One of Fats Waller's biggest hits, Honeysuckle Rose was the subject of a controversy in 1940. That year Twentieth Century Fox released the film Tin Pan Alley, which incorporated the song. Although Twentieth Century Fox paid Waller and Razaf a small sum for the use of the song, the film depicted two white criminals writing the song in prison. Razaf was incensed, and wrote a long, sharp letter of protest to Twentieth Century Fox. The company casually dismissed his complaint.