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Absolutely extraordinary! Thanks so much for sharing this, Zooba. I don't suppose anyone knows if the complete tribute is available?
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I don't suppose anyone knows if the complete tribute is available?
I was at the concert when Aspel came out on stage to present Elmer the book. The filming of the show happened straight after the concert and went on until 3 in the morning - poor elmer must've been exhausted!
They even brought out the awful England supporters band (they play at england soccer games in the crowd, allegedly to drum up atmosphere!) who do a terrible and tuneless version of the The Great Escape theme and marched them through the studio murdering Elmer's theme - a bewildered Bernstein did his best to smile.
Have this programme videoed when shown on english TV but I am not aware of its release in any format.
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I was at the concert when Aspel came out on stage to present Elmer the book. The filming of the show happened straight after the concert and went on until 3 in the morning - poor elmer must've been exhausted!
best to smile.
I was at the concert too and also videoed the This Is Your Life broadcast. At the time my fellows and I joked that Aspel was there to film an instalment of Antiques Roadshow (the other programme he fronted)!!!!
The concert (I think it was a Wednesday) was the climax of my week's Bernstein odyssey - I'd attended a screening of Some Came Running and a Q & A with Elmer (and spoke with him after) on the previous Sunday at the NFT, then interviewed him on the Monday at his hotel, along with Nick Joy and Gunther Kogbehn (scheduled many months before with Elmer's assistant Lisa and his publicist, the lovely lady Cathy Mouton). My interview appeared in Soundtrack and two other articles taking in the week, in Legend.
It seemed to me that Elmer was a bit dazed throughout the This Is Your Life programme and his wife Eve seemed to steer him through. Wish I'd been on the inside for it and been at the filming also! But you can't have everything. Do they still do This Is Your Life in the UK, I haven't seen it since the Elmer one!
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It seemed to me that Elmer was a bit dazed throughout the This Is Your Life programme and his wife Eve seemed to steer him through. Wish I'd been on the inside for it and been at the filming also! But you can't have everything. Do they still do This Is Your Life in the UK, I haven't seen it since the Elmer one!
I think it stopped after the series that Bernstein appeared in.
I was at that concert too - a great concert, and a lovely moment when he was presented with the big red book! Elmer Bernstein - what a legend.
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what I loved the most at that concert was his utter joy at being on the podium. Some conductors are fairly serious but not only was he making quips during breaks but at times I recall him almost turning his back on the orchestra during certain favourite themes, continuing to conduct, literally laughing at the audience!
He has always had his admirers - I love his stuff - but I have always felt that in soundtrack circles, he was perhaps a little underrated by collectors as a whole. Not in the 60s and 70s, but nowadays. And certainly he did not seem to get the widespread acknowledgement his work deserves. He was a genuine giant.
And, what a top bloke and human being.
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Thanks for that link, zooba. A fine way to wake up on this Independence Day. A great American composer!
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Thanks for the terrific links. I really enjoyed watching them genuinely surprise Elmer.
In watching Elmer conduct, I had forgotten that he was left-handed. I can't recall seeing any other left-handed film composer-conductors off the top of my head, but I'm sure that there must have been some, as about 15% of the population is left-handed.
Ron Burbella
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That was a fantastic video as well.
Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Gun was, in fact, the little-seen prequel to The Man with the Golden Arm. Apparently, all copies of this masterpiece were destroyed due to an embarrassing case in 1974. We are only left with the sequel, The man with the Golden Arm, which was much less searing and intense.
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Even taking into account the similarities in the titles of the movies, it was a pretty big screw-up on the speaker's part. Having had it brought up though, I wonder what Bernstein would have done had he had the canvas of a James Bond film to work with.
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Zoob,
that Bernstein Serpico TV theme was terrific.
Opening credits showed Birney on a motorbike and the camera zoomed-in in time with the staccato music if I recall? Something like that.
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