The Continental (song) The Continental (song) "The Continental" is a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers in the 1934 film, "The Gay Divorcee". "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Major record hits at the time of introduction included Jolly Coburn and Leo Reisman. In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album "Hollywood's Best" (Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. A later version by Maureen McGovern reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1976. Steve Howe recorded it
The Last Time I Saw Paris (song) also proving popular. The song had not been written for the film, and Hammerstein said the song was "not written to order". It still won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1941. This was Kern's second Academy Award for Best Original Song (following his success with "The Way You Look Tonight" in 1936), and Hammerstein's first. Kern was so upset at winning with a song that had not been specifically written for a motion picture, and that had been published and recorded before the film was even released, that he petitioned the Motion Picture Academy to change the