"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936.
The song was written for the musical film, Swing Time, where it was co-introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire recorded a solo version of the song on July 28, 1936 for Brunswick records (catalog 7716) and it topped the charts of the day for five weeks. Billie Holiday recorded the song for Vocalion Records on September 29, 1936 and this too reached the charts of the day as did versions by Henry King and Guy Lombardo.
Contents
Items referenced in the song
SS Île de France -- ocean liner
The March of Time -- news film series
Seidlitz powders -- medication
Other notable recordings
Henry King and his Orchestra with vocals by Joe Sudy (1936)
Bing Crosby and Dixie Lee Crosby with Victor Young & His Orchestra (recorded August 19, 1936)
Marian McPartland – Lullaby of Birdland (1952)
Fred Astaire – The Astaire Story (1953)
Count Basie and Joe Williams – The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards (1956)
Mel Tormé – Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire (1956)
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald – Ella and Louis Again (1957)
Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae – Boy Meets Girl (1957)
Margaret Whiting – Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)
Frank Sinatra – Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (1961)
Lena Horne – Lena in Hollywood (1966)
Susannah McCorkle – How Do You Keep the Music Playing (1985)
Kiri Te Kanawa – Kiri Sings Kern (1993)
Ann Hampton Callaway – To Ella with Love (1996)
Skinnerbox - Demonstration (1998)
Stacey Kent – Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire (2000)
Marilyn Monroe– Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (2006)
Popular culture
In the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), the song is performed by Virginia O'Brien.
In a version sung by Judi Dench it also became the theme song of A Fine Romance, a British television series starring Dench and her husband Michael Williams.
A recording by Lena Horne features in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The song also features in the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical.