This week we’re focusing on songs from movies, and our first classic movie song of the day is “What’s New Pussycat?,” from the movie of the same name. The song was performed by Tom Jones and was released as a single in June of 1965. The song went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#11 in the UK) and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. (It lost to “The Shadow of Your Smile” from The Sandpiper.)
“What’s New Pussycat?,” the song, was written by Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (words). The duo also contributed two other songs to the movie’s soundtrack, “Here I Am” (sung by Dionne Warwick) and “My Little Red Book” (performed by Manfred Mann).
Bacharach and David got involved with the movie thanks to Burt’s then-fiancé and future wife, Angie Dickinson. Burt and Angie were in London to film a special for Granada Television, titled The Bacharach Sound. They were staying at London’s Dorchester Hotel when Dickinson ran into Charles K. Feldman, a well-known producer who was in the middle of filming What’s New Pussycat? Feldman had heard about Bacharach, and Angie suggested that Burt could write the score for the film. Feldman was convinced and enlisted Bacharach pretty much on the spot—he neglected to tell Burt and Hal that they only had three weeks to complete the project. Being the consummate pros they were, Burt and Hal got busy and delivered the goods on time.
Burt and Hal offered “What’s New Pussycat?” to Tom Jones to sing, although the Welsh singer was at first reluctant to do it, thinking the song was not quite his bag. Bacharach eventually persuaded him to do it, however, as Mr. Jones remembers:
“When I first heard it I thought, ‘Christ! What the bloody hell do they want me to sing this for?’ But Burt Bacharach explained, ‘I want the big voice to sing this bloody crazy song.’ And you put it on, it’s a classic.”
What’s New Pussycat?, the movie, released in September of 1965, was produced by Charles K. Feldman, who also produced the 1967 James Bond comedy, Casino Royale. It was directed by Clive Donner and written by comedian Woody Allen (his first film script). The movie starred Peter O’Toole, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen (of course he wrote a role for himself), Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss, and Ursula Andress. It’s a screwball comedy about a womanizing cad (O’Toole, in a role conceived by and originally intended for Warren Beatty) trying to move past his philandering ways and settle down with just one girl. Sellers played his wacky psychoanalyst and Allen his wacky best friend; all the ladies played O’Toole’s various love interests.
The phrase, “What’s new, pussycat?” came from a real phrase that Warren Beatty used to answer the phone when his girlfriend (Leslie Caron, at the time) called. Actually, he answered “What’s up, pussycat?,” but you get the idea.
Here’s another interesting fact: the role of Dr. Fassbinder was originally intended for Groucho Marx but O’Toole insisted that his friend Peter Sellers play the part instead. Can you imagine this picture with Warren Beatty and Groucho Marx instead of Peter O’Toole and Peter Sellers? I can’t.
What’s New Pussycat? got mixed reviews, by the way, but it’s very much of its time—the swinging, sexy sixties. It was financially successful, however, bringing in more than $18 million. (That’s about $160 million in today’s dollars.)
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, the animated title sequence to the movie What’s New Pussycat?, with the song “What’s New Pussycat?” sung by Tom Jones. Whoa, whoa!
