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Miklos Rozsa... I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! CAN SOMEONE CONFIRM THIS?!?!?

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Author	Topic: Miklos Rozsa... I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! CAN SOMEONE CONFIRM THIS?!?!?

Lonely Guy Oscar® Winner	I just got through reading Rozsa's autobiography and in it he wrote that he wrote the score to The Green Berets!!! I've never seen the movie so can someone tell me if this is true? It just doesn't seem like a movie Rozsa would have scored! I'll be speechless if this is true! Thanks! Jim
posted 05-05-2000 12:47 PM PT (US)

Chase&August unregistered	I believe that is indeed true, though I haven't seen the film in years. But I'm 99.99% certain.
posted 05-05-2000 12:54 PM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Oscar® Winner	Yes, this is true, Miklos Rozsa wrote the score. I believe it was because John Wayne specifically wanted Rozsa for this score. [This message has been edited by Nicolai P. Zwar (edited 05 May 2000).]
posted 05-05-2000 12:55 PM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	What, you think that a guy who could do The Lost Weekend and Ben-Hur couldn't do a war flick? YES, THAT WAS OUR ROZSA, LONELY GUY! The famous ballad was written & performed by ex-Beret Barry Sadler; 'twas the #1 seller in '68 (?) or thereabouts.
posted 05-05-2000 12:58 PM PT (US)

Luscious Lazlo Oscar® Winner	Howard, you're so pathetic. Everyone & his Uncle Orville knows that Ballad of the Green Berets came out in 1966. Sure, it was popular---but it can't hold a candle to The Lovin' Spoonful's soundtrack for What's Up, Tiger Lily. Also from 1966.
posted 05-05-2000 02:23 PM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	Whaddaya think I am, a minsk-a-pinsk? Didn't ya see the question mark (?)?. All's I know is the Ballad hit the top of the charts & stayed there. Reminds of the way "Those Were the Days", "Winchester Cathedral", "Oh Happy Day" & "Love is Blue" damn near did the same back then in those GREAT rock 'n rolling British invading Motown blowing 60s.
posted 05-05-2000 03:22 PM PT (US)

Luscious Lazlo Oscar® Winner	Those Were the Days. Written by Paul McCartney before he turned into a pod-person. (I'm quoting Dave Barry.) Love Is Blue. I assume you're referring to the version done by The Paul Mauriat Orchestra. The one with the mod-a-go-go harpsichord. Fantastic arrangement.
posted 05-05-2000 03:42 PM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	Bingo.
posted 05-05-2000 03:44 PM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	Love Is Blue...I wore out several needles on my record player with that one 45. Lonely Guy, WHY are you so shocked that Rozsa scored The Green Berets? And haven't you ever heard of the Internet Movie Database? Howard, stop saying "All's I know". It's annoying.
posted 05-05-2000 06:44 PM PT (US)

Valere Oscar® Winner	Among the many scores that the Dr. did for MGM during the War Years,was "Command Decision" with Gable and Van Johnson,& Walt Pigeon.Nice score,spare,and warlike,his score for the GREEN BERETS has a Sinbad/Asian flavor like the Thief of Bagdad types of scores.I love this guy's music. the best,I guess. NP:Moross' The War Lord ****/*** [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).] [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).]I have to edit/'cause I can't/spell/type! [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).]
posted 05-05-2000 07:07 PM PT (US)

Valere Oscar® Winner	quote: Originally posted by Valere: Among the many scores that the Dr. did for MGM during the War Years,was "Command Decision" with Gable and Van Johnson,& Walt Pigeon.Nice score,spare,and warlike,his score for the GREEN BERETS has a Sinbad/Asian flavor like the Thief of Bagdad types of scores.I love this guy's music. the best,I guess. NP:Moross' The War Lord ****/* [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).] [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).]I have to edit/'cause I can't/spell/type! [This message has been edited by Valere (edited 05 May 2000).]**
posted 05-05-2000 07:13 PM PT (US)

Valere Oscar® Winner	OOPPSS!! Sorry! DID not know that I could do that!
posted 05-05-2000 07:15 PM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	BAD VALERE, BAD!
posted 05-05-2000 08:23 PM PT (US)

PeterD Oscar® Winner	Speaking of Rozsa, if you've never heard his score for "Plymouth Adventure," and you have access to Turner Classic Movies, you might want to set your VCR for 6 a.m. (Eastern time) this Sunday morning, when TCM is showing the movie. Not a very good movie, but a very impressive score. I've just bought the Tickertape CD, and the sound quality seems pretty decent, at least to my ears.
posted 05-05-2000 11:57 PM PT (US)

Lonely Guy Oscar® Winner	CHRIS:Why was I shocked to learn that Rozsa did the Green Berets? I guess it's because just about everything I've ever heard from him (Which ain't much!) always sounded like The Golden Voyage of Sinbad! Mind you, that's not a slant against Rozsa. Though, ironically, Valere confirmed the "sinbad sound" description! Howard: Ah...yes! Those were the days was a great song! I can still hear those lyrics.. Boy, the way Glenn Miller played, Songs that made the hit parade, Guys like us, we had it made, Those were the days!! But seriously, I just read this book on the Beatles about a month ago and it floored me when I learned that Paul wrote that song! And Love is Blue; I was just a wee lad when that came out as well, I loved that song and always will!
posted 05-06-2000 07:09 AM PT (US)

Swashbuckler Oscar® Winner	Lonely Guy, if it's Rozsa you're looking for, I say pick up the Charles Gerhardt disc on RCA. It's a good place to start, and you will get to hear Rozsa's noir sound as well, including the grandpappy of all noir scores, "Double Indemnity."
posted 05-06-2000 07:55 AM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	"And Love is Blue; I was just a wee lad when that came out as well, I loved that song and always will!" Lonely Guy, you keep saying things like "I was just a wee lad when that came out" and you will no longer be 'da man' (see "Fact or Fiction?"/UNPLUGGED; currently out-of-print). "Howard, stop saying 'All's I know'. It's annoying." Undoubtedly you have spoken to the printer about it earlier; nevertheless Mr. K, I HUMBLY and OBEDIENTLY thank you for the Cliche' Alert. --Oh, and HAVE A GOOD DAY!
posted 05-06-2000 10:00 AM PT (US)

JEC Oscar® Winner	So why has there never been a soundtrack release?
posted 05-06-2000 12:15 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Yes, he did do the dramatic underscore for the film. The Green Berets tune was arranged and orchestrated for the film. That is by the Sadler fellow. The rest of it was by Rozsa. It consisted mostly of a semi-slow march for the Berets some humorous music for Hamchuck, some suspense music for the booby trap scenes and some other oriental sounding action music in a few scenes. The main theme in it I remember, is a semi-march for the Berets. Best, John.
posted 05-06-2000 09:50 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Oscar® Winner	Originally The Green Berets was offered to Elmer Bernstein who had scored other John Wayne films. But Bernstein was, as he described himself once, "a leftie", and didn't want to do this film about Vietnam. I believe it was Bernstein who suggested Rozsa to Wayne. It's an odd pairing to be sure, but the score is Rozsa. Why no soundtrack album? Don't have an answer, but my guess is that some joker probably didn't think it would sell. NP: Behold a Pale Horse (Maurice Jarre)
posted 05-07-2000 01:17 AM PT (US)

Lonely Guy Oscar® Winner	Hey Howard! What did you mean? I must REALLY be a wee lad cuz I have no earthly idea what yous is talkin' 'bout! Later! Jim
posted 05-07-2000 10:19 AM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Love is Blue was the big instrumental hit along in that time period played on the radio all the time. A good tune. Best, John.
posted 05-07-2000 06:30 PM PT (US)

Greg Bryant Oscar® Winner	About four years ago, I did an paper and presentation on how the movies portray history. Anyway, I included an analysis of the Green Berets and Vietnam; I also showed cuts from the film, including the main title song. I handed out copies of the lyrics. We had some fun with a sing-along.
posted 05-08-2000 08:54 AM PT (US)

Boris Oscar® Winner	Greg: Would you like your merit badge NOW, or at the Jamboree?
posted 05-17-2000 08:40 PM PT (US)

S Smith unregistered	Elmer's a leftie? Dang. Guess I gotta burn all of my Bernstein stuff. Just kidding. [This message has been edited by S Smith (edited 18 May 2000).]
posted 05-18-2000 11:44 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Oscar® Winner	Yeah, I find it odd that Elmer is a liberal considering how "right wing" half of his music is. Somewhere Elmer recounts the story of his first meeting John Wayne when scoring The Commancheros and Wayne chewing him out over his politics (Wayne's first meeting with the gay Lawrence Harvey on The Alamo is still the classic though). Nevertheless, they worked together on a number of pictures (why Elmer didn't score Rio Lobo and Goldsmith did has always been a mystery to me). I've never heard Bernstein's musical How Now Dow Jones, but with a title like that I don't expect it to be a rousing support of capitalism. In any case, a composer's politics shouldn't matter if you like the music. I mean I could understand if you're a conservative and have problems with Kurt Weill or Alban Berg or Marc Blitzstein, but Elmer??!!?? NP: I Dreamed of Africa (Maurice Jarre)
posted 05-19-2000 01:55 AM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	Actually, "How Now Dow Jones" has very little to do with Wall Street in terms of making poltical/social statements, using it more as a setting for a somewhat silly conventional 60s Broadway romance bit. The original cast recording has recently been released on CD, with its most memorable number Tony Roberts' "Step To The Rear." The show itself got a critical lambasting in Ken Mandelbaum's wonderful book about flop Broadway musicals "Not Since Carrie" which offers the most detailed summary of the show's history you'll find. Compared to other flops, it actually lasted about longer, almost six months and did get a few Tony nominations. It's 60s topicality though makes it unworkable from a revival standpoint.
posted 05-19-2000 09:17 PM PT (US)

S Smith unregistered	Yep. I was just kidding about burning Elmer's music. I figure if I burned all of my CDs that were done by...um...shall we say "left-leaning" people, I wouldn't have any CDs left. And your right. Politics shouldn't matter. And they don't. Tim Robbins is way out in left field (so to speak) and I like his stuff. Except for the gosh-awful "Cradle Will Rock." Anyway, enough of that rant. NP: Toru Takemitsu: "The Film Music of Toru Takemitsu"
posted 05-20-2000 12:48 AM PT (US)

PeterD Oscar® Winner	So, Lou, what's the story about Wayne's first meeting with Laurence Harvey? I've never heard that one . . .
posted 05-20-2000 07:24 AM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	'S probably not all that different from his first meeting with Montgomery Clift. But damn, Red River was SOME flick.
posted 05-20-2000 02:57 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Yes, but the Alamo movie, even though I like a lot of the scenes in it and some of the actors, is way off historically. About 3,000 errors as usual in these kinds of films. John.
posted 05-20-2000 04:42 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Oscar® Winner	Eric--I've never actually heard How Now Dow Jones so I knew nothing of its content. Now I'm curious about the Duke's first meeting with Montgomery Clift because I've never heard that one... The Alamo meeting supposedly went something like this: Duke meets Harvey for the first time either on set or on-location and says, "Well if it isn't Lawrence Harvey the fairy" and then Harvey goes up to Wayne and kisses him on the lips.
posted 05-20-2000 11:50 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Here are some other interesting tidbits about the Alamo: Chill Wills made everyone mad with his politicking for the AA after he was nominated. Richard Widmark and John Wayne didn't hit it off too well when filming started. He called him Dick and Widmark didn't like it. Quinn Big Boy Williams, star of the 1929 Noah's Ark film, mostly silent, except for last reel, plays the fat soldier in the film. AMC showed all the cut scenes in a complete showing awhile back. I see why they were cut. They were awful. One scene had Patrick Wayne sitting at a table and he was just horrible. Another had Ken Curtis singing a song to a baby, that did not fit the film. Silly and several other ludicrous scenes. It was too long anyway. You can see the hose on the end of Widmark's gun in a couple of scenes. Also, after Harvey is killed you see him move his hand so it won't get stepped on as the Mexicans rush by. Best, John.
posted 05-22-2000 04:50 PM PT (US)

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