Archive
NIGHT PASSAGE – Dimitri Tiomkin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producer Aaron Rosenberg decided that he wanted to cast the stars of Universal Pictures’ recent hits – “The Glenn Miller Story” (James Stewart) and “To Hell and Back” (Audie Murphy) – together in a Western. He saw an opportunity in the 1956 novel “Night Passage” by Norman A. Fox. Universal gave the green light; Rosenberg would manage production, Anthony Mann was tasked with directing, and Borden Chase was hired to write the screenplay. For the cast, James Stewart would star as Grant McLain, and Audie Murphy would co-star as the Utica Kid (Lee McLain). Joining them were Dan Duryea as Whitey Harbin, Diane Foster as Charlotte “Charlie” Drew, Elaine Stewart as Verna Kimball, Brandon de Wilde as Joey Adams, and Jay C. Flippen as Ben Kimball. Production went off the rails quickly when Mann left the project, believing that Audie Murphy was miscast and that the screenplay was weak. To his credit, his opinion was later validated by critics and the box office. Consequently, James Neilson was brought in to direct. Read more…
THE SEVENTH SIN – Miklós Rózsa
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM decided to remake the 1934 film “The Painted Veil,” updating the story’s 1930s setting to 1949 to showcase studio star Ava Gardner. David Lewis was assigned as producer with a $1.577 million budget, Ronald Neame was tasked with directing, and Arthur Laurents was engaged to adapt W. Somerset Maugham’s 1925 novel “The Painted Veil” for the screenplay, retitled The Seventh Sin. Things went south quickly, with Neame rejecting Laurents’ script and hiring Karl Tunberg to rewrite it. Producer Lewis soon lost faith in Neame, believing the film was pedestrian and insufficiently updated. He fired Neame mid-production, and Vincente Minnelli was brought in to complete the film. For the cast, Ava Gardner, for reasons unknown, was replaced by Eleanor Parker, who would star as Carol Carwin. She was joined by Bill Travers as Walter Carwin and George Sanders as Tim Waddington. Read more…
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER – Hugo Friedhofer
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1952, 20th Century Fox studio executives decided that they wanted to remake one of the most popular romantic films of all time – 1939’s “Love Affair,” which starred Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl were initially assigned to star in the remake, but the project stalled and did not regain traction until 1956, when Leo McCarey and Jerry Wald took over production with a $2.1 million budget. They chose to use the same screenplay as the 1939 film by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart. McCarey would also direct the film and brought in a splendid cast, including Cary Grant as Nicolo Ferrante, Deborah Kerr as Terry McKay, and Richard Denning as Kenneth Bradley. Read more…
GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL – Dimitri Tiomkin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producer Hal Wallis came upon a magazine article, “The Killer,” written in 1954 by George Scullin, which explored the relationship between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, as well as the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Despite the bloodbath, Wallis decided to take a gamble and purchased the film rights for $500. He took personal charge of production and secured a $2 million budget from Paramount Studios. Leon Uris was hired to write the screenplay, and John Sturges was tasked with directing. An exceptional cast was assembled, including Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp, Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, Rhonda Fleming as Laura Denbow, Jo Van Fleet as Kate Fisher, and John Ireland as Johnny Ringo. Read more…
BOY ON A DOLPHIN – Hugo Friedhofer
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
20th Century Fox executives made the decision to bring writer David Divine’s 1955 novel Boy on a Dolphin to the big screen, purchasing the film rights prior to publication. Sam Engel was assigned as producer with a $2.8 million budget, Ivan Moffat and Dwight Taylor were hired to write the screenplay, and Jean Negulesco was tasked with directing. Casting proved problematic, with Cary Grant dropping out at the last minute to comfort his ailing wife; Robert Mitchum then declined, and Alan Ladd was ultimately cast as Dr. James Calder. His co-star, Sophia Loren, who played Phaedra, was two inches taller than the diminutive Ladd and was forced to walk in a trench or have Ladd stand on a box to ensure she did not dwarf him. Joining them were Clifton Webb as Victor Parmelee, Jorge Mistral as Rhif, Laurence Naismith as Dr. Hawkins, and Piero Giagnoni as Nikko. Read more…
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL – Hugo Friedhofer
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
20th Century Fox studio executives made the decision to bring Francis Gwaltney’s popular WWII novel The Day the Century Ended (1955) to the big screen re-titled Between Heaven and Hell. They hired playwright Rod Serling, who served as a paratrooper in the Philippines during the war, to write the screenplay, several years before he would create pop culture history with his groundbreaking TV series The Twilight Zone. His voluminous script, which would have resulted in a nine-hour film, was rejected. Additional writers were brought in, with Harry Brown eventually crafting the final version. David Weisbart was assigned as producer with a $1.52 million budget, and Richard Fleischer was tasked with directing. The cast would include Robert Wagner as Private Sam Gifford, Terry Moore as Jenny Gifford, Broderick Crawford as Captain “Waco” Grimes, and Buddy Ebsen as Corporal Willie Crawford. Read more…
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN – James Bernard
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1956, having enjoyed success with their sci-fi film The Quatermass Xperiment the previous year, esteemed British film studio Hammer Film Productions decided to embark on an audacious new enterprise: resurrecting the horror film genre, which had suffered a decline after WWII. For their inaugural film, they decided to retell the story of Frankenstein. The threat of a lawsuit from Universal Pictures forced the studio to abandon using Boris Karloff as the Monster, shoot in black and white, change the film’s title, and rewrite the planned screenplay. Anthony Hinds was assigned as producer with a modest $270,000 budget, Jimmy Sangster was hired to write the screenplay, and Terence Fisher was given the reins to direct. The cast included Peter Cushing as Baron Victor von Frankenstein, joined by Christopher Lee as the Monster, Robert Urquhart as Paul Krempe, Hazel Court as Elizabeth, Valerie Gaunt as Justine, Noel Hood as Aunt Sophie, and Paul Hardtmuth as Professor Bernstein. Read more…
THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS – Franz Waxman
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Studio executive Jack Warner decided that the history-making tale of Charles A. Lindbergh’s pioneering transatlantic flight needed to be brought to the big screen. He assigned production to Leland Hayward with a $3 million budget, tasked Billy Wilder with directing (who also assisted with the screenplay), and hired screenwriters Charles Lederer and Wendell Mayes to adapt Lindbergh’s autobiographical account in his 1953 book The Spirit of St. Louis. Casting the lead role was problematic, as Warner’s choice of John Kerr was turned down by the actor, who was offended by Lindbergh’s pro-Nazi sympathies and antisemitism. James Stewart lobbied for the role and was chosen by Wilder despite Warner’s misgivings that, at 47 years of age, he was too old for the role, given that Lindbergh was 25 years old when he made the flight. Joining Stewart would be Murray Hamilton as Bud Gurney and Patricia Smith as Mirror Girl. Read more…
THE DAM BUSTERS – Leighton Lucas, Eric Coates
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In the late 1940s, interest arose in bringing the historic Dam Busters raid of WWII to the big screen. It took the publication of two books, Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson in 1944, followed by The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill in 1951, to catalyze production. Robert Clarke, the Head of Production at Associated British Picture Corporation, approached writer Paul Brickhill and the British Air Ministry. When the Ministry decided to support the project and offered four Lancaster bombers at low cost, Clarke purchased the screen rights from Brickhill for £5,000. Robert Clarke and W. A. Whittaker would oversee production with a £260,000 budget, Michael Anderson was tasked with directing, and R. C. Sherriff would write the screenplay, drawing inspiration from both books. A stellar cast was hired, with Richard Todd starring as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, joined by Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis, Patrick Barr as Captain Joseph “Mutt” Summers, Ernest Clark as Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane, Basil Sydney as Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris GOC-in-C, Stanley Van Beers as David Pye, Air Ministry Director of Scientific Research, and Ursula Jeans as Mrs. Molly Wallis. Read more…
LUST FOR LIFE – Miklós Rózsa
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1946 MGM purchased the film rights to Irving Stone’s 1934 biographical novel Lust for Life, about the tumultuous life of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The contract required production within ten years or ownership would revert to Stone, but the project languished until 1954, when actor Kirk Douglas purchased the rights with the intention of starring in and producing a film adaptation. Director Vincente Minnelli also sought to make a film about Van Gogh, which had long been a passion project of his. Eventually, all parties joined in common cause and the film proceeded to production by MGM, with John Houseman in charge and a $3.23 million budget. Minnelli was tasked with directing, and Kirk Douglas would star in the lead role of painter Vincent van Gogh. Joining him would be Anthony Quinn as Paul Gauguin and James Donald as Theo van Gogh. Read more…
WAR AND PEACE – Nino Rota
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
A film based on Leo Tolstoy’s epic 1869 novel War and Peace first surfaced in 1941 with aspirations by renown British producer Alexander Korda, but the project could not move into production because the Soviet Ministry of Culture would not cooperate. It would take thirteen more years for ambitious producer Dino De Laurentis to finally get the project off the ground. He would personally manage production using his own production company with a massive $6.0 million budget. Condensing the massive 1,225-page novel into a cogent screenplay for a 2.5 – 3.5-hour film was daunting with it going through several incarnations at the hands of eight writers, including director King Vidor. A stellar cast was assembled, including Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rostova, Henry Fonda as Count Pierre Bezukhov, Mel Ferrer as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, and Herbert Lom as Napoleon Bonaparte. Read more…
THE EMPEROR WALTZ – Victor Young
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In the late 1940s Billy Wilder was Paramount Pictures premier director, and Bing Crosby was the studio’s leading star. Wilder had always wanted to do a musical with Crosby, and found a story, which drew from an actual historical event, which eventually became this film: The Emperor Waltz. Valdemar Poulsen was a Danish inventor who demonstrated his magnetic recording device to Emperor Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in an audacious effort to secure financing for his invention. Charles Brackett was assigned production with a $3.8 million budget, Wilder would direct and Brackett and Wilder would write the screenplay. Bing Cosby would star as Virgil Smith, joined by Joan Fontaine as Countess Johanna Augusta Franziska, with Richard Haydn as Emperor Franz Josef, Roland Culver as Baron Holenia, and Sig Ruman as Dr. Zwieback. Read more…
FLYING TIGERS – Victor Young
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
By 1942 the United States was fully engaged in WWII and Republic Pictures management decided making a propaganda film to support the war effort would be both patriotic, and profitable. They decided to tell the tale of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), American civilian pilots who shipped out to China for the purpose of flying American P-40F fighter aircraft to aid Chinese allies fighting Japanese aggression. Edmund Grainger was placed in charge of production with a $900,000 budget, David Miller would direct, and Kenneth Gamet and Barry Trivers would write the screenplay. A fine cast was assembled, with John Wayne starring as Captain Jim Gordon, joined by John Carroll as “Woody” Jason, Anna Lee as Brooke Elliot, Paul Kelly as “Hap” Davis, Gordon Jones as “Alabama” Smith, Edmund MacDonsald as Blackie Bales and Mae Clarke as Verna Bales. Read more…
SILVER QUEEN – Victor Young
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1942 Paramount Pictures decided to approve for production, a western by Forrest Halsey and William Allen Johnston, which offered a story about a woman gambler. To implement their vision the purchased a package deal from Warner Brothers, who loaned them actors Pricilla Land and George Brent, along with director Lloyd Bacon. Independent producer Harry Sherman was assigned production and writers Cecile Kramer and Bernard Schubert would write the screenplay. George Brent would star as James Kincaid with Priscilla Lane as Coralie Adams. Joining them would be Bruce Cabot as Gerald Forsythe and Lynn Overman as Hector Bailey. For reasons I could not discover, Paramount in the end did not distribute the film. Instead, United Artists is listed as the production company, which suggests the film was one of several sold to United Artists from 1942 – 1943. Read more…
HOLD BACK THE DAWN – Victor Young
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The genesis of Hold Back the Dawn was writer Ketti Frings’ story, “Memo to a Movie Producer”. Paramount executives decided that the romantic drama would translate well to the big screen, and so paid $5,000 for the film rights. After the novel was published and well received, the working title of the movie was changed to the novel’s title, “Hold Back the Dawn”. Arthur Hornblow Jr. was assigned production, Mitchell Leisen was tasked with directing, and Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Richard Mailbaum wrote the screenplay. A stellar cast was hired, which included Charles Boyer as Georges Iscovescu, Olivia de Havilland as Emmy Brown, Paulette Goddard as Anita Dixon, Victor Francen as Van Den Lueken, and Walter Abel as Inspector Hammock. Read more…
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