William Frawley is best remembered for playing Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy and Bub on My Three Sons, but in 1951, he was he first one to sing what has since become a classic holiday song.
The movie was The Lemon Drop Kid, a Bob Hope comedy based on a Damon Runyon story. And the song was “Silver Bells,” written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans especially for the movie. The plot concerns Hope’s character (the aforementioned Kid) organizing a bunch of Broadway ne’er-do-wells to collect money he owes a gangster by posing as street corner Santas, collecting for charity.
Frawley is one of those phony Kris Kringles and he starts singing “Silver Bells” as a way to attract contributions to his pot. He is soon joined by Hope and leading lady, Marilyn Maxwell, both much better singers than Frawley. That duo continues the tune as it evolves into a big production number. If you listen closely to the lyrics, you’ll see it’s about those little bells the sidewalk Santas use to attract donors.
In fact, the film was shot in the summer of 1950 and the first recorded version of the tune was cut by Bing Crosby and released in the fall of the same year, six months before the film hit the theaters. As the song became a big hit for Christmas 1950, the movie cast was called back to the studio to film a much bigger production number than originally planned.
BTW – if you’re looking for an often overlooked Christmas film, The Lemon Drop Kid is worth a look.
