Forty Boys and a Song

• Robert Mitchell: Himself
• Ken Carpenter: narrator

Forty Boys and a Song (German: "Forty Boys and a Song " ) is an American documentary short film from the year 1941.

Action

The curriculum at the Robert Mitchell Choir School, a choir school for boys, is to begin. The boys aged eight to fourteen years take place in their classroom. Most of them come from a humble background, but were accepted into the school because of their vocal talent. In the morning they are taught in the common school subjects, the afternoon will be devoted entirely to the music, however.

Robert Mitchell, a 26 -year-old musician and namesake of the school, sits down at a piano and begins with his students to practice the scale, while one of the boys tried to hide a puppy under his jacket. Then they sing the folk song Home on the Range, followed by My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, which they initially present in the traditional way and then in a swing version.

When the boys walk through the cloister of a church, they sing the final chorus Tollite hostias from Camille Saint- Saëns Oratorio Oratorio de Noël. Then the boys are shown as scouts go to camp. In the evening they sit around the campfire, over which they fry up sausages, and sing Shortnin ' Bread. When they next day go marching on their way home, they sing If You Would Like To Lose Your Blues.

Background

Forty Boys and a Song was produced by Warner Bros. and premiered on December 6, 1941 in the United States.

Awards

At the Academy Awards 1942 Forty Boys and a Song was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar in the category, but could not prevail against George Sidney's Short Film Of Pups and Puzzles itself.