Film Score Monthly CD: I'll Cry Tomorrow

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I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)

Music by Alex North

Click to enlarge images.

Price: $25.00

Limited #: 3000
View CD Page at SAE Store

Line: Golden Age
CD Release: September 2004
Catalog #: Vol. 7, No. 13
# of Discs: 1

Released by Special Arrangement with Turner Classic Movies Music

I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) was a first-rate "biopic" telling the story of Lillian Roth, the one-time "Broadway's youngest star" whose singing career was crushed under the weight of her alcoholism and failed relationships. By the '50s Roth had rehabilitated her reputation, and I'll Cry Tomorrow (based on her autobiography) received popular and critical acclaim in its powerful telling of her story, thanks to the careful direction of Daniel Mann and Oscar-nominated performance by Susan Hayward.

Scoring I'll Cry Tomorrow was the composer whose use of jazz in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) had transformed film music forever: Alex North. I'll Cry Tomorrow was one of North's earlier assignments but his dramatic style was that of a seasoned master, favoring chamber-like strings and woodwinds for an intimate, melancholy effect. North's colors at first evoke Lillian's lost childhood, then become "boozy" tones for her years of alcoholism. Jazzy brass and heartfelt strings (in the Streetcar style) perform a memorable main theme to sum up the story as a whole.

I'll Cry Tomorrow is not a musical, but does feature three musical numbers performed by Hayward (as Roth) in the film: "Sing You Sinners," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along" and "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe." The songs have been remixed in stereo from the original film elements and are presented in sequence with North's score, which is also in stereo.

Additional songs, album versions and instrumental source cues have been placed in a bonus section, to render this the definitive I'll Cry Tomorrow album. Liner notes are by Lukas Kendall.

Alex North Scores on FSM

All Fall Down/The Outrage

Elmer Bernstein's Film Music Collection

I'll Cry Tomorrow

The Shoes of the Fisherman/Where Eagles Dare

About the Composer

Alex North (1910-1991) changed the sound of movies with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), the first jazz-based film score. His adventuresome, modernist symphonic style reflected his background in theater and ballet and elevated the tone of everything he touched. He could be both epic and magnificent (Spartacus) as well as melodic and intimate (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)—often at the same time. He was a great modernist and dramatist, widely admired by his peers, especially Jerry Goldsmith.In 1986 North became the first composer to receive an Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.IMDB

Comments (34):

Posted by Jim Phelps on February 28, 2009 10:09 AM

Another jewel from FSM, I went gah-gah for this upon its release in 2004. Alex North was largely unknown to me, but hearing I'll Cry Tomorrow's main title on the 1999 Rhino MGM compilation got me interested in his work. I also liked I'll Cry Tomorrow's similarity to A Streetcar Named Desire with its swanky, jazzy feeling.

For me, the best bits of North's underscore are the psychological/character themes that come together so well on "Stood Up/Shattered/Tortured." However, the biggest surprise may be Susan Hayward's gorgeous, haunted vocals, particularly on the title tune where her phrasing is as good as any professional chanteuse working during the 1950s. Hayward's voice is sad and just so beautiful. Listen to her when she sings on the single version of the title tune, "Who could say to a heart that's full of spring/they've written a blue song/for us to sing"; it gets me every time. I must have listened to that vocal alone sixty times when I first got the CD.

My favorite FSM Golden Age release.

Posted by MICHAEL HOMA on February 28, 2009 10:34 AM

agreed, and the whole cd is just about top NORTH, as for SUSAN HAYWARD, just read a review in which the reviewer said he went back twice just to hear HAYWARD sing and perform SING YOU SINNERS. my friend saw her do MAME on stage, he said he could not believe that she was doing her own singing and not prerecorded, she was great,,,,,,and yet when it came time for VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, they dubbed her .someone more knowledgeable than me might be able to tells u why?

Posted by Joe Caps on February 28, 2009 11:51 AM

Posted by Jim Phelps on May 14, 2009 10:25 AM

I'm listening to this CD again and while reading the liner notes, I couldn't help but be struck by Susan's son stating that the film is one that is painful for him to watch, in that Susan's portrayal was as close as she got to being herself onscreen.

Now let's have more of the soapy 1950s film scores!

Posted by MICHAEL HOMA on May 14, 2009 10:39 AM

jim , u are right about this score. it is right up there with the best of NORTH. and SUSAN HAYWARDS singing of the title song is haunting.

Posted by Jim Phelps on May 14, 2009 10:47 AM

jim , u are right about this score. it is right up there with the best of NORTH. and SUSAN HAYWARDS singing of the title song is haunting.

I'd also note that while Sandy Ellis was an accomplished, professional singer, she doesn't bring that all-important pathos to the material. OTOH Susan nails it. Never in a million years did I think that Hayward could do justice to "The Vagabond King Waltz"!

BTW, I recommend Eduardo Moreno's THE FILMS OF SUSAN HAYWARD which is the best volume of the Citadel Film Series I've ever read.

Strange how Summer brings out the Golden Age enthusiasm.

Posted by Ron Pulliam on May 14, 2009 10:59 AM

The problem with Susans Voice Was Susan herself. She HATED her own singing, which is why MGM had a dubber come in, just in case, for I'll Cry Tomorrow.

Susan recorded all of hew own vocals for both With a Song in My Heart and Valley fo the Dols, but she vetoed using any of it in the films. Shes dubbed in those films and in Smash Up, the Story of a Woman.

I would have to seriously question whether Fox ever had any notion of NOT using Jane Froman's singing voice in "With A Song in My Heart." Froman was still vital and her career was going strong on TV.

It would have been absurd to believe anyone would have gone with any actress' voice over Froman's own since her wonderful alto was utterly unique.

No, I don't believe for a second that any thought was ever given to using Hayward's voice in that film. I understand that Hayward was involved early in the production with studying Froman and that Froman later said Hayward had her down perfectly.

If anything, I'm thinking Hayward took on the role (never having SUNG in any film before it) with the upfront knowledge that Froman would be the actual singer.

Posted by manderley on May 14, 2009 12:30 PM

.....I would have to seriously question whether Fox ever had any notion of NOT using Jane Froman's singing voice in "With A Song in My Heart." Froman was still vital and her career was going strong on TV.

It would have been absurd to believe anyone would have gone with any actress' voice over Froman's own since her wonderful alto was utterly unique.

No, I don't believe for a second that any thought was ever given to using Hayward's voice in that film. I understand that Hayward was involved early in the production with studying Froman and that Froman later said Hayward had her down perfectly.

If anything, I'm thinking Hayward took on the role (never having SUNG in any film before it) with the upfront knowledge that Froman would be the actual singer.....

I'd have to agree with you here, Ron. I can't imagine they'd ever seriously thought about anyone else singing the Froman role as long as Froman was still able to do it.

I'm guessing that in 1952, the serious plane accident Froman was involved in occurred only about 10 years previously. Those headlines were still in the public's consciousness, as was her voice, and those things alone made WITH A SONG IN MY HEART a very saleable commodity as a biographical film. Why ring in someone else's (Hayward's) vocals, with the attendant publicity being taken away from Froman just when you want to feature Froman?

(Just a little indirect comment about the film, which I saw in 1952 when I was about 12: I used to read all the fan magazines and I remember a story about Hayward during the making of the film in which she told a story about being at home, playing the pre-records constantly to learn them, and one of her sons piped in to sing what he thought were the words, "With a song in my heart, heaven opens its PORT-HOLES to me....." ......Those are the kinds of things that amused a 12-year-old in those days!!!)

Incidentally, Hayward is superb in this film, and her scenes with Robert Wagner (which he has again recently claimed jumpstarted his career) are very touching.

I always thought Hayward brought a lot of underlying warmth to her characters on the screen. In a way, like Stanwyck, you always liked them---even the tough ones. On the other hand, I once knew a cameraman who'd shot several of Hayward's films and he told me she swore like a sailor and was one tough cookie when the chips were down.

It's also interesting how many biographies Hayward appeared in during the '50s, from THE PRESIDENT'S LADY, WITH A SONG IN MY HEART, and I'LL CRY TOMORROW, to I WANT TO LIVE!

I suppose here we should also mention several other musical lady biographies of the '50s, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, an excellent film with Doris Day, in which Doris sang for herself, but in no way resembled the singing style or voice of Ruth Etting, THE HELEN MORGAN STORY, in which Ann Blyth portrayed Helen Morgan, but was dubbed by Gogi Grant when Blyth's actual singing voice was far closer in style than Grant's, INTERRUPTED MELODY, an excellent film about the Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence, superbly performed (in an Oscar-nominated performance) by Eleanor Parker, who you really believed was singing the operatic arias although it was Eileen Farrell's voice you heard, and finally, SO THIS IS LOVE, the musical biography of opera star Grace Moore, an interesting though fairly incomplete biography in which Kathryn Grayson sang the role pretty accurately. And, of course, THE GREAT CARUSO, with Mario Lanza's performance as the lead, both as singer and actor, was one of the great commercial film hits of the 1950s.

Posted by manderley on May 14, 2009 12:48 PM

This discussion of how good Hayward was as a movie singer reminds me of Ava Gardner.

Gardner was virtually always dubbed (except for PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, perhaps??), and yet the few recordings we have of her indicate that her singing voice was quite good----and much like we would have expected coming out of her mouth as well as the characters she portrayed.

In the end, it's possible that Gardner's situation was like the Marilyn Monroe case, in which it was reported by inside sources---I think Hugo Friedhofer once told me---that Lionel Newman pre-recorded each song with the orchestra and then patiently pieced together Monroe's vocals line-by-line as he coached her and recorded her alone on a recording stage.

It may well be that Monroe's perceived abilities as a singing (?) actress were more important to Fox---enough so to budget and labor intently over them---than were Gardner's at MGM.

Posted by Joe Caps on May 14, 2009 1:03 PM

Manderley, I must point out that Hayward having recorded her own vocals for With A Song come from Hayward herself. There was a special Susan Haywarrd only interview of the Dick Cavett show- almost 90 minutes of just her and she talked about the vocals there.

BTW - when Sandy ellis came in as possible dubber for Susan for I'll Cry Tomorrow, I wonder why she didn't also record Sing You sinners.

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Track List

Click on track TIME for MP3 sound clip. Click on track title (selected tracks only) for Real Audio. I'll Cry Tomorrow Dramatic Music Score Composed by Alex North, Conducted by Johnny Green Songs Performed by Susan Hayward, Arranged and Conducted by Charles Henderson M-G-M Studio Orchestra and Chorus Main Title 2:06 Don't Cry/Bye L'Ums 2:00 Sing You Sinners 3:54 David/How Soon/Help 3:25 When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along* 1:50 Trance/Mama's Plea 3:52 Confused/Pour Me 4:37 Transition/Also/Tony 2:24 Stood Up/Shattered/Tortured 5:21 Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe* 2:18 Desperate 2:51 String Chord/Real Heel 2:48 Down Girl/Ashamed 2:46 Home Sweet Home/This Is It/Hold It 3:12 Light 1:41 Fight to Live/Serenity 2:47 Burt/End Title 2:25 Total Time: 50:57 Bonus Score and Songs Ashamed/Home Sweet Home (original version) 3:56 AA Medley* 3:44 End Title (original version) 1:02 I'll Cry Tomorrow (single version)** 2:40 The Vagabond King Waltz/I'm Sitting on Top of the World* 1:58 Total Time: 13:35 Vocal by Susan Hayward, Johnny Green at the piano with his quartette Source Music and Alternate Vocals** Starlight Romance/Presently 1:58 Waltz Huguette/Bar Mitzvah Rhumba 1:34 Source Music Medley 3:36 When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along (Sandy Ellis) 1:49 Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe (Sandy Ellis) 2:15 Total Time: 11:20 Total Disc Time: 75:55

Instruments/Musicians
Click on each musician name for more credits

Leader (Conductor): Jeff Alexander, Johnny Green, Charles Henderson Violin: Sam Fiedler, Sam Freed, Jr., Werner L. Gebauer, Sidney Greene, Mort Herbert, Arnold T. Jurasky, Bernard Kundell, Joy Lyle (Sharp), Arthur Maebe, Sr., Lisa Minghetti, Irving Prager, Lou Raderman, Albert Saparoff, Byron Williams Viola: Cecil Figelski, Allan Harshman, Virginia Majewski, Reuben Marcus Cello: Alexander Borisoff, Julian Kahn, Edgar Lustgarten, Michel Penha Bass: George F. Boujie, Louis Previati, Arthur Shapiro Flute: Arthur Gleghorn Oboe: Philip Memoli Clarinet: Gus Bivona, Mort B. Friedman, Alex Gershunoff, Don Lodice (Logiudice), Hugo Raimondi, Andrew Young Bassoon: Charles A. Gould French Horn: John W. "Jack" Cave, Vincent DeRubertis, Herman Lebow Trumpet: Robert H. Fleming, Raymond Linn, Harley Pitts, Uan Rasey, Joe Triscari, James C. Zito Trombone: Nick DiMaio, Richard Noel, Herb Taylor, Simon Zentner Piano: Max Rabinowitsh, Milton Raskin Guitar: Jack Marshall Harp: Catherine Gotthoffer (Johnk) Drums: Frank L. Carlson, Mel Pedesky, D. V. Seber Orchestra Manager: James C. Whelan

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