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Was it Alfred or Lionel?

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Author	Topic: Was it Alfred or Lionel?

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	I caught a few mins. of the sappy, silly and dumb How to Marry a Millionaire on AMC one night. The prelude has around 8 mins of music on the front of the film with a orchestra and they are playing Street Scene, a complete suite of all the themes from the original film in 1931 in concert form. Who is the conductor? It appears to me to be Alfred. Many of us know he was in They Shall Have Music as conductor, but was he also in this prelude? It appears so. Any comments or input? The film was stupid. The rest of the score in the movie was reworked adaptations of Street Scene by Lionel supposedly. Best, John.
posted 06-24-2000 07:10 AM PT (US)

DANIEL2 unregistered	John C Winfrey It was Alfred.
posted 06-24-2000 09:57 AM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	It looked like it to me too. Thanks, JW.
posted 06-24-2000 10:01 AM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	The entire composition remains indelible in my mind's ear. Nice discussion about it and the Gershwinesque feel and how it & the opening/closing of Rozsa's The Lost Weekend, et al. put you in the New York frame of mind--on the "other" 'board.
posted 06-24-2000 10:47 AM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	I have heard many versions of this over the years, but after having seen the film not too long ago I was interested to hear all the various cues incorporated into this suite. Most of those you hear don't include all the cues in concert form like that one did. The original film only has around 7 mins of music or so including one short action cue for the murders but has around four different themes in it. Most of the suites we have recorded have three of those. The 1953 prelude had it all. The brief score for Dead End also has this feel to it for the big city. Best, John.
posted 06-24-2000 01:09 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Next time its on AMC I'll have to tape that prelude.
posted 06-24-2000 01:12 PM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	Boy we're on a roll, I too was thinking of Dead End...although I may be getting the opening cue mixed up with the one from A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Anyway, that original Street Scene film from '31 is fascinating to see from a historical retrospect when you think of its "melting pot" core, i.e. "slice of life" subplots and all. I remember the dramatic corps in H.S. did the play when I was a sophomore. Fascinated me even then, too.
posted 06-24-2000 02:19 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Yes, Howard I like both films a lot. Both classics. Those films back then have a certain charm to them. Daily Bread and many others also. I find so many of those early films interesting in the beginning of the sound era. I am not so much into the musicals though with exception of a few like Roman Scandals, Reaching for the Moon and a few others. Most of them I don't care for. Best, John.
posted 06-24-2000 02:51 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Oh yes, the opening music for Tree is that nickeoleon type stuff that he uses as source in several films. Best. John.
posted 06-24-2000 02:52 PM PT (US)

DANIEL2 unregistered	John C Winfrey I loved ROMAN SCANDALS….apart from Cantor’s funny performance and the amazing Busby Berkeley numbers, it was great to see Alan Mowbray and Edward Arnold in such fine form. Those early 30s films really had an energy and magic of their own, I suppose much of them were perhaps pre-Hays code and therefore maybe had a more ‘honest’ feel…..certainly some of the dialogue was really snappy….BOMBSHELL is a great example, this movie had everything, Jean Harlow, Pat O’Brien, Frank Morgan, C Aubrey Smith, and a manic wise-cracking Lee Tracy (brilliant final performance in 1964’s THE BEST MAN as well). I saw 42nd STREET again recently….absolute classic with a great performance from one of my all time favourites, Warner Baxter…..they really don’t make ‘em like that anymore. And Alfred Newman’s wonderful Street Scene theme is like a 40’s Fox noir anthem….I think we’ve talked about this before. By the way, with HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, it was Cyril Mockridge who ‘applied’ Newman’s Street Scene thematic material just as he did in the excellent 1950 noir WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS….perhaps the best and most complete use of Newman’s Street Scene theme as dramatic score. And I agree with you, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE wasn’t a very good film, but it was worth watching for those opening 8 minutes.
posted 06-24-2000 04:15 PM PT (US)

John C Winfrey Oscar® Winner	Daniel, you may call me John. Its okay you know. Yes, I have seen the Where the Sidewalk Ends also. Good film and yes I noticed Street Scene in it too with Lionel and Mockridge in the credits. Mockridge used a lot of Newman music over the years including the Young Mr. Lincoln music in Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I am sure you are aware that Alfred did the theme music for Bravados and that Hugo F., Lionel and Bernard Kaun all have music credits on various prints of the film. Strange, huh? Best, John.
posted 06-24-2000 06:50 PM PT (US)

DANIEL2 unregistered	Thanks John. Yes, that BRAVADOS situation is really odd….even Emil is also credited with musical direction. Nice of you to mention Alfred’s YOUNG MR LINCOLN theme, yes I remember it being reused in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE….very appropriate and very welcome. Whilst we’re talking about Alfred I just wanted to mention my favourite score of his (apart from the incredible and Mahlerian SONG OF BERNADETTE)…..THE PRESIDENT’S LADY….a very good film, with an absolutely fantastic score…not just the beautiful thematic material, but the way Alfred applies his music.
posted 06-25-2000 04:15 AM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	Phew. The talk of Eddie Cantor/Roman Scandals has me thinking of Thank Your Lucky Stars. Had a million of 'em, that's for sure. Nothing like John Garfield singing "Blues in the Night"!
posted 06-25-2000 09:41 AM PT (US)

DANIEL2 unregistered	Or Errol's 'That's What You Jolly Well Get'.
posted 06-25-2000 09:57 AM PT (US)

Howard L Oscar® Winner	He had a great look on his face.
posted 06-25-2000 10:05 AM PT (US)

DANIEL2 unregistered	And Bette had a twinkle in her eye as she sang 'They're Either Too Young Or Too Old'.
posted 06-25-2000 10:25 AM PT (US)

Brian Mellies unregistered	No one seemed to pick up on the "why" of the orchestral prelude. This was the first film in CinemaScope, which incorporated the then very novel stereophonic sound. The idea was to showcase the huge screen and the greatly improved sound in the few theaters capable of showing it. Now before you all go berzerk, yes, I know that "The Robe" was the first film released in CinemaScope. "How To Marry A Millionaire" was in the can quite a while before "The Robe" was ready for release. Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of Fox at the time, felt (rightly so, I think) "Millionaire" might not be an adequate vehicle to showcase Fox's new, and very expensive, system. So he held up its' release so that "The Robe" would be released first. Of course, it didn't hurt that "The Robe" was Zanuck own production and "Millionaire", of course, wasn't. So the world was forced to wait just a little longer to see Marilyn Monroe in her true, bigger than life, 2.55x1 wide screen splendor.
posted 07-05-2000 06:35 PM PT (US)

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