"Out Of This World" -Last Wartime film effort. In 1945, Arlen and Mercer completed their final flag-waving film called Out Of This World. It was a trite attempt to capitalize on the swooning bobby soxer craze a la Sinatra popularity. Eddy Bracken, a comic actor plays a shy messenger boy who is shoved onstage at a benefit concert. When he starts to sing, he sounds just like Bing Crosby who actually provides the vocal rendition. Despite the silliness of the film's premise, Alec Wilder praises the " Long lined ballad that does not have a verse as the main chorus instantly sets up a misterioso out-of-this-world mood. It is one of Arlen's most direct and deliberately unrhythmic melodies and unlike any of his other lyric ballads. It is a very strong song,with splendid support in a John Mercer ;lyric."
Tony Bennett provides a sensitive performance in keeping with both the ethereal melody and the the unrestrained worship of the love object. The arrangement also manages to capture the exotic mood of the song . t
POSTSCRIPT: I also found a fine Lena Horne version in which the singer demonstrates her dramatic talent transforming a song into a personal expression. Both versions feature a strong rhythm to underscore the tension inherent in the song itself.
Bennett Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOTv2AmPY4
Horne Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua6-a-Jb2O8
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