Archive
ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI – David Raksin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM Studios decided that Bernard DeVoto’s 1947 novel “Across the Wide Missouri,” which dealt with the lives of Rocky Mountain fur traders in the Upper Missouri River basin during the 1830s, could be successfully adapted for a big screen presentation. The film rights were purchased and Robert Sisk was assigned production with a $2.22 million budget. Talbot Jennings was hired to write the screenplay, and William Wellman was tasked with directing. A fine cast was assembled, which included Clark Gable as Flint Mitchell, Ricardo Montalbán as Ironshirt, John Hodiack as Brecan, James Whitmore as Old Bill, Adolphe Menjou as Pierre, and Maria Elena Marqués as Kamiah. Read more…
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL – David Raksin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM executives came across a magazine story “Of Good and Evil” by author George Bradshaw, which was expanded into a full story titled “Memorial to a Bad Man”. They believed this riveting character driven drama offered a potent narrative that would be perfect for the big screen. The studio purchased the film rights and assigned renown producer John Housman with production and a budget of $1.56 million. Charles Schnee was hired to write the screenplay and Vincente Minnelli was tasked with directing. A very talented cast was assembled, which included; Kirk Douglas as Jonathan Shields, Dick Powell as James Lee Bartlow, Walter Pidgeon as Harry Pebbel, Barry Sullivan as Fred Amiel, Lana Turner as Georgia Lorrison, Gloria Grahame as Rosemary Bartlow and Gilbert Roland as Victor “Gaucho” Ribera. Read more…
THE MAGNIFICENT YANKEE – David Raksin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1949 MGM studio executives were seeking a biopic of a famous American for their next film. They decided that the 1946 play The Magnificent Yankee by Emmet Lavery, which had a Broadway theatrical run of 159 performances would be their choice. Armand Deutsch was placed in charge of production with a $1.03 million budget, Emmet Lavery was hired to adapt his play for the film, and John Sturges was tasked with directing. Veteran stage and screen actor Louis Calhern was cast as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Joining him would be Ann Harding as Fanny Bowditch Holmes, Eduard Franz as Justice Louis Brandeis, and Philip Ober as Owen Wister. Read more…
FOREVER AMBER – David Raksin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Kathleen Winsor’s novel Forever Amber proved to be a sensational success with the public, one fully noticed by the major movie studios. 20th Century Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck moved quickly to secure the film rights paying an astounding $200,000 to Winsor. Writing the screenplay proved to be torturous with Winsor and then Jerome Cady failing to adapt the massive novel in a way that would gain approval by the National League of Decency. Ultimately the team of Philip Dunne and Ring Lardner Jr. succeeded. William Perlberg was assigned to produce the film with a budget of $3 million and John M. Stahl was tasked with directing. The project went off the rails immediately when star Peggy Cummins collapsed on the set. After a three-month delay, she was pulled from the lead role, Stahl was assigned to another project and the studio found itself $1 million in the hole. Otto Preminger was brought in to direct and salvage the project and a new cast assembled, which included Linda Darnell as Amber St. Clair, Cornel Wilde as Bruce Carlton, Richard Greene as Lord Harry Almsbury, and George Sanders as King Charles II of England. Read more…
LAURA – David Raksin
100 GREATEST SCORES OF ALL TIME
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director Otto Preminger came upon a story authored by Vera Caspary titled “Ring Twice Laura” which he sought for a theatrical release on Broadway. He was attracted to the high society setting and plot twist. Unfortunately the project never came to fruition. Caspary later expanded the story into a novel, with the sequel titled, “Laura”. 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights for both and Darryl Zanuck tasked Preminger with producing the film – they had clashed in the past and he out of spite would not allow Preminger to direct. After repeated clashes between Preminger and Director Rouben Mamoulian over casting Laird Creagar for the pivotal Waldo Lydecker role, Zannuck relented, fired Mamoulian and turned over the directing duties to Preminger. He immediately brought is a fine cast, which included Gene Tierney as Laura Hunt, Dana Andrews as Detective Mark McPherson, Clifton Webb as Waldo Lydecker, Judith Anderson as Ann Treadwell, Vincent Price as Shelby Carpenter and Dorothy Adams as Bessie Clary. Read more…
DAVID RAKSIN – Fathers of Film Music, Part 10
Article by Craig Lysy
Born: 4 August 1912, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Died: 9 August 2004.
David Raksin was of Russian Jewish heritage; the eldest of three sons born in Philadelphia after his parents had emigrated to America. He was blessed with a musical family as his father Isidore played the clarinet professionally while also writing and conducting music for silent films. Isidore encouraged his son’s nascent talents and instructed him in both the piano and woodwinds. Well, young David was a quick study and by age twelve he had formed his own dance band, which he later expanded for broadcasting on the local CBS radio station, WCAU. During high school his talent earned him steady employment playing the clarinet for professional dance bands. Remarkably, he taught himself orchestration and received a bona fide Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. Upon graduation he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania to study composition under Harl McDonald. He paid for his education by playing in society bands and radio orchestras. He also both arranged and conducted the first programs of improvised jazz at football games, for which he won several prizes. Read more…
David Raksin, 1912-2004
Composer David Raksin died on August 9, 2004, in Los Angeles, after a short illness. He was 92.
Raksin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August 1912. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. He worked as an arranger for Charlie Chaplin on the score for Modern Times in 1936 when he was just 24 years old, and soon after began a long career as a composer for studio films.
With a career spanning more than six decades, Raksin composed music for over 100 films and numerous television programs, earning a reputation for melodic sophistication and dramatic sensitivity. His theme for the 1944 classic Laura is often cited as one of the most memorable in film history, and became a popular standard, with lyrics later added by Johnny Mercer. Raksin’s theme song for the 1953 film The Bad and the Beautiful (also called “Love is For the Very Young”) was also a hit.
Rakin’s other major composing credits include Forever Amber (1947), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Force of Evil (1948), Whirlpool (1950), The Magnificent Yankee (1950), Across the Wide Missouri (1951), The Big Combo (1955), Bigger Than Life (1956), Separate Tables (1958), and Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), among many others. He received two Academy Award nominations and numerous honors for his work, which was admired for its lyrical beauty, harmonic depth, and keen dramatic sense. One of his last major scores was for the critically acclaimed nuclear holocaust-themed TV drama The Day After in 1983. Read more…
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