Anyone else having trouble remembering what day it is? I will admit that if I didn't have a reminder on my phone to tell me that today was a blog update, I probably would have forgotten. The joke in my house is that April was canceled; it's still March and it will continue to be March for the foreseeable future. By that logic, today is March 53rd.
I hope that you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy. As of this writing, the lockdown is scheduled to end in a little over two weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to go out and collect some new markers, but in the meantime, I've still got my handy backlog. Today we're featuring one that I collected while passing through Mahanoy City on my way to Knoebels last fall; I simply cannot take a trip anywhere without getting at least one of these markers for the blog. I do wonder at times whether anyone notices me hopping out of the car to take the pictures, and what goes through their mind. I always carry some of the blog's business cards, just in case, but so far no one has actually approached to inquire after the nature of my quest.
(To be fair, when I'm playing a video game, people don't usually approach to ask my character what the heck she's doing either. So it fits with the blog's theme.)
Mahanoy City is actually known as the birthplace of cable television. I know there's a marker for that too, so when I spotted this marker from the car, I assumed that's what it was. In my defense, both of these markers are on Centre Street, but at very different locations. Still, I can't be disappointed with what I caught instead.
Victor Louis Schertzinger was born on April 8, 1888, in Mahanoy City. His father, Charles, was a diamond merchant, who ran a jewelry store on Centre Street where the marker now stands. His mother was born Pauline von Leber in Germany, and she at one time served as the court violinist for Queen Victoria, which may be why she named her only son Victor. He was their oldest child, with three younger sisters - Pauline, Amy, and Hazel.
We don't seem to have a lot of information about Victor's childhood other than this; I learned most of these facts from his obituary and the 1910 Federal census. We do know, however, that from the time he was four years old, he was taking after his mother and showing talent on the violin. At the age of eight, he was already performing with multiple orchestras, notably the John Philip Sousa band. As a teenager he was educated in Philadelphia's Brown Preparatory School (which no longer exists), and toured both the United States and Europe to give violin performances. While over in Europe, he studied music at the University of Brussels.
Apparently just being a distinguished concert violinist wasn't enough for him, so he became a symphony conductor and also started writing songs. Among his earliest published compositions were three songs in The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, a musical by L. Frank Baum based on his famous series of Oz books. Victor wrote the music, producer Oliver Morosco wrote the lyrics. This, of course, was a stage musical, since movies at that time were still silent... but not for much longer.
According to Victor's obituary, he had a conversation with producers Mack Sennett, Thomas H. Ince, and D. W. Griffith, in which he famously said, "The trouble with the movies is that nobody's put music into them." Well, that soon changed, and Victor entered the film industry in 1916 when Ince produced his great silent film Civilization; he commissioned Victor to compose the orchestral accompaniment. While working for Ince, Victor started directing as well, becoming the principal director of a number of popular films starring Charles Ray. I'm not very familiar with this name, but from everything I've read, Charles Ray was described as "mercurial," and not many people could get along with him well; Victor, however, did. In fact, from a few things I've read, Victor's personality was so tactful and generally pleasant that he got along with just about everyone he ever met. No small feat in Hollywood!
As the 1910s gave way to the 1920s, sound became part of the movie industry, and Victor continued to not only direct films but to compose songs for them. He worked closely with Paramount Pictures but was often a freelancer, and in total he directed 89 films and composed music for more than 50. Among his most famous productions was the 1939 film version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. He also directed The Homebreakers, which was one of the earliest Rudolph Valentino films, though the actor was not credited for his role. Victor is regarded as the first director to present grand opera in film, and was the one who brought Bob Hope and Bing Crosby together as a starring team. No, really; Victor directed the first two of their seven "Road" films, Road to Singapore in 1940 and Road to Zanzibar in 1941.
Probably his best-known work is a movie called One Night of Love, which was released in 1934. Victor composed the music for its title song, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Not only did Victor receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Direction, but the film actually won the very first Academy Award for Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Outstanding Production, Best Actress, and Best Film Editing, and won the award for Best Sound Recording. Additionally, Columbia Pictures received one of the Academy's scientific awards for the application of the "Vertical Cut Disc Method," which at the time was a very innovative way of adding sound to a film. Fun trivia fact: among its cast was the young actress Victoria Stuart, the daughter of Victor's sister Pauline.
In private life, Victor married only once. His wife Julia, nee Nicklin, was a fellow Pennsylvania native. I'm not sure when they married, but it was somewhere between 1910 and 1920, as the 1920 Federal census shows them married in California. Living with them were Victor's mother, his sisters Amy and Hazel, and Hazel's husband Wyatt Bruster; Wyatt's occupation is given as "assistant film director," suggesting that he was likely working with Victor at the time. Victor and Julia would go on to have two daughters, Pauline and Patricia.
Victor died very suddenly on October 26, 1941, the apparent victim of a massive heart attack in his sleep. He had just finished work on what would be his last film, The Fleet's In, released the following year; it featured his two best-known songs, "I Remember You" and "Tangerine," for which he composed the music and Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics. He was 53 years old, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.
In addition to the commonwealth's marker to identify his childhood home, Victor was honored with a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It can be seen at 1611 Vine Street. Meanwhile, his songs "I Remember You" and "Tangerine" continue to be known to this day - they've each been covered numerous times by various performers, from the Beatles to George Michael, and are used in various productions. "Tangerine" can be heard in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, while "I Remember You" was featured on the wedding episode of the television series The Nanny.
Victor helped to bring Hollywood out of the silent film era, so it only makes sense that they would continue to say "I Remember You."
Sources and Further Reading:
1910 Federal census record for Charles Schertzinger's family
1920 Federal census record for Victor Schertzinger's family
Internet Movie Database biography for Victor Schertzinger
Victor Schertzinger on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Obituary for Victor Schertzinger from the Sunbury, Pennsylvania Daily Item, dated October 27, 1941. Courtesy of Newspapers.com
Victor Schertzinger at FindAGrave.com
Victor Schertzinger at the Historical Marker Database
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
(To be fair, when I'm playing a video game, people don't usually approach to ask my character what the heck she's doing either. So it fits with the blog's theme.)
Mahanoy City is actually known as the birthplace of cable television. I know there's a marker for that too, so when I spotted this marker from the car, I assumed that's what it was. In my defense, both of these markers are on Centre Street, but at very different locations. Still, I can't be disappointed with what I caught instead.
 |
| The marker is located at 115 West Centre Street, Mahanoy City, in the parking lot of Dollar General (or at least that's what it was when I took the photo) |
We don't seem to have a lot of information about Victor's childhood other than this; I learned most of these facts from his obituary and the 1910 Federal census. We do know, however, that from the time he was four years old, he was taking after his mother and showing talent on the violin. At the age of eight, he was already performing with multiple orchestras, notably the John Philip Sousa band. As a teenager he was educated in Philadelphia's Brown Preparatory School (which no longer exists), and toured both the United States and Europe to give violin performances. While over in Europe, he studied music at the University of Brussels.
Apparently just being a distinguished concert violinist wasn't enough for him, so he became a symphony conductor and also started writing songs. Among his earliest published compositions were three songs in The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, a musical by L. Frank Baum based on his famous series of Oz books. Victor wrote the music, producer Oliver Morosco wrote the lyrics. This, of course, was a stage musical, since movies at that time were still silent... but not for much longer.
According to Victor's obituary, he had a conversation with producers Mack Sennett, Thomas H. Ince, and D. W. Griffith, in which he famously said, "The trouble with the movies is that nobody's put music into them." Well, that soon changed, and Victor entered the film industry in 1916 when Ince produced his great silent film Civilization; he commissioned Victor to compose the orchestral accompaniment. While working for Ince, Victor started directing as well, becoming the principal director of a number of popular films starring Charles Ray. I'm not very familiar with this name, but from everything I've read, Charles Ray was described as "mercurial," and not many people could get along with him well; Victor, however, did. In fact, from a few things I've read, Victor's personality was so tactful and generally pleasant that he got along with just about everyone he ever met. No small feat in Hollywood!
As the 1910s gave way to the 1920s, sound became part of the movie industry, and Victor continued to not only direct films but to compose songs for them. He worked closely with Paramount Pictures but was often a freelancer, and in total he directed 89 films and composed music for more than 50. Among his most famous productions was the 1939 film version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. He also directed The Homebreakers, which was one of the earliest Rudolph Valentino films, though the actor was not credited for his role. Victor is regarded as the first director to present grand opera in film, and was the one who brought Bob Hope and Bing Crosby together as a starring team. No, really; Victor directed the first two of their seven "Road" films, Road to Singapore in 1940 and Road to Zanzibar in 1941.
 |
| This 1919 advertisement appeared in Moving Picture World. Photographer unknown; image is in the public domain and appears courtesy of Wikipedia. |
In private life, Victor married only once. His wife Julia, nee Nicklin, was a fellow Pennsylvania native. I'm not sure when they married, but it was somewhere between 1910 and 1920, as the 1920 Federal census shows them married in California. Living with them were Victor's mother, his sisters Amy and Hazel, and Hazel's husband Wyatt Bruster; Wyatt's occupation is given as "assistant film director," suggesting that he was likely working with Victor at the time. Victor and Julia would go on to have two daughters, Pauline and Patricia.
Victor died very suddenly on October 26, 1941, the apparent victim of a massive heart attack in his sleep. He had just finished work on what would be his last film, The Fleet's In, released the following year; it featured his two best-known songs, "I Remember You" and "Tangerine," for which he composed the music and Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics. He was 53 years old, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.
In addition to the commonwealth's marker to identify his childhood home, Victor was honored with a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It can be seen at 1611 Vine Street. Meanwhile, his songs "I Remember You" and "Tangerine" continue to be known to this day - they've each been covered numerous times by various performers, from the Beatles to George Michael, and are used in various productions. "Tangerine" can be heard in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, while "I Remember You" was featured on the wedding episode of the television series The Nanny.
Victor helped to bring Hollywood out of the silent film era, so it only makes sense that they would continue to say "I Remember You."
Sources and Further Reading:
1910 Federal census record for Charles Schertzinger's family
1920 Federal census record for Victor Schertzinger's family
Internet Movie Database biography for Victor Schertzinger
Victor Schertzinger on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Obituary for Victor Schertzinger from the Sunbury, Pennsylvania Daily Item, dated October 27, 1941. Courtesy of Newspapers.com
Victor Schertzinger at FindAGrave.com
Victor Schertzinger at the Historical Marker Database
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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