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THIS ISLAND EARTH AND OTHER ALIEN INVASION FILMS – Various Composers
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Includes music from WAR OF THE SATELLITES by Walter Green, THIS ISLAND EARTH by Herman Stein, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS by Daniele Amfitheatrof, and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS by Ron Goodwin
THIS ISLAND EARTH
Universal-International’s producer William Alland well known for his penchant for Sci-Fi films, hired Joseph Newman to direct his latest project “This Island Earth”. Writers Franklin Coen and Edward O’Callaghan adapted a screenplay from ”Thrilling Wonder Stories”, three novelettes written by Raymond F. Jones. Principle actors Jeff Morrow (Exeter), Faith Domergue (Dr. Ruth Adams) and Rex Reason (Dr. Cal Meacham) were hired for the project. The story reveals the inhabitants of the planet Metaluna succumbing in their war with the plant Zahgon. Desperation leads them to Earth’s for its abundant uranium deposits, which they require to fuel their failing planetary shields, and for Earth’s greatest scientists whom they abduct to assist in their war efforts. The film earned praise for its story telling, cinematography and was also a commercial success. Read more…
Herman Stein, 1915-2007
Composer and arranger Herman Stein died at his home in Los Angeles on March 15, 2007, at the age of 91, from congestive heart failure.
One of the largely unsung architects of Universal’s science-fiction and horror sound of the 1950s, Stein contributed music to nearly 200 films and shorts, including It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, This Island Earth, Tarantula and The Incredible Shrinking Man. Much of his work went uncredited under the studio system, but his music became inseparable from a generation of monsters, aliens and atomic-age nightmares.
Stein was born in Philadelphia on August 19, 1915. A child prodigy, he began playing piano at three and was performing publicly by six. By his teens he was arranging professionally, eventually working in radio and with musicians including Count Basie, Bob Crosby and Fred Waring. After military service during World War II he moved to Los Angeles in 1948 and studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco before entering the film industry.
Universal-International hired Stein as an arranger in 1950 and promoted him to staff composer the following year. He worked alongside musicians including Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Frank Skinner and Irving Gertz, often dividing individual films between several composers. Studio music supervisor Joseph Gershenson generally received the principal screen credit, leaving Stein and his colleagues anonymous even when they had written substantial portions of a score. Read more…
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