Editing Jerome Kern (section)

===First films and later shows===
In 1929 Kern made his first trip to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] to supervise the [[Sally (1929 film)|1929 film version of ''Sally'']], one of the first "all-talking" Technicolor films. The following year, he was there a second time to work on ''[[Men of the Sky (1931 film)|Men of the Sky]]'', released in 1931 without his songs, and a [[Sunny (1930 film)|1930 film version of ''Sunny'']].<ref name=baker/>  There was a public reaction against the early glut of film musicals after the advent of film sound; Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931.<ref>[http://www.musicals101.com/1930film.htm "History of Musical Film, 1930s: Part I: 'Hip, Hooray and Ballyhoo'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215151753/http://www.musicals101.com/1930film.htm |date=December 15, 2016 }}. Musicals101.com, 2003, accessed May 17, 2010</ref> [[Warner Bros.]] bought out Kern's contract, and he returned to the stage.<ref name=baker/>  He collaborated with Harbach on the Broadway musical ''[[The Cat and the Fiddle (musical)|The Cat and the Fiddle]]'' (1931), about a composer and an opera singer, featuring the songs "[[She Didn't Say Yes]]" and "The Night Was Made for Love".  It ran for 395 performances, a remarkable success for the Depression years, and transferred to London the following year.<ref>''The Observer,'' March 6, 1932, p. 9</ref>  It was filmed in 1934 with [[Jeanette MacDonald]].

''[[Music in the Air]]'' (1932) was another Kern-Hammerstein collaboration and another show-biz plot, best remembered today for "[[The Song Is You]]" and "[[I've Told Ev'ry Little Star]]". It was "undoubtedly an operetta", set in the German countryside, but without the Ruritanian trimmings of the operettas of Kern's youth.<ref>Banfield, p. 221</ref> ''[[Roberta (musical)|Roberta]]'' (1933) by Kern and Harbach included the songs "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]", "[[Let's Begin]]" and "[[Yesterdays (1933 song)|Yesterdays]]" and featured, among others, [[Bob Hope]], [[Fred MacMurray]], [[George Murphy]] and [[Sydney Greenstreet]] all in the early stages of their careers. Kern's ''[[Three Sisters (musical)|Three Sisters]]'' (1934), was his last West End show, with a libretto by Hammerstein. The musical, depicting horse-racing, the circus, and class distinctions, was a failure, running for only two months. Its song "[[I Won't Dance]]" was used in the film ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]''.<ref>Banfield p. 219</ref><ref>''The Observer'', April 15, 1934, p. 17</ref> Some British critics objected to American writers essaying a British story;<ref>Harvey, Dennis. [https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117910503.html?categoryid=33&cs=1 "Three Sisters"]. ''Variety'', November 27, 1995, accessed May 14, 2010</ref> [[James Agate]], doyen of London theatre critics of the day, dismissed it as "American inanity,"<ref>Banfield, p. 224</ref> though both Kern and Hammerstein were strong and knowledgeable Anglophiles.<ref>Banfield comments in this context, "Hammerstein had, after all, spent far more time in and around London than he ever did in Oklahoma": Banfield, p. 224</ref> Kern's last Broadway show (other than revivals) was ''[[Very Warm for May]]'' (1939), another show-biz story and another disappointment, although the score included the Kern and Hammerstein classic "[[All The Things You Are]]".<ref name=oepm/>