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Posted: |
Aug 17, 2015 - 1:21 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Hey, guys – I have a treat for you!
Alcoa Premiere Theatre aka Fred Astaire's Premiere (1961-1963) was the first and only show where John Williams wrote ALL of the music for the entire run – both the first and second season. However, like so many anthology shows of the time, it was never released in any format. Same goes for the music (except the theme). So with the help of a TV collector who also posts here, I got hold of 27 episodes (which is only half of what he did, but it's still a start). With some sparetime last week, I ripped some opening titles from the series to at least give you an idea of what this was about, and why it REALLY needs a proper release. Williams really got to flex his early musical muscles with all the different stories the show provided.
The audio and video quality of the episodes was mostly abysmal – which is reflected in the cues below. But it's what we have at the present time. While the opening titles only last some 30 seconds, they present the basic thematic ideas of the music in a given episode. As I hate clips with dialogue and sound effects, I only included these dialogue and sound-free opening titles – as well as a few prologues that only had vague sound, and where the music is allowed to shine on its own. There could be more 'music-only' cues later on in the episodes, but it was too time-consuming to go through everything. I'll do that later, as well as continue my quest for the missing episodes.
Enjoy! I hope that the brief samples gives me some wiggle room in terms of copyright violation. If I break any rules by posting these, feel free to delete the thread.
First off, here is the theme for the series – this is the extended re-arrangement that was done for the Stanley Wilson album THEMES TO REMEMBER:
http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/alcoatheme.mp3
SEASON 1
Episode 1: "People Need People" (October 10, 1961)
Dr. Harry Wilmer has just 10 days to prove his radical method of treating violent war veterans will work.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/peopleneedpeople.mp3
Episode 2: "The Fugitive Eye" (October 17, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 3: "The Fortress" (October 24, 1961)
Shot down during the Korean War, Lt. Brown is held captive in a basement where the light is never turned off. They won't treat his mangled leg unless he gives his captors a confession.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thefortress.mp3
Episode 4: "Moment of Decision" (November 7, 1961)
A landowner in the 20s has odd ways of showing his dislike for his new neighbor, an escape artist.
Prologue: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/momentofdecision-prologue.mp3
In this montage sequence, we're shown the escape artist's (Fred Astaire) many performances around the world. A superb, busy piece by Williams. There are a few sporadic applauses, but otherwise the music shines alone.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/momentofdecision.mp3
Episode 5: "Family Outing" (November 14, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 6: "The Witch Next Door" (November 28, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 7: "The Breaking Point" (December 5, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 8: "Delbert, Texas" (December 12, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 9: "The End of a World" (December 19, 1961)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 10: "The Cake Baker" (January 2, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 11: "Pattern of Guilt" (January 9, 1962)
A reporter covers a series of murders all against perpetrated spinsters.
Prologue: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/patternofguilt-prologue.mp3
The prologue describes a man sneaking into the apartment of a sleeping woman.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/patternofguilt.mp3
Episode 12: "The Hour of the Bath" (January 16, 1962)
American agricultural expert Henry Detweiler is a prisoner of Vietnam under sentence of death.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thehourofthebath.mp3
Episode 13: "The Jail" (February 6, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 14: "Mr. Easy" (February 13, 1962)
Andrew Whitbeck is bored of his successful business and decides to chuck it all and "enjoy himself".
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/mreasy.mp3
Episode 15: "The Man with the Shine on His Shoes" (February 20, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 16: "The Doctor" (February 27, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 17: "Of This Time, Of This Place" (March 6, 1962)
A college teacher's new job is made difficult by a brilliant, but uncompromising, student.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/ofthistimeofthisplace.mp3
Episode 18: "Second Chance" (March 13, 1962)
One-time bronc-rider Hoby Dunlap has served his sentence for defecting during the Korean War. But when he tries to return to the rodeo circuit, he finds that his reputation has preceded him.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/secondchance.mp3
If the theme sounds familiar, it's because this episode was used as a pilot for the spin-off series Wide Country (1962-1963), where Williams' theme was arranged as the series' theme. Whether Williams did this new arrangement himself, I don’t know, but it was released on an LP compilation of TV themes.
Episode 19: "The Tiger" (March 20, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 20: "Seven Against the Sea" (April 3, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 21: "The Very Custom Special" (April 10, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 22: "All My Clients Are Innocent" (April 17, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 23: "The Rules of the Game" (May 1, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 24: "Once a Bachelor" (May 8, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 25: "Cry Out In Silence" (May 15, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 26: "A Place to Hide" (May 22, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 27: "The Boy Who Wasn't Wanted" (June 5, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 28: "It Takes a Thief" (June 19, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 29: "The Time of the Tonsils" (June 25, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
SEASON 2
Episode 1: "Flashing Spikes" (October 4, 1962)
Ex-baseball player Slim Conway is accused of bribing Bill Riley, whose error cost his team a World Series game.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/flashingspikes.m4a
For many years, this was confused as an obscure feature film in Williams' filmography.
Episode 2: "Guest in the House" (October 11, 1962)
Fascinating and original story of a war hero turned grifter who returns to an air force buddy's life and helps his family through a crisis.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/guestinthehouse.mp3
Episode 3: "The Long Walk Home" (October 18, 1962)
If high school football coach Paul Watson doesn't lose a championship game, a blackmailer threatens to circulate a certain photograph.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thelongwalkhome.mp3
Episode 4: "The Voice of Charlie Pont" (October 25, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 5: "Mr. Lucifer" (November 1, 1962)
The Devil Himself is a hard-bitten businessman with a group of somewhat bumbling yes-men on staff and a curvy assistant in the person of Iris Haines. Together they use their best temptations in an attempt to thwart the honesty and decency of a young suburban couple.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/mrlucifer.mp3
Episode 6: "The Masked Marine" (November 8, 1962)
A marine sergeant is irritated by a private and decides to teach him a lesson.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/maskedmarine.mp3
Episode 7: "Ordeal in Darkness" (November 15, 1962)
Always independent, John Miller forges ahead despite temporary blindness. His wife, however, believes he should depend more on their teenaged son
.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/ordealindarkness.mp3
Episode 8: "Whatever Happened to Miss Illinois?" (November 22, 1962)
A reporter asks that question about Miss Illinois and other losers of national contests.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/whateverhappenedtomissillinois.mp3
Episode 9: "The Hands of Danofrio" (November 29, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 10: "The Contenders" (December 6, 1962)
Three unprincipled actresses vie for the best-performance award at a film festival.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thecontenders.mp3
Episode 11: "The Way from Darkness" (December 13, 1962)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 12: "The Potentate" (December 20, 1962)
Disquieting is the word for Stefan Tamarov's first visit to New York City. As Minister of Economics and Foreign Trade for a Communist satellite country, Tamarov has no trouble with his official duties; it's the 'little' things that bother him. His daughter Svezda is seeing an American reporter much too often, and his best friend Andreas Vrim, his country's UN delegate, has confided a few thoughts to Stefan that could be interpreted as treason.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thepotentate.mp3
Episode 13: "Blues for a Hanging" (December 27, 1962)
Ted Miller, a down-on-his-luck musician, was in a drunken fight last night, and begins to think he could have murdered a man. His loving girlfriend Connie refuses to believe this and together they piece together what really transpired.
Prologue: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/bluesforahanging-prologue.mp3
In this prologue, Ted Miller (Fred Astaire) has turbulent dreams involving jazz.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/bluesforahanging.mp3
Episode 14: "Impact of an Execution" (January 3, 1963)
A doctor could persuade the governor to stay a killer's execution but he's in no hurry to do so.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/impactofanexecution.mp3
Episode 15: "Lollipop Louie" (January 10, 1963)
Happy-go-lucky Lollipop Louie leaves his California fishing boat to head for the big city.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/lollipoplouie.mp3
Episode 16: "The Glass Palace" (January 17, 1963)
There's trouble afoot when ice skater Vince Gallard begins to slip: a coming ice show depends on him.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/theglasspalace.mp3
Episode 17: "Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks" (January 24, 1963)
After several years in Europe, a temperamental jazz drummer returns to the U.S.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/fivesixpickupstick.mp3
Episode 18: "George Gobel Presents" (January 31, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Although it aired as part of Alcoa Premiere, this was a variety show that was otherwise independent of the series. As such, it had no Williams involvement.
Episode 19: "The Hat of Sergeant Martin" (February 7, 1963)
Marines Michael Lujack and Clinton Martin fight over women, but fight well together when it comes to Latin American revolutionaries. They're stationed in a turbulent country South of the Border during the Thirties and assigned to hunt down insurgents in the mountains.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thehatofsergeantmartin.mp3
Episode 20: "Blow High, Blow Clear" (February 14, 1963)
Doyle, a young seaman just arrived from New Orleans, is in a quandary: His friend Harlan is deeply disturbed over parental problems, and Doyle has stumbled onto something in the French Quarter which could throw Harlan - and his family - into a real spin.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/blowhighblowclear.mp3
Episode 21: "Chain Reaction" (February 21, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 22: "Hornblower" (February 28, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 23: "The Best Years" (March 7, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 24: "Jeeney Ray" (March 14, 1963)
When her grandmother dies, timid Jeeney Ray must move in with her hostile brother and sister-in-law.
Prologue: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/jeeneyray-prologue.mp3
This prologue shows Jeeney outside in the woods, making bird noises. Hence the brief 'chirping' in the clip.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/jeeneyray.mp3
This is probably my favourite of all the Alcoa scores – so lovely and bittersweet, almost Georges Delerue-ian in style.
Episode 25: "The Dark Labyrinth" (March 21, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 26: "Of Struggle and Flight" (March 28, 1963)
Karen Evans seems normal enough to her husband but now, for the second time, the Missing Persons Bureau has been sent searching for her, and this time her clothes have washed up on the beach.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/ofstruggleandflight.mp3
Episode 27: "The Broken Year" (April 4, 1963)
Eric and Hilary's romance becomes filled with hatred and bitterness when she blames herself for his crippling accident.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thebrokenyear.mp3
Episode 28: "This Will Kill You" (April 11, 1963)
Not been able to find episode.
Episode 29: "Million Dollar Hospital" (April 18, 1963)
Young Dr. Grant answers a medical-journal ad offering a "rewarding practice" for $1,000,000 but the run-down emergency hospital he finds hardly seems a lucrative enterprise.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/milliondollarhospital.mp3
Episode 30: "The Town That Died" (April 25, 1963)
Adam Stark comes home to a decrepit town, where hostilities still flare over a prolonged strike that closed an important cannery.
Prologue: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thetownthatdied-prologue.mp3
In this prologue, Adam Stark (Dana Andrews) arrives at and rummages through the seemingly deserted town. The prologue runs almost without sound and dialogue for an unprecedented 4 minutes.
Opening titles: http://celluloidtunes.no/non-website/alcoa/thetownthatdied.mp3
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Bless you, Thor.
Several times over the FSM years, I've posted about this series and how it was my introduction to the music of Johnny Williams, and about how I fell in love with it. And, how I made reel-to-reel audio recordings (the only kind of recording possible in those days, of course) of the shows, then edited little suites out of my favorite scores. What a great showcase for this young composer was "Premiere" -- every show was a miniature, self-contained movie, with its own setting, characters, mood, action, etc., and every week Williams rose to the occasion and provided exactly what was required for each and every story. (One theme in particular, a piece of jaunty Americana repeated in several episodes, was clearly the work of the same young musician whose break-out movie score would turn out to be THE REIVERS.)
There has never been any question in my mind: The "Premiere" scores are the most highly to be desired of all the un-released works of John Williams.
Mind you, I haven't been able to listen to my old tapes for decades, but the music has never left my memory. I haven't had time yet to thoroughly examine your Episode List, nor to listen to all the music links, but I immediately notice that you've not yet been able to locate two of the strongest -- dramatically and musically -- episodes,THE FUGITIVE EYE (Irishman Charlton Heston witnesses a crime before going temporarily blind) and THE VOICE OF CHARLIE PONT, (a tale of young marrieds challenged by a reunion with the wife's old college boyfriend). Incidentally, this'll clue you into how long ago these shows were made: In PONT, Bradford Dillman plays the hot-stud ladykiller, and the schnook husband was portrayed by Robert Redford. Williams scored FUGITIVE EYE as variations on a beautiful Irish-sounding melody. Sometimes, Williams' music took center stage: In CHARLIE PONT, the young wife plays a hauntingly moody piece on the piano, and in the Cornell Woolrich story BLUES FOR A HANGING a lovely jazz tune is played by the combo in which Fred Astaire's character plays the clarinet.
Incidentally, I'm wondering if you can't safely remove GEORGE GOBEL PRESENTS from your want list. Although I can't claim to remember every single "Premiere" installment, my hunch is that the GOBEL was a variety show special which may have played in the "Premiere" ABC-TV time slot.
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"George Gobel Presents" is NOT an episode of Alcoa Premiere Theater, that's the point.
Alcoa Premiere Theater had two seasons of 29 episodes each.
On Jan 31, 1963, "George Gobel Presents" aired in the normal timeslot INSTEAD of Alcoa Premiere Theater as a special.
So yea, that can be removed, and then all your episodes listed after it re-numbered.
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It would be wonderful if a CD was released from this series. I loved all the early music by Johnny Williams. Good work for assembling all this valuable information here Thor! Thanks too to Preston and all the contributors. I loved the TV shows of this Golden era of American television.
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This wasn't the only pilot that took advantage of "Alcoa Premiere" to first present itself to TV land. A very serious WW II story starring Ernest Borgnine was not well received, but apparently somebody was in a position to re-think the whole set-up, and soon the show was on the air every week as a half-hour sitcom called McHALE'S NAVY.
Good luck, Thor, on your very worthy goal to partake of all the John Williams shows. However, even though you refer to "Premiere" as only one of many, I'm willing to bet that you'll never find any other programs scored any better by Williams -- or by anybody else, for that matter.
Thanks again,
Preston
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Posted: |
Aug 18, 2015 - 2:39 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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This wasn't the only pilot that took advantage of "Alcoa Premiere" to first present itself to TV land. A very serious WW II story starring Ernest Borgnine was not well received, but apparently somebody was in a position to re-think the whole set-up, and soon the show was on the air every week as a half-hour sitcom called McHALE'S NAVY.
Good luck, Thor, on your very worthy goal to partake of all the John Williams shows. However, even though you refer to "Premiere" as only one of many, I'm willing to bet that you'll never find any other programs scored any better by Williams -- or by anybody else, for that matter.
Thanks again,
Preston
Oh, I think you're right. Of what I've heard of JW's TV music, only CHECKMATE, THE CHRYSLER THEATRE and a couple of episodes from KRAFT SUSPENSE have had scores that could possibly compete with the quality of ALCOA. It's really sad to think that these things will probably never be unearthed and released.
Here's my more general list on JW's TV music, btw, where I'm sloooowy crossing off item by item:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=86871&forumID=1&archive=0
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Ray, I didn't remember the title but it sounds as if you're referring to the "Premiere" episode I described just a few posts above: a pilot for a serious WW II navy series which did not sell as such but which was eventually successful when totally transformed into the sitcom, "McHale's Navy." But I'm sorry, I don't understand your question about the set. Do you mean that one of the SEVEN AGAINST THE SEA sets was later recycled for "McHale's Navy"? It wouldn't surprise me; after all, they recycled the star, Mr. Borgnine, so why not the set?
It also doesn't surprise me that you have a 16mm print of it. As we all know, you've got a print of EVERYTHING.
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Posted: |
Aug 18, 2015 - 1:27 PM
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By: |
manderley
(Member)
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I remember some of these ALCOA PREMIERE shows from the early 1960s. I didn't see them all, but do recall how well made they were (as were most all the top filmed TV shows in those days). While I loved the music of the series, I didn't really know---in depth---who Williams was then, but the opening titles---where the camera dollies past large and small diameter cylindrical tubes of varying heights---and then rises into a crane move overlooking the tops of the columns and the Alcoa Premiere title appears---was always one of my favorites and I particularly loved this opening and closing, and its music.
When you get to be a certain age, things from your past can come back to haunt you---hopefully, and usually---in a good way. And so, this thread has served to remind me of MY connection to ALCOA PREMIERE.
Saul Bass designed and directed the titles for the ALCOA PREMIERE series. I went to work for Bass in the early 1960s---1962 to be exact---when he had his studio and offices in a large old Craftsman-style residence on Sunset Boulevard right next to the old Screen Actors' Guild building. The buildings had been beautifully remodeled into his headquarters and comfortably contained the very small staff that was then Saul Bass and Associates.
But my offices were the biggest and roomiest of anyone's, because I had the whole insert studio, editing and projection areas---which had been made over from the large original 3-car garage---as my own little empire. It was designed in typical Bass style for those years, lots of white, and touches of ochre and green on selected wall sections and furniture coverings. Pretty nice work area for a 22-year-old just out of college in those days!
Bass always saved key props from his work---at least temporarily---until he was sure they weren't needed for re-takes or added shots, and so, at the time I began with Saul, there were a few props stacked inside and outside my area, partly for temporary storage and partly for display to clients who might be impressed. Among them were the large plaster bust from the main title to SPARTACUS, various construction artifacts---sundry wire and wooden fence sections and concrete sewer drains and stacks of bricks---from WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, and a whole selection of white cylindrical tubes left over from the titles of ALCOA PREMIERE. I used to walk by these cylinder columns every day and always thought of John Williams' music, which I could listen to around that time on the wonderful Stanley Wilson recording of that and other Universal TV music of the period. (THAT'S a recording that should be reissued on CD by someone!) So I was unconsciously immersed in ALCOA PREMIERE thoughts for some of my days, while on other days, the show was immediately in my view when I needed to run Saul's sample reel for clients, and the ALCOA titles---openings and closings---would be one of the items on the reel.
One of Saul's hobbies was collecting pre-Colombian art figures, and so he had previously retrieved a portion of these white ALCOA columns from my main studio group to display pieces of his pre-Colombian art treasures on the tops of the different height columns in the client lobby/waiting area of the main building. It was always a very pictorial display, but I remember thinking then, even as now, how worried I was that a CEO from AT&T or Lawry's Foods or Hunt-Wesson would accidentally bump into one of the columns, knock it over, and destroy one of the artifacts. But it never happened then---at least while I was there.
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