Second Chorus (1940)
“Two horns, one girl, no rules.”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are best friends, bandmates, and bitter rivals, a pair of perpetual college students who keep flunking out on purpose to stay in their popular campus dance band. When they hire the sharp, business-savvy Ellen Miller as their manager, she transforms their fortunes, and the two trumpeters promptly fall over each other competing for her affection. The stakes rise when both men set their sights on a place in bandleader Artie Shaw's orchestra. What follows is a fast-talking tangle of sabotage, one-upmanship, and big-band swing. Light on its feet and full of music, it pairs Fred Astaire's dancing with some of the era's hottest sounds.
Cast
About the Director
H.C. Potter — Henry C. Potter was a versatile studio director equally at home with comedy and drama, whose credits span the screwball charmer The Farmer's Daughter and the beloved Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. On Second Chorus he kept the rival-trumpeters farce moving at a brisk swing-era clip, framing Astaire's musical set pieces and giving Artie Shaw's band ample room to shine. Potter's unfussy, performer-first approach suited an independently produced picture built squarely around its stars.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
Second Chorus entered the public domain in the United States because its copyright was not renewed. The picture was independently produced and released through Paramount, and when the required 28th-year renewal was never filed, the film lost its federal copyright protection and passed into the public domain.
Behind the Scenes
Second Chorus was produced independently by Boris Morros and released through Paramount, with Fred Astaire serving as an uncredited associate producer. Off screen, the production sparked a lasting romance: Paulette Goddard, then in the process of divorcing Charlie Chaplin, fell in love with co-star Burgess Meredith, and the two married in 1944. The film's standout song, "Love of My Life," was written by Artie Shaw and lyricist Johnny Mercer.
Did You Know?
- Despite its swing-band setting, Fred Astaire later dismissed Second Chorus as "the worst film I ever made."
- The song "Love of My Life," by Artie Shaw and Johnny Mercer, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
- Co-stars Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith fell in love during filming and married in 1944.
- Bandleader Artie Shaw appears as himself, and the film climaxes with Astaire dancing while conducting Shaw's orchestra.
Reception & Legacy
Though never counted among Fred Astaire's top-tier vehicles, and famously disowned by the star himself, Second Chorus has endured as a breezy time capsule of the big-band era, valued for Artie Shaw's onscreen presence and its Oscar-nominated song. Its long afterlife owes much to its public-domain status, which has kept the picture in steady circulation on television and home video for decades.
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