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Great main title:
http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com/lady_on_a_train.mp3
The more I hear this the more I am reminded of Alfred Newman's approach to theatrical comedy. Is this the indeed the only comedy (non-satire) he did?
'Adam's Rib' is a magic Tracy/Hepburn battle of the sexes comedy, but Rozsa's music, sparsely used, is not a major player.
There was 'The Divorce of Lady X' in the Korda era with Olivier and Oberon.
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He also contributed some score (uncredited) to the wonderful To Be Or Not To Be.
Yavar
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Aside: Jimmy McHugh's Universal fanfare sounds as if it may have provided the nostalgic basis for John Williams' Superman theme.
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Gosh, Chelsea Rialto has an Mp3 clip of this. And Ray says, 'The more I hear this ....'
So you've been listening to it repeatedly, Ray, eh? Like you would if you were mastering a CD of the ORIGINAL SCORE like you do with all those great Tiomkin and Steiner, eh?... Eh? EH?!!!
I'm not hinting or anything. EH?
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Dammit, it was Morricone who said, 'The more I hear this....'
But Ray still has an Mp3.
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Thanks for posting this, Henry, and thanks, Ray, for the Main Title. I've still never seen this one, unfortunately, but being a Rozsa AND a Durbin fan, I'm glad to read your positive reaction. Until it was mentioned above, I was going to cite THE DIVORCE OF LADY X as the first Rozsa comedy score I saw/heard. And actually, one can hear his similar approach to the comedic scenes in THIEF OF BAGDAD, and perhaps some other "straight" pictures. BRUTE FORCE comes to mind, (a Chaplinesque interlude, also heard in his "Mark Hellinger"/"Background to Violence" Suite). I hope you get to enjoy BECAUSE OF HIM some day. Naturally there's miore music than Bernstein had room for on his anthology LP.
Yavar, just a few nights ago I screened TO BE OR NOT TO BE for some friends, and I remarked how I'd heard that Rozsa had contributed to it anonymously, but that nothing in the score had struck me as Rozsa-esque. I wish I could have laid my hands on my copy of his autobiography. Do you know if he discussed that assignment, or do you know through any other venue which section of the music was his?
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Yavar, just a few nights ago I screened TO BE OR NOT TO BE for some friends, and I remarked how I'd heard that Rozsa had contributed to it anonymously, but that nothing in the score had struck me as Rozsa-esque. I wish I could have laid my hands on my copy of his autobiography. Do you know if he discussed that assignment, or do you know through any other venue which section of the music was his?
I think it may have been just one cue/sequence (possibly re-used). I'll have to watch the film again soon to double check, but I actually remember the music sounding clearly like Rozsa to me when I saw the film, which was before I even knew he had worked on it uncredited. Since his name wasn't on the picture I guess I assumed someone was just writing in a similar style. I think maybe it was for a more serious moment involving Robert Stack's character, but hey this was quite a few years ago and I'm overdue for a rewatch.
Yavar
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You'll have a blast. Enjoy -- and thank you.
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Posted: |
Mar 30, 2017 - 3:32 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Yavar, just a few nights ago I screened TO BE OR NOT TO BE for some friends, and I remarked how I'd heard that Rozsa had contributed to it anonymously, but that nothing in the score had struck me as Rozsa-esque. I wish I could have laid my hands on my copy of his autobiography. Do you know if he discussed that assignment, or do you know through any other venue which section of the music was his?
I think it may have been just one cue/sequence (possibly re-used). I'll have to watch the film again soon to double check, but I actually remember the music sounding clearly like Rozsa to me when I saw the film, which was before I even knew he had worked on it uncredited. Since his name wasn't on the picture I guess I assumed someone was just writing in a similar style. I think maybe it was for a more serious moment involving Robert Stack's character, but hey this was quite a few years ago and I'm overdue for a rewatch.
Yavar
I remember that music too, and how it struck me as being quite clearly Rózsa. Haven't seen the film for a few years... perhaps a chase scene in the first half?
P.S. What about this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuRcwikuztE starting at about the 27-min mark. The cue starts before that, but it only really begins to really sound like Rózsa around that point. At least to me.
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Posted: |
Mar 30, 2017 - 7:51 AM
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By: |
Doug Raynes
(Member)
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Yavar, just a few nights ago I screened TO BE OR NOT TO BE for some friends, and I remarked how I'd heard that Rozsa had contributed to it anonymously, but that nothing in the score had struck me as Rozsa-esque. I wish I could have laid my hands on my copy of his autobiography. Do you know if he discussed that assignment, or do you know through any other venue which section of the music was his?
I think it may have been just one cue/sequence (possibly re-used). I'll have to watch the film again soon to double check, but I actually remember the music sounding clearly like Rozsa to me when I saw the film, which was before I even knew he had worked on it uncredited. Since his name wasn't on the picture I guess I assumed someone was just writing in a similar style. I think maybe it was for a more serious moment involving Robert Stack's character, but hey this was quite a few years ago and I'm overdue for a rewatch.
Yavar
The following information is available on the Rozsa Society website:
TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)
Rozsa scored only one sequence, the parachute drop into Poland, when director Lubitsch insisted that Werner Heymann's contribution wouldn't do. Composed one afternoon at the studio, the music is suitably dynamic but of insufficient length or relation to the rest of the film to make much of an impression.
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That sounds right. And it definitely sounded like Rozsa to me when I first heard it in college.
Yavar
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So, you're right, Yavar, and thanks again. When paying attention to the cue instead of the movie, I hear what you heard, not only sounding like Rozsa but very specifically Rozsa writing for Korda. And of course the quote from the Rozsa Society site clinches it. (Thanks, Doug!)
BTW, FWIW, too bad about that Youtube video, speeding up the film and concealing a lot of the image -- a double whammy. Youtube has a much better version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnlV1XWBQPY&t=32s
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