The song was originally in waltz time, but later versions were in common time."Charmaine" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "I wonder, when bluebirds are mating, will you come back again?"
The song was originally composed for the 1926 silent movieWhat Price Glory?
The 1951 instrumental arrangement by Ronald Binge, performed by the Mantovani orchestra with Max Jaffa as its leader and soloist, was Mantovani's first hit in the United States. Binge's "cascading strings" arrangement, using closely overlapping string parts that create an echo effect, became a trademark sound for future Mantovani arrangements.[2] The recording was released by London Records as catalog number 1020. It first reached the Billboard chart on November 9, 1951, where it remained for 19 weeks, peaking at #10.[3]
Another recording, by Gordon Jenkins' orchestra, with a vocal by Bob Carroll, also charted in 1951. This recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 27859.[4] It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on December 7, 1951 and lasted 1 week on the chart, at #26.[3]
Lucienne Delyle recorded a version in 1952 with French lyrics.
A 1952 arrangement of "Charmaine" by Billy May and His Orchestra reached # 17 on the Billboard charts. The single was May's biggest hit under his own name.[5]
The song appears in the background in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard during Norma Desmond's house party. It also appears in the background in the 1978 film Just a Gigolo during a dance at the brothel run by the Baroness von Semering (Marlene Dietrich).
The Mantovani score of Charmaine was also used in Tony Hancock's Hancock's Half Hour in the episode "The First Night Party" in 1953 played whilst introducing the guests to a palatial home Sidney James discovered. It also appeared in the Series Six episode “The Childhood Sweetheart” as Hancock approaches his childhood girlfriend for the first time since school.
The version of "Charmaine" by the Mantovani Orchestra (the 1958 stereo recording) is used quite often in comedy to provide comedic effect whenever a romantic situation is created. In Monty Python's Flying Circus, as example, the tune has been used at least twice: in the Seduced Milkmen sketch from the first season; and in the third season, scored to scenes where soccer players who celebrate a goal start to kiss and embrace each other in a homosexual way.
A version by Victor Silvester And His Ballroom Orchestra is played during the opening and closing titles of the 1963 NDR production of the sketch Der 90. Geburtstag (Dinner For One) with Freddy Frinton and May Warden, which has long since become a staple of German popular culture, being rerun there on TV every New Year's Eve since the 1970s.
The song is also used in the 1967 film Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Long Island fancy dress party when the eccentric widow Muzzy Van Hossmere Carol Channing is introducing all of her "instructors" who also happen to be former lovers. The song is a recurring theme in the movie when referring to Millie Dillmount's Julie Andrews love life or lack thereof.
In the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) the tune is constantly played as background music in the mental institution. The same 1951/1958 arrangement by Mantovani is used for "institutional" effect in Frank Darabont's 1999 film The Green Mile, in which it is heard as background music in the retirement home.
It can be heard during an early scene of 2011 film This Must Be The Place as the character played by Sean Penn is seen strolling through a supermarket.
It was also used as background music in the "waiting room" of the Alton Towers scare maze The Sanctuary.
It was referenced in the film Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) when Peppermint Patty plays a record, remarking to Charlie Brown, "I don't suppose you even know what a waltz is, do you?"
You may hear "Charmaine" performed by Annunzio Mantovani conducting the Mantovani Orchestra in 1971 Here on archive.org