They Shall Have Music

They Shall Have Music is a 1939 musical film directed by Archie Mayo and starring famed violinist Jascha Heifetz (as himself), Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, and Gene Reynolds. The screenplay concerns a young runaway who finds his purpose in life after hearing Heifetz play, and the kindly master of a music school in financial difficulty takes him in. At the time the film was made, there were a number of music settlement schools in New York City; the Chatham Square Music School on Manhattan's Lower East Side was the model. The story of the school was also inspired in part by the career of the violinist Hedi Katz, who gave up performing to work with poor children. She persuaded the Henry Street Settlement to open a music school, where she was the director; she was later associated with the Chatham Square Music School.