Everyone has to make a living. I don’t begrudge anyone who punches a clock or devotes his/herself to a job that isn’t terribly rewarding. But I have special admiration for people who manage to pay the bills and still—often on the side, working nights and weekends—toil on projects that bring them pride and satisfaction. Ray Faiola is one such fellow.
A STAR IS BORN: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE by Ray Faiola (Screen Archives)
His latest endeavor is a CD of Max Steiner’s score for the 1937 version of this oft-remade Hollywood saga. He has drawn on the Steiner collection of acetate recordings which reside at Brigham Young University. The sound quality is surprisingly good and while the score is hardly one of Steiner’s best, it is still enjoyable to listen to. Being computer-savvy, Ray has gone one step further to illustrate the fate of the composer during the studio era in vintage Hollywood. By clicking on www.chelsearialtostudios.com/Star_is_Born.htm you can watch a number of scenes where micro-managing producer David O. Selznick changed the music, either by deleting it altogether, substituting cues from earlier Selznick films or manipulating elements used elsewhere in the movie. This puts us pretty deep in the weeds but it’s a fascinating exercise.
Steven C. Smith’s 1991 biography of the composer Bernard Herrmann: A Heart at Fire’s Center was nothing less than brilliant. In this meticulously researched book he traces the careers of the two men who collaborated successfully on eight movies, including such landmarks as Vertigo and Pyscho. A sadness hangs over the text for anyone even casually acquainted with their lives. They had a falling-out over the score to Torn Curtain that was never repaired. At issue was sheer stubbornness on the part of the composer and a blind eye (and ear) on Hitchcock’s side. Readers who aren’t musically savvy may skip over some of Smith’s detailed discussions of Herrmann’s work but there are many insights and revelations that make this volume worthwhile for any film buff. The author also delves into the long-ignored scores that Herrmann composed for Hitchcock’s TV series in the 1960s.
LAUREL AND HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS: VOLUME TWO (Kit Parker Films)
The fact that this Blu-ray disc exists at all would be reason enough to cheer. The Laurel and Hardy shorts made for producer Hal Roach have been mistreated (and in some cases left to rot) over the years. Now they look and sound better than ever. That’s a gift to lifelong fans of L&H like me. But never in my wildest dreams could I have anticipated seeing new L&H footage—that is, material that was new to me. Did you know there were silent versions of Brats and Blotto that were earmarked for theaters (mostly overseas) which hadn’t installed sound equipment yet? Here they are, with new piano scores by Andrew Simpson. Producer Jeff Joseph has found a Ship’s Reporter conversation with Stan and “Babe” from 1952 that provides a rare opportunity to see Stan and Babe out of character, and full of compliments for each other. There is even a short intended for European and African audiences in which the two comics tout the star lineup at MGM. In this surviving print they are dubbed in French!
As for the restorations of longtime favorites, I gasped at the picture quality of such early talkies as Men O’ War, which has been mangled badly in the years since it was made, and Perfect Day, which looks so vivid I felt as if I was standing right alongside the cameraman in Culver City. Commentaries by Richard W. Bann and Randy Skretvedt deliver welcome background information about all of the films and their variant editions. Kudos to all the individuals and institutions that have done right by Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
JOAN CRAWFORD: A WOMAN’S FACE by Scott Eyman (Simon & Schuster)
This is the latest in a series of superb biographies from this seasoned writer. His research is so thorough and his observations so keen that most of his books—on John Wayne, Cary Grant, John Ford and other Hollywood notables—deserve to be considered “definitive.” Where another biographer might have left off, in the final years of Crawford’s life, he moves in closer and provides shading and nuance. His assessments of her films—both good and bad—are also valuable. No one else can conjure up the atmosphere of Hollywood’s golden age as skillfully. It’s a pleasure to read A Woman’s Face and it may well inspire you to reexamine some of the star’s neglected movies.
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (Intrada CD)
Film music aficionados often hail the work of such masterful composers as Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Frank Skinner’s name is rarely mentioned and isn’t considered to be in the same league. But listening to the music he composed for this all-time favorite hybrid of horror and humor, it’s impossible to be dismissive of his talent. That also goes for conductor William T. Stromberg, who along with his late partner John W. Morgan has restored and re-recorded many vintage scores, in this case with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Listening to this music will immediately bring the 1948 Universal picture to mind and put a smile on your face. A successful Kickstarter campaign funded this endeavor and it’s a pleasure to listen to…and recommend. As a bonus, there are orchestral cues from Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, composed by Universal-International workhorses William Lava, Herman Stein, and a young Henry Mancini.
Tom Weaver is one of the O.G.s who has never lost his enthusiasm for sci-fi, horror and fantasy films of the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, which in some circles makes him a Monster Kid. (I also fit the description.) He has been tracking down and talking to people who made or appeared in genre films for decades, and his interview compendiums, published by McFarland, are unique and invaluable. One might be forgiven for thinking that he has scraped the bottom of the barrel by now, but one would be wrong. His latest volume includes conversations with June Lockhart, who only made one horror movie—She-Wolf of London (1946)—but provides a clear-eyed account of what it was like working on a low-budget Universal Picture, and a wonderfully evocative picture of her famous acting family. Garry Lockwood is refreshingly candid as he relates how he stumbled into an acting career. Jimmy Lydon discusses his work behind the camera, working as a producer for Jack Warner alongside William Conrad. I picked up this book for a quick browse and before I knew it, 90 minutes had flown by.
WORLDS TO CONQUER: THE ART AND MAKING OF FANTASIA by J.B. Kaufman (Owen Weldon)
J.B. Kaufman is yet another heroic author whose research skills are truly awesome. In this handsome oversized volume he traces the history of Walt Disney’s most ambitious and experimental animated feature. The studio has opened its archives to Kaufman, who has proven his worth as a trusted Disney documentarian. You will see photos that have never been published before and read first-hand accounts of how the segments of what was originally known as The Concert Feature came to life. It’s said that the devil is in the details, and Kaufman has plenty to share, devilish or not. I thought I knew a fair amount about the “Nutcracker Suite” sequence in this film, but I never dreamed that animator Art Babbitt found inspiration for the bumbling little mushroom in Curly Howard of the Three Stooges! That’s just one nugget in a goldmine of discoveries. No one will ever top this ultimate guide to a one-of-a-kind movie.
