The song was originally in
waltz time, but later versions were in
common time."Charmaine" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "
Bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "I wonder, when bluebirds are mating, will you come back again?"
The song was originally composed for the 1926
silent movieWhat Price Glory?
The best-selling version, recorded by
Guy Lombardo & his Orchestra, spent seven weeks at the #1 position in 1927.[1] It was featured in the movie Two Girls and a Sailor. A version was also recorded by the
Harry James orchestra in
1944.
The
1951 instrumental arrangement by
Ronald Binge, performed by the
Mantovani orchestra with
Max Jaffa as its leader and soloist, was Mantovani's first hit in the
United States. Binge's "
cascading strings" arrangement, using closely overlapping string parts that create an echo effect, became a trademark sound for future Mantovani arrangements.[2] The recording was released by
London Records as catalog number 1020. It first reached the Billboard chart on November 9, 1951, where it remained for 19 weeks, peaking at #10.[3]
Another recording, by
Gordon Jenkins' orchestra, with a vocal by
Bob Carroll, also charted in 1951. This recording was released by
Decca Records as catalog number 27859.[4] It first reached the
Billboard magazine charts on December 7, 1951 and lasted 1 week on the chart, at #26.[3]
It was also recorded in a French version by
Lucienne Delyle in 1952.
The Bachelors' version reached #6 in the British charts in 1963.[5]
A 1952 arrangement of "Charmaine" by Billy May and His Orchestra reached # 17 on the Billboard charts. The single was May's biggest hit under his own name.[6]
The song appears in the background in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard during Norma Desmond's house party. It also appears in the background in the 1978 film Just a Gigolo during a dance at the brothel run by the Baroness von Semering (
Marlene Dietrich).
The Mantovani score of Charmaine was also used in Tony Hancock's Hancock's Half Hour in the episode "The First Night Party" in 1953 played whilst introducing the guests to a palatial home Sidney James discovered. It also appeared in the Series Six episode “The Childhood Sweetheart” as Hancock approaches his childhood girlfriend for the first time since school.
The version of "Charmaine" by the Mantovani Orchestra (the 1958 stereo recording) is used quite often in
comedy to provide comedic effect whenever a romantic situation is created. In Monty Python's Flying Circus, as example, the tune has been used at least twice: in the
Seduced Milkmen sketch from the first season; and in the third season, scored to scenes where
soccer players who celebrate a goal start to kiss and embrace each other in a
homosexual way.
A version by Victor Silvester And His Ballroom Orchestra is played during the opening and closing titles of the 1963
NDR production of the sketch
Der 90. Geburtstag (Dinner For One) with
Freddy Frinton and
May Warden, which has long since become a staple of German popular culture, being rerun there on TV every
New Year's Eve since the 1970s.
The song is also used in the 1967 film Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Long Island fancy dress party when the eccentric widow Muzzy Van Hossmere
Carol Channing is introducing all of her "instructors" who also happen to be former lovers. The song is a recurring theme in the movie when referring to Millie Dillmount's
Julie Andrews love life or lack thereof.
In the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) the tune is constantly played as background music in the mental institution. The same 1951/1958 arrangement by Mantovani is used for "institutional" effect in Frank Darabont's 1999 film The Green Mile, in which it is heard as background music in the retirement home.
It can be heard during an early scene of 2011 film This Must Be The Place as the character played by
Sean Penn is seen strolling through a supermarket.
It was also used as background music in the "waiting room" of the
Alton Towers scare maze The Sanctuary.
It was referenced in the film Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) when Peppermint Patty plays a record, remarking to Charlie Brown, "I don't suppose you even know what a waltz is, do you?"
You may hear "Charmaine" performed by
Annunzio Mantovani conducting the Mantovani Orchestra in 1971
Here on archive.org
