Re-evaluating Oscar Hammerstein’s 1930s: His popular and critical success from Viennese Nights (1930) to The Last Time I Saw Paris (1940)

Between 1930 and 1942, Oscar Hammerstein II was not the failure that he and others claimed. In print and interviews, Hammerstein represented this as a period when his works were rejected by audiences and critics, and biographers have followed his lead. Countering that subject-imposed viewpoint, this article examines newly digitized primary sources, audience reception and a more recent generation of criticism to greatly modify previous assessments. This study tracks 25 songs that attained prominence and explores Hammerstein’s neglected contributions to popular musicals such as May Wine (1935), The Great Waltz (1938, surprisingly well-known in China) and Hellzapoppin (1938).