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THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS – Irving Berlin, Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
20th Century Fox wanted to showcase their bombshell star Marilyn Monroe in a musical. She was under suspension for violating her contract when she refused to star in the musical “The Girl In Pink Tights”. When they offered her the starring role again for There’s No Business Like Show Business she initially refused again, but eventually relented when she was promised a starring role in “The Seven Year Itch”, and her weekly salary raised to $3,000 a week. Sol Siegel was assigned production with a $4.3 million budget, Walter Lang was tasked with directing, and writers Phoebe and Henry Ephron would adapt Lamar Trotti’s story. A cast for the ages was assembled, with Marilyn Monroe starring as Victoria Parker, joined by Ethel Merman as Molly Donohue, Donald O’Connor as Tim Donohue, Dan Dailey as Terrence Donohue, Johnny Ray as Steve Donohue, and Mitzi Gaynor as Katie Donohue. Read more…
Remembering Lionel Newman, 1916-1989
Composer, conductor, arranger and music executive Lionel Newman died in Los Angeles ten years ago today, on February 3, 1989, at the age of 73, following a heart attack.
A member of Hollywood’s extraordinary Newman musical dynasty, he spent more than four decades at 20th Century Fox, eventually becoming senior vice president of music. Newman received 11 Academy Award nominations and won for his adaptation of Hello, Dolly! in 1970.
Newman was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 4, 1916, the youngest of several musically gifted brothers, including composers Alfred and Emil Newman. He began working professionally while still a teenager, conducted for producer Earl Carroll and spent several years accompanying Mae West before following Alfred to Hollywood. In 1943 he joined 20th Century Fox as a rehearsal pianist and gradually progressed through the studio’s music department as conductor, composer, arranger and musical supervisor.
As an original composer, Newman worked on films including Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), Road House (1948), Love Me Tender (1956), The Proud Ones (1956), April Love (1957) and North to Alaska (1960). His song “Again,” written with Dorcas Cochran for Road House, became a popular standard, while Love Me Tender, Elvis Presley’s screen debut, demonstrated Newman’s ability to work comfortably within the changing musical world of 1950s Hollywood. Read more…
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