Hi, does anyone know if this Chaplin score is anywhere available on CD? It seems strange that even though there are several compilations of Chaplin's music available (meaning they must sell too), as far as I know, no actual soundtrack recording of his talkies has been released, not even Limelight, which won an Oscar. The Countess soundtrack was a popular album in its own right (while the film failed) and was recorded and released in stereo.
It seems strange that even though there are several compilations of Chaplin's music available (meaning they must sell too), as far as I know, no actual soundtrack recording of his talkies has been released, not even Limelight, which won an Oscar.!
Here's another Chaplin score LP that can use a CD release.
This seems to be one of those "50-year-copyright-rule" releases from Europe. My LP states that "supervision of transfer from film to tape" was by Dick Olmsted, Olmsted Sound Studios, New York City. Given the age of the score, the film source was probably an optical recording. My guess is that the CD was sourced from an LP rather than the Olmsted tapes. That said, the clips sound OK, about what one would expect from a 1936 recording.
Just downloaded it from iTunes. I like the album alright, but it's appalling that it's obviously been copied from an LP, with scratches and dropouts and all. Not very recommendable.
Curious thing is that one track, "The Deb Shakes" is in mono, while the rest is in stereo.
Just downloaded [A Countess From Hong Kong] from iTunes. I like the album alright, but it's appalling that it's obviously been copied from an LP, with scratches and dropouts and all. Not very recommendable.
Curious thing is that one track, "The Deb Shakes" is in mono, while the rest is in stereo.
I wonder if that's an indication that the master tapes have been lost.
I wonder if that's an indication that the master tapes have been lost.
I hope not. And it would be strange that they'd be lost, as the soundtrack is the (only) "hit" element of the film. Then again, you can't really trust studios to take care of their master tapes, as we all know.
I'm returning back to this topic. Does anyone know whom to contact about the soundtrack? The original soundtrack LP was issued by MCA and I've contacted Universal Music too, but haven't received a reply in over a year. Am I doing something wrong or are they just ignoring my message? I haven't contacted any record company before, so I don't know the exact procedure, if there's any.
That said, I would like a remix with outtakes of this score. I guess I'm the only one.
