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Posted: |
Feb 5, 2014 - 3:13 PM
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By: |
TonyJ
(Member)
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Thanks for that, Yavar.
Folks, this film aired on "Saturday Night at the Movies" back in the 1960s. That's the first and last time I saw it. It is a beautiful soap opera filmed on location in Paris and on the Riviera. Fox's CinemaScope cameras were -- at that time -- capturing some of the most stunning travelogue-like images for their location shooting. Films like "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Love is a Many-Splendored Think", "Woman's World" (gorgeous vistas of New York City and upstage New York) and "Boy on a Dolphin" (the Aegean has never been more beautiful on film) were the "norm" on CinemaScope screens and "A Certain Smile" was a worthy entry into those ranks.
Newman's score, proper, is pure gold. And what he does with the song is amazing.
For $9.98, you, too, can have one of the most amazing scores of the 1950s.
I also saw this film back in the 60's on Saturday Night at the Movies, but only had a vague recollection of it when the score was released. Your comments about the music convinced me to seek out a public domain DVD of the film. It's an OK movie -- definitely of its time -- however, the cinematography is outstanding -- Fontaine gives one of her better late-career performances, and Newman's score is incredibly beautiful. I paid full-price for the CD and have enjoyed the music immensely -- it's easily one of Newman's great scores.
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I'm not surprised that it hadn't sold out, considering the higher price and it's obscurity. I bought it back when it first came out and I feel the full price was worth it in the end. The quality of the printed booklets and CD artwork is fantastic to boot.
Strangely, as I was typing this out, Jelly Rolls from the very same release played in the background. I have my digital player on random play of all of my soundtrack collection, which is hundreds of albums and thousands of tracks, and of all things to play at that moment... eerie.
It was $19.98 when it was released. For a 2 disc set that's a good deal!
Glad folks are rediscovering this golden age gem now that we have reduced it's price. We have too many sitting here and need to get them out the door. Thank you Mr. Pulliam for pointing out the new deal. Sales have boomed since your post! No longer will this lovely score collect dust in our man cave. 
MV
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MV said their other Golden Age titles were doing much better; he was just stunned at how awful this one did, sales-wise.
Has anyone mentioned the title as a cause? It's a horrible, sappy title. Just ink out the title and call it "West of Diablo" or "Slaughter in the Jungle" or something--no one will know the difference. Remember that almost all soundtrack buyers are male, and only girlie men would buy something called "A Certain Smile."
Along those lines, what's the music like for "Slaughter Trail" or "God is My Co-Pilot?"
Frankly, I love the score to A CERTAIN SMILE, which, even in its day, was meant to appeal to a women's audience. However, I was too bored by it to sit though it, when it was broadcast on "Saturday Night at the Movies," and only finally relented when I later developed a broader appreciation for the music of Alfred Newman, and located the lp, which I played a lot, for a while.
I still have no interest in the movie, which I understand was not a great success in its initial release.
But, if you want weepies, try that other Alfred Newman sob-fest, THE GIFT OF LOVE (1958), which was a remake of SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY (1946). GIFT OF LOVE has a lovely Newman score, a memorable title song, also directed by Jean Negulesco, and was also not a success.
Negulesco specialized in what I would call sleek women's pictures, a genre as forgotten today as backstage musicals. I would say his best films incorporate a kind of slick story with travelogue elements. Though HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE is probably his best-known film, I like THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, as sentimental a story as e'er there was, combined with some stunning footage of Italy, mostly Rome, and a lovely travel vignette to Venice, all in Cinemascope and stereo.
These were very popular in their day. I had forgotten that THREE COINS was even nominated for Best Picture!
And the scores to all of them were lush and melodic, beautifully orchestrated, with all the professionalism of the Fox Music Dept., under the direction of Mr. Alfred Newman, operating at its peak!
(Too bad that, because of the poor response to CERTAIN SMILE, it's highly unlikely GIFT OF LOVE, or any other unreleased scores, will ever see commercial presentation.)
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Posted: |
Feb 6, 2014 - 10:22 AM
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By: |
edwzoomom
(Member)
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MV said their other Golden Age titles were doing much better; he was just stunned at how awful this one did, sales-wise.
Has anyone mentioned the title as a cause? It's a horrible, sappy title. Just ink out the title and call it "West of Diablo" or "Slaughter in the Jungle" or something--no one will know the difference. Remember that almost all soundtrack buyers are male, and only girlie men would buy something called "A Certain Smile."
Along those lines, what's the music like for "Slaughter Trail" or "God is My Co-Pilot?"
Frankly, I love the score to A CERTAIN SMILE, which, even in its day, was meant to appeal to a women's audience. However, I was too bored by it to sit though it, when it was broadcast on "Saturday Night at the Movies," and only finally relented when I later developed a broader appreciation for the music of Alfred Newman, and located the lp, which I played a lot, for a while.
I still have no interest in the movie, which I understand was not a great success in its initial release.
But, if you want weepies, try that other Alfred Newman sob-fest, THE GIFT OF LOVE (1958), which was a remake of SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY (1946). GIFT OF LOVE has a lovely Newman score, a memorable title song, also directed by Jean Negulesco, and was also not a success.
Negulesco specialized in what I would call sleek women's pictures, a genre as forgotten today as backstage musicals. I would say his best films incorporate a kind of slick story with travelogue elements. Though HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE is probably his best-known film, I like THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, as sentimental a story as e'er there was, combined with some stunning footage of Italy, mostly Rome, and a lovely travel vignette to Venice, all in Cinemascope and stereo.
These were very popular in their day. I had forgotten that THREE COINS was even nominated for Best Picture!
And the scores to all of them were lush and melodic, beautifully orchestrated, with all the professionalism of the Fox Music Dept., under the direction of Mr. Alfred Newman, operating at its peak!
(Too bad that, because of the poor response to CERTAIN SMILE, it's highly unlikely GIFT OF LOVE, or any other unreleased scores, will ever see commercial presentation.)
Thanks for bringing back some wonderful childhood memories John. I was a big fan of the schmaltzy Gif of Love. The score was lovely indeed.
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I second that.
LaLaLand did a brilliant job with this release.
An ideal presentation.
Wish that could happen with other scores.
But, it seems interest in Golden Age scores has faded with the years.
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Also, A CERTAIN SMILE was never that good a film to begin with.
I mean, do we really care who wins Rossano Brazzi's affections; aging sophisticate Joan Fontaine, or rising golddigger Christine Carere? There's a scene where Ms. Fontaine is about to run through Ms. Carere with a sword. It might have helped the plot, let alone the boxoffice, if she had....
But it is a gorgeous score.
Alfred Newman was a genius.
And I'm a Newmaniac.
(An expression I coined, by the way, and which seems to have made its way into Mr. Kyle Renick's recent article in the latest issue of FSM Online... Fun.)
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Sadly there's maybe some truth in your statement. 
