 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yup, the 24th title in the series (21st by La-La Land)
What an accomplishment!
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've not read all 9 pages of this thread, so I may not be the first here to mention one of my holiest of grails: The Johnny Williams scores for the two-season "Alcoa Premiere." That was where I fell in love with this composer's work. Because it was an anthology series, imagine the wonder of hearing a brand new John Williams film score every week, and each one better than the last.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Williams Alcoa release would be AMAZING, if tapes still survive in the Universal vaults...
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa_Premiere
Because I loved Fred Astaire, I tuned in from the first episode, recording them all on my Wollensak reel-to-reel tape machine. Almost immediately I was struck by the excellence of Johnny Williams' music, always different but always perfect for each particular story and characters. I can still hum you any number of his themes, from a lilting folklike Irish melody to a rambunctious piece of Americana for a broken down jalopy.
(To give you an indication of how long ago this was, in the play called "The Voice of Charlie Pont," Robert Redford was the jealous schnook husband and Bradford Dillman was the hot ladies' man making time with his wife.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you, Thor!! I've always felt like a lone voice crying in the wilderness about ALCOA, so to see you use the word "We" is a tremendous lift to my spirits. And I'm thrilled at the prospect of listning to this podcast. Much obliged!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alcoa continued . . .
What a wonderful melody/memory trip is the podcast. And he didn't even play my favorites!
Our host did as splendid job gathering and presenting all tese clips. I do, hwever, have two small corrections.
BLUES FOR A HANGING - I never knew Lurene Tuttle was Barbara Ruick's mother, but she didn't play Astaire's girlfriend in this play. That role went to the more glamorous-leading-ladylike Janis Paige, (who'd danced with Astaire in SILK STOCKINGS).
GEORGE GOBEL SHOW - The first little snippet of a theme heard here is Gobel's theme from his original variety series. The big tune at the end of this medley, it's "Mimi," the Rodgers & Hart song sung by Maurice Chevalier in LOVE ME TONIGHT.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alcoa continued . . .
What a wonderful melody/memory trip is the podcast. And he didn't even play my favorites!
Our host did a splendid job gathering and presenting all these clips. I do, however, have two small corrections.
BLUES FOR A HANGING - I never knew Lurene Tuttle was Barbara Ruick's mother, but she didn't play Astaire's girlfriend in this play. That role went to the more glamorous-leading-ladylike Janis Paige, (who'd danced with Astaire in SILK STOCKINGS).
GEORGE GOBEL SHOW - The first little snippet of a tune heard here is Gobel's theme from his original variety series. The big tune at the end of this medley isn't Williams, it's "Mimi," the Rodgers & Hart song sung by Maurice Chevalier in LOVE ME TONIGHT.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have more Alcoa episodes in your possession, Preston, I’m sure Thor would be more than happy to produce an expanded edition of his podcast episode after being provided with them. 
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, I still have my reel-to-reel tapes in storage, but for all intents and purposes they're inaccessible, on top of which I wonder how playable they may or may not be, (especially if some of them have tape splices, which was something I did a lot when I was a Wollensak kid). I'm sorry I can't offer any Alcoa hope for the foreseeable future, but I'm all for putting whatever energy we can all muster into urging the Universal powers that be to investigate what THEY may have in storage, both the shows and the scores . . .
It's unfortunate that some of the shows aren't more visible online. (One of Williams' loveliest Alcoa scores was for THE FUGITVE EYE, an early episode starring Charlton Heston, and I remember seeing it once broadcast as a one-off, some years after its initial showing on the Alcoa series. You'd think something like that might occasionally pop up somewhere, but that hasn't been the case.) I wonder if TCM, which shows episodes of the obscure "Screen Director's Playhouse" anthology series on Saturday mornings, might be interested in resurrecting the Alcoa series.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I wonder why Intrada’s NIGHT PASSAGE didn’t fit into one these categories.
Most of the titles in the Universal Heritage/Classics line have been produced by Mike Matessino, so I listed the Universal titles Mike has produced that didn't receive Heritage/Classics branding, since they theoretically could have, or at the very least followed probably the same approvals and workflow as the ones that did. They are like "cousins" to the Heritage/Classics line.
Night Passage was produced by Chris Malone and Mike wasn't involved as far as I know. As for why Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, another Intrada/Universal that wasn't produced by Mike, got the Universal Classics branding and Night Passage did not, I haven't a clue.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
