It was on this day in 1988 that Rain Man first hit theaters. The movie stars Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Director (Barry Levinson), Best Picture, and Best Actor (Hoffman). The film features one of my all time favorite songs from a jazz legend.
The song At Last was written by songwriters Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. They wrote it in 1941 for the film musical Sun Valley Serenade. The following year it was rearranged and re-recorded and used in the film Orchestra Wives. It was performed in both movies by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with vocals by Ray Eberle, and the song became a major big band hit in October 1942.
Believe it or not, another singer held the title “Queen of Soul” before Aretha Franklin. That singer was the amazing Etta James. She recorded At Last in 1961 shortly after signing with Chess records. Leonard Chess thought James was a classy ballad singer and saw pop crossover potential in her; it was his decision to back her with violin orchestrations for the song. Her version went to #2 on the R&B charts.
The song is used in Rain Man when Tom Cruise’s character is teaching Dustin Hoffman’s character to dance.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 