RETURN

OVER MY SHOULDER Original London cast recording
 
Cast: Suzy Bloom (Jessie Matthews), Anne Rogers (older Jessie), Andrew Halliday, Stephen Carlile, Daniel Fine, Ben Stock. Musical director: Rowland Lee
Overture; Chick, chick, chicken; Parisian pierrot; Got to dance my way to heaven; My heart stood still; A room with a view; Three wishes; Over my shoulder; Everything's in rhythm with my heart; It's love again; Gangway; May I have the next romance with you?; Dancing on the ceiling; After all these years; When you've got a little springtime in your heart; Finale
Over My Shoulder
 
'I thought Jessie Matthews was an athlete', was the response to her name from a well-educated acquaintance in her forties. Never mind. There are still plenty who remember her, and the star she was throughout the thirties, although at the end she was forgotten utterly: she was even buried in an unmarked grave. At one time Matthews was one of the British cinema's biggest box-office attractions, and under the patronage of the film director Victor Saville she achieved a legendary status in Evergreen.
It might have been happiness and success all the way, but it wasn't. Her first marriage didn't work. Her second husband was the comic (and how dreadfully unfunny he seems now in his film roles) Sonnie Hale. It was Matthews' misfortune that Hale persuaded the studios to let him take over the direction of her movies. The results were increasingly feeble, and Matthews - probably the worst dressed film star of all time - gradually dwindled in a series of weak vehicles. There were enough exceptions to this truth to make the rest of her career interesting, but after the war her stage work grew less distinguished. Rumours of a partnership with Fred Astaire didn't materialise into anything; instead, she had to do with the lumpen presence of a leading man called Barry Mackay. There was a terrible stage play in which she starred with the Australian actor Ron Randell. Mr Randell had delusions of grandeur, and insisted that his name should be on the left side of the billing. Miss Matthews insisted she should have pride of place. Eventually it was agreed that they should share the billing, and that the posters would be changed every fortnight. In the event, the printers didn't have to bother because the play was a quick flop.
My own experiences of Jessie? She played a season at the Theatre Royal in Norwich in the summer of 1969 in a show called Cockles and Champagne. She was plump, and came on swathed in white, with white fur at her shoulders. She hadn't much voice, and had to remain silent all day to have enough power for the evening performance. Her songs? 'My heart stood still', 'Dancing on the ceiling', 'Autumn leaves', 'Wouldn't it be luverly?', 'I could have danced all night', 'Your servant', 'My way' and - of course - 'Over my shoulder'. After her act, she did the raffle.
Now, in this really pleasing recording of the show based on her life seen last year at the Jermyn Theatre, we can once again enjoy most of the well-known numbers that Jessie made her own over a career that ended with a six year long stint in the title role of radio's Mrs Dale's Diary. How lucky this production was to have Suzy Bloom as the young Jessie, bringing a still quality to some of the finest of those ageless songs, notably 'My heart stood still' and 'Dancing on the ceiling'. Her treatment throughout has an attention to detail and sympathy with the material that brings their enchantment to life, and her solos are for me the highlight of this recording.
As the older Jessie it is good to hear one of the most distinguished of British leading ladies, Anne Rogers, returning to the theatre. In the recording studio her voice may be a little more exposed than it was in the theatre, but she is thrilling when she gives a blazing reprise of 'Over my shoulder', and there is a touching defiance to her version of 'After all these years' (Jessie's song from the film of Tom Thumb, although Jessie didn't get to sing it herself on the soundtrack!).
The whole enterprise has the stamp of Stewart Nicholls' expertise with this sort of intimate show, and Rowland Lee's arrangements strengthen the sense of period. That 'feel' is obvious, too, in the performances of the supporting men, lifting our spirits with a sure touch of theatrical excitement in the finale.
 

RETURN TO CD REVIEWS