving Berlin to write a [[Film treatment|story treatment]] for an upcoming film tentatively titled ''[[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|Alexander's Ragtime Band]]''.{{sfnm|Nugent|1938|1p=7|Dieckhaus|1946}} Berlin agreed to write a story outline for the film which featured twenty-six of Berlin's well-known musical scores.{{sfnm|''The New York Times''|1938|1p=126|Nugent|1938|2p=7|Dieckhaus|1946}} 
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Bessie Smith - Alexander's Ragtime Band 1927 - Sample.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1927)|description=A 29-second sample of [[Bessie Smith]]'s 1927 cover of the song.|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}{{Listen|type=music|filename=The Boswell Sisters - Alexander's Ragtime Band 1934 - Sample.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1934)|description=An [[Audio restoration|unrestored]] sample of [[The Boswell Sisters]]'s 1934 cover of the song.|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}
During press interviews promoting the film prior to its premiere, Berlin decried articles by the American press which painted ragtime as [[jazz]]'s forerunner.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1938|p=126}} Berlin stated: "Ragtime really shouldn't be called 'the forerunner of jazz' or 'the father of jazz' because, as everyone will tell when they hear some of the old rags, ragtime and jazz are the same."{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1938|p=126}}

Released on August 5, 1938, ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' starring [[Tyrone Power]], [[Alice Faye]], and [[Don Ameche]] became a smash hit and grossed in excess of five million dollars.{{sfnm|Nugent|1938|1p=7|''The New York Times''|1944|2p=37|''The New York Times''|1938|3p=126}} Soon after the film's release, writer Marie Cooper Dieckhaus filed a [[plagiarism]] lawsuit.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} After Dieckhaus presented evidence at the trial, a federal judge ruled in Dieckhaus' favor that Berlin had stolen the plot of her unpublished 1937 manuscript and used many of its elements for the film.{{sfnm|''The New York Times''|1944|1p=37|Dieckhaus|1946}} Dieckhaus had submitted the unpublished manuscript in 1937 to various [[Hollywood studio]]s, [[literary agent]]s, and other individuals for their perusal.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} The judge believed that, after rejecting her manuscript, Berlin nonetheless appropriated much of her work.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} In 1946, an [[appellate court]] reversed the ruling on [[appeal]].{{sfn|Dieckhaus|1946}}