About seeing the film first, I share your sentiments. Only a handful of times have I bought a score before catching the film, and in those cases (which might be the situation with FOREVER AMBER) I haven't been able to rent the film. Some examples are Herrmann's THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, Doyle's UNE FEMME FRANCAISE, Waxman's TARAS BULBA (though I hope to see them eventually).

Marcelo, I've been meaning to check Prendergast's book out, but unfortunately haven't gotten around to it. Thanks for the recommendation, I really need to read that one. Another book (for the musical layperson) that I was finally able to find just last week was Aaron Copland's "What to Listen for in Music." Good read so far, though the sections on harmony and forms have me lost some.

Graham, I was wondering if you would respond, since it was your mentioning of FOREVER AMBER on the rerecording thread that sparked my memory of Bond's review that I had reread recently. I listened to some clips of the score last night here on the Internet and it does sound very good.

But I echo all the appreciative sentiments about Raskin's score to FOREVER AMBER; it's wonderfully sweet, plaintive, aching, and true, without being very "sappy." The reason I haven't listened to it in so long is that the Varese album (1998?) has only four tracks on it, each comprised of a very long suite from the soundtrack. The disc therefore requires much concentration in order to be fully heard--and I can only listen to it when I know I'll be at peace. Nevertheless, please buy it (I remember an old discussion on the other board about the value of buying Golden Age soundtracks like this one merely to support Varese--but in this case the music is intrinsically worth the purchase price).

To me though, a fine score from Raksin was just one of this movie’s assets. Beautiful technicolor (some of these early (well, early-ish) colour movies look like living oil paintings), a satisfying length (at over 2 hours), and a magnificent performance from George Sanders as Charles II, also blessed this enjoyable movie.

Charles II has always made for a colourful historical character in movies. Amongst other excellent portrayals of this most interesting of English kings was Cedric Hardwicke’s in 1934’s British made NELL GWYN ***, Vincent Price in 1940’s HUDSON’S BAY **, Douglas Fairbanks Jr in 1948’s THE EXILE ***, and Sam Neill in 1995’s excellent RESTORATION **** (a fine score from Newton Howard too).

Charles II reigned from 1660 until his death in 1685. Following the English civil war, Charles I (Charles II father) was executed, and following England’s brief period as a republic, Charles II was restored to the throne having spent many years in exile. You see, after the great Oliver Cromwell’s death, none of the parliamentarians really wanted power, and it wasn’t long before the monarchy, in the shape of Charles II, was restored. Indeed, Charles I was executed only with the greatest of reluctance on the part of the English people, and Cromwell himself deeply regretted his actions afterwards. By the way, Charles II brother, the Duke of York, succeeded him to the throne as James II of England. It was the Duke of York who seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, after which it was renamed New York in his honour, and remained within the British Empire for over a century. However, even before New Amsterdam had been established by the Dutch (prior to the 1664 British take-over), the Englishman Henry Hudson was there first, hence the Hudson River. It is Hudson who is credited with New York’s founding, not the Dutch. Interestingly, though New York flourished under British control, it being a focal point for all European colonists and a favourite haunt of many famous pirates, including the notorious Brit Captain Kidd, by 1770 it was Philadelphia that had become the third most important city within the British Empire, after London and Manchester. Philadelphia was named by the Englishman William Penn; he was the man who named Pennsylvania in honour of his father, the Englishman Sir William Penn. I mention Penn because he was a favourite of Charles II and James II, this relationship being instrumental in the formation of the English Crown colony of Pennsylvania during the 17th century.

FOREVER AMBER was sumptuously produced, with a pretty good cast; and as usual during the 30’s and 40’s, Hollywood’s depiction of British history was sympathetic, colourful and respectful, without necessarily being COMPLETELY factual. Based on mlw’s rating system, I would give the movie *** and the score an excellent ****.

Talking about this movie puts me in mind of another Hollywood movie set this time in 16th century England. 1953’s YOUNG BESS had a radiant Jean Simmons as the spirited future Queen Elizabeth I of England, a full-blooded performance from Charles Laughton as her father, Henry VIII, a delightful Deborah Kerr as Catherine Parr, and a brilliant Stewart Granger as Admiral of the Fleet Thomas Seymour, and the usual supporting cast of reliable Hollywood-based British supporting actors. Though this movie took many liberties with the letter of history, its sentiments were perfectly in keeping with the spirit of Britain’s imperial awakening. Elizabeth’s hunger to bolster the English fleet was born as much out of a resolute desire to compete with the French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese, as a need to colonize and Anglisize the globe.
Though I may be biased, to me YOUNG BESS was absolutely wonderful. A great tribute to the British people from the Hollywood filmmakers, some way removed from many of today’s rather lame politically correct movies chronicling Britain’s past exploits.

YOUNG BESS also had a fine score from Rosza, though in this case I would give the movie ****, and the score ***.

One memorable scene in YOUNG BESS had Laughton (playing Henry VIII) on his deathbed surrounded by family and staff. Elizabeth came forward and pledged to ensure Britain’s future naval supremacy, stating ‘after all, England has never been invaded’. Laughton shrugged his shoulders and reminded Bess of the Norman invasion of nearly five hundred years earlier (1066 AD). Bess confidently replied, ‘hah, they could only do it because they WERE US’. To this Laughton bellowed his approval, and died a happy man, safe in the knowledge that England’s future was safe in her hands.

Anyway, I just wanted to say how much *I* enjoyed FOREVER AMBER the movie, though I recognize and respect the negative opinions of others.

THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER (1944 movie **** score ***1/2) was just one of many spectacularly entertaining and evocative Hollywood movies set in England. WATERLOO BRIDGE (1939 movie ***** score *****), RANDOM HARVEST (1942 movie ***** score ***1/2) and MRS MINIVER (1942 movie ***** score ***) are just a few other Hollywood-made UK-set classics that spring to mind.

THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER prompted this insightful comment from the New York Times.

“This sterling silver picture…is such a tribute to English gentility as only an American studio would dare to make”.

Yes, a sentiment that could be applied to any number of other Hollywood classics.

THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER was a remarkable movie. A lovely score from the reliable Herbert Stothart saw that composer incorporate many British and American anthems, though in this case not THE BRITISH GRENADIERS. But there were plenty of other familiar and rousing themes, YANKEE DOODLE, LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY, THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN and so on. This movie was a magnificent celebration of what the peoples of the British Empire and the United States have in common, which is after all most everything.

Interestingly, all of the movies I have listed above were scored by Stothart, who rates 37th on my list of favourite composers. In each movie he incorporated existing familiar themes into his scores, using these well know anthems, such as Auld Lang Syne, to maximum emotional effect. WATERLOO BRIDGE is a particular favourite of mine. Here foggy London never looked more romantic, and Stothart’s tinkly saloon piano and accordian captured the musical essence of this most cosmopolitan of cities. Another favourite Stothart score of mine is his work on 1946’s UNDERCURRENT. The only British element to this movie was the casting of the tremendous Edmund Gwenn as the heroines’ father. Stothart’s work on this melodrama was stunning. Brahms provided the basic thematic material, and Stothart enhanced every scene with richly romantic and passionate underscoring.

Made during wartime, THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER cleverly worked as a superior propaganda piece also. However, the filmmakers went to great lengths to highlight the PERCEIVED differences that DO exist between the British and Americans, and in doing so exposed just how slight and petty those differences really are….differences born out of a two hundred year rivalry, prejudice and lack of awareness.

An extraordinary cast had Irene Dunne, playing an American on holiday in 1914 England, and Alan Marshal, as the young English aristocrat Sir John Ashwood, portraying the broadminded youngsters who marry. Fine though they were, Dunne and Marshal were outshone by typically brilliant performances from the wonderful Frank Morgan and the dominant C Aubrey Smith. Morgan, playing Dunne’s father, and Smith, playing a friend of Marshal’s family, represent the prejudiced and ‘set in their ways’ American and Englishman.

The movie begins with Dunne sighting the white cliffs of Dover and remarking, ‘…this is where America began….Virginia, the Mayflower, the Magna Carta, etc etc etc’. Whilst Dunne marvels at Britain’s history, the delightful curmudgeon Morgan can only say ‘it’s always raining in England’. One of the best, and funniest, scenes in the movie, had the entrenched Morgan heatedly debating British and American history with the stalwart Brit Smith over a game of chess. However, from this most unlikely beginning, the moviemakers convincingly portrayed the growing bond between these most conservative of gentlemen. In fact, by the time of his daughters’ wedding to the English Baronet, Morgan had this to say in his speech, ‘Any people who manage to collar one third of the world AND my daughter’s hand….can’t be all bad’. Likewise, Smith later warmly saluted the American forces as they paraded through London at the advent of their involvement in WW1.

The movie also boasted wonderful performances from Gladys Cooper and Dame May Whittey, and the rest of the primarily British cast included a young Roddy McDowall, Peter Lawford and Elizabeth Taylor. So many other familiar Hollywood-based British star character actors would have fitted snugly into this movie, from Donald Crisp to Reginald Owen to Lionel Atwill. Who could ever forget Atwill’s one armed police chief from 1939’s SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, or his tough talking New York police captain from 1935’s THE MURDER MAN. It was in THE MURDER MAN that Atwill uttered the following immortal dialogue. A reporter asked Atwill, playing Captain Cole, if he had any suspects yet for the murder of a businessman. Atwill replied, ‘we’ve got someone in mind’. The reporter then asked ‘who?’, to which Atwill replied ‘The man who fired the gun’.

Of the many memorable scenes in THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER, one of the best had Smith recalling a visit to Canada. Dunne interjects, ‘….oh yes, they’re the colonists who DIDN’T rebel against English rule….’.

That put me in mind of a letter from a resident of British Columbia that was published in the British newspaper The Daily Mail on Wed April 27th.

“In my town, the Union Jack flies every day outside our Royal Canadian Legion. We also sing God Save the Queen. In Canada, we appear to be more British in our loyalty than many in the UK”.

This broadly reflects my sentiments at mlw’s thread ‘What is YOUR anthem’. In recent decades,
the British people, especially the English, have been conditioned to play down their glorious history and to avoid jingoistic and patriotic practices. So much so, that you tend to find far more ‘British’ pride amongst the people of the former British Empire.

I suppose it is NOT politically correct to be a proud Briton these days. The odd thing is, time and time again throughout the past two hundred years, the British people, whatever ‘class’ they purportedly belong to, have proved themselves to be the most reasonable of people. The British learnt a valuable though painful lesson through its blunders and their autocracy that led to the loss of the 13 British American colonies. Since that time, the British have been fighting throughout the world to uphold the basic rights of an Englishman, born out of the Magna Carta in 1215AD.

I believe the British people SHOULD celebrate their rich history, whilst recognizing and learning from its numerous mistakes. I would say the same about any other nation’s history – celebrate the GOOD things, and learn from the BAD……it’s the best way forward. After all, it is not usually the PEOPLE of any given nation that do the BAD things, it is that country’s establishment.