Does anyone here know the small Universal Western BLACK BART from 1948? It was scored by several composers like Leith Stevens, Friedhofer, Salter and Sawtell. And the dance pieces for Yvonne De Carlo were written by Skinner (who received a special credit for them in the film´s Main Title). The so-called "Saboteur Acetate Disc 2" in the University contains the tracks "Yvonetta - Vocal" and "Yvonetta - Comb." Who do you think is meant with that name "Yvonetta"? Well, it is quite funny, but I have found out that it must have been the pet name of Yvonne De Carlo who was not only an actress, but also a dancer and singer. And her Flamenco dance in BLACK BART can be found on this disc - first you get the rehearsal test of her voice on side A and then the actual dance - also sung by Yvonne De Carlo - on side B which can be heard in this sequence of the Western (on the acetate the piece is a bit longer and has a duration of about four minutes):
All the people actually interested in Skinner´s music can now plainly see which copies of which scores have survived in that collection. The complete original tracks for BACK STREET (1941 version) and HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1940) are there as well as the almost complete Skinner scores for ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942) and for Hitchcock´s SABOTEUR (1942). Particularly interesting are also the additional findings of three acetate discs with about 20 minutes of quite remarkable symphonic music from the 1939 colonial drama THE SUN NEVER SETS (with Douglas Fairbanks jr. and Basil Rathbone) as well as four acetate discs with about 16 minutes of music for the 1951 film noir THE RAGING TIDE. And we have about 8 minutes of music from THE WORLD IN HIS ARMS (1952) on one disc. Most of the other acetates in the collection contain only one or two tracks from films like SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), CHARLIE MCCARTHY, DETECTIVE (1939), HIRED WIFE (1940), FRANCIS GOES TO THE RACES (1951) or BLACK BART (1948). It would of course be nice if one of the more famous 1940s titles like SABOTEUR could be released on CD in the future, but I have my doubts if any of the US specialty labels will contact the University (and above all the Universal studio) about such a project.
