I saw this film only once. It aired on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies in the early- to mid-1960s. Even though I saw a pan-and-scan version in black-and-white, it was the Alfred Newman score that widened my vision and added a glorious palette of colors to the soap opera-ish proceedings.
It was many years before I was to find a reissue of the soundtrack LP, and I treasured it until La-La Land Records completely blew me away by issuing an expanded soundtrack (2 CDs) featuring the original score as heard in the film and also the LP tracks. Sadly, it did not perform well, especially given the pressing requirements the licensing imposed.
It is a magnificent score and a beautiful recording I will always cherish. This suite is culled from that recording:
A CERTAIN SMILE and MAN HUNT were 2 very worthy Alfred Newman scores that unfortunately performed poorly at the " cash register" for Lala Land. Dimitri Tiomkin's GIANT was another one. Sadly,those failures have influenced LLL away from golden age scores in general. Oh once in awhile you will get a golden age score,but hardly ever a premiere release. Like MV said ,he needs to put food on the table.
A CERTAIN SMILE and MAN HUNT were 2 very worthy Alfred Newman scores that unfortunately performed poorly at the " cash register" for Lala Land. Dimitri Tiomkin's GIANT was another one. Sadly,those failures have influenced LLL away from golden age scores in general. Oh once in awhile you will get a golden age score,but hardly ever a premiere release. Like MV said ,he needs to put food on the table.
Well,here I am very happpy to report LLL has come through with a golden age classic, not premiere, but definitely with so much new material to make it a "premiere"....THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. That and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will be a buy. I don't mind being proven wrong. Thanks LLL.
A Certain Smile was an instant buy for me when it first came out. Between Sammy Fain's beautiful song melody and Newman's own gorgeous themes, this score was a no brainer for me. Unfortunately and very sadly this type of music doesn’t “grab” people the way it use to..... In this old fogey's opinion we lost something along the way.....
