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SHANE – Victor Young
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director George Stevens of Paramount often relied on his son to screen material for future projects. One night George Jr. brought him the novel “Shane” by Jack Schaefer, which he thought was “a really good story”, and counseled him to read it. Well, the storytelling was indeed exceptional and Stevens resolved to bring it to the big screen. He hired A. B. Guthrie Jr. to write the screenplay based on his familiarity with Western lore, and then set out to recruit his cast. His initial choices for the lead roles of Montgomery Clift, William Holden and Katherine Hepburn did not pan out, and so Alan Ladd was cast in the titular role and joined with a fine supporting cast, which included Jean Arthur as Marian Starrett, Van Heflin as Joe Starrett, Brandon deWilde as Joey Starrett, Emile Meyer as Rufus Ryker, and Jack Palance as Jack Wilson. Read more…
VICTOR YOUNG – Fathers of Film Music, Part 8
Article by Craig Lysy
Born: 8 August 1899, Chicago, Illinois
Died: 10 November 1956
Victor Young’s early life was not an ordinary one by any measure. He was born of Jewish heritage into a family with musical talent; his father William being a successful tenor in Joseph Sheehan’s touring Opera Company. Sadly, following the untimely death of his mother in 1909, Young and his sister Helen were abandoned by their father. Undeterred, he and his sister embarked on a truly remarkable journey that would take them back to their family’s ancestral homeland of Poland, then a dominion of the Russian Empire, where their grandparents lived. Young’s grandparents were ecstatic at their return and lovingly raised them as their own. Victor’s musical gift was recognized quickly and his grandfather provided him with a violin, which he began playing in earnest at the age of ten. Young quickly mastered the instrument by the age of thirteen and gained acclaim as a prodigy. His grandfather fostered his education, enrolling him in the prestigious Warsaw Imperial Conservatory where he would study the violin under Isador Lotto, achieving the Diploma of Merit. Additional studies in Paris included study of the piano under the tutelage of Isidor Philipp. Read more…
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