Viewing Single Post From: Hollywood Heritage Museum

Viewing Single Post From: Hollywood Heritage Museum
mort bakaprevski	May 15 2009, 08:17 AM
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	You know, I sincerely wish I had never brought up Mr. Skredtvedt’s appearance. It certainly wasn’t particularly germane to the subject and, more importantly, I’m in the VAST minority on this subject. Most people seem to love his tome. My dissatisfaction is based on the following: 1) The book’s greatest strength is its greatest weakness. Mr. Skredtvedt rightfully takes great pride in the number of interviews he had with people who actually worked at the lot of fun. The trouble is, he tends to give the interviewees much more credit for things than those who were unavailable (usually because of death). Case in point is Marvin Hatley. Hatley was musical director at Roach for much of the 30’s. However, aside from the “Ku-Ku” theme & the ever-popular “Honolulu Baby”, his ultimate impact on the L&H films is hard to find. Leroy Shield & his music, on the other hand, are inextricably linked to not only L&H, but all Roach films. Everyone is familiar with the early themes he composed which were utilized endlessly in the Roach two-reelers. However, the score he created for OUR RELATIONS was also used repeatedly (by Mr. Hatley) for other Roach product including TOPPER. Skredtvedt’s coverage of Shield is marginal at best. 2) Mr. Skredtvedt has a propensity (like Gravy) to present his opinions as though they were facts. A lotta people like this. I don’t!! 3) A small point, but I believe Skredtvedt ducks the responsibility Stan Laurel should have shouldered for the poor quality of the 40’s Fox & MGM films. W. C. Fields had been around as long as L&H in the early 40’s. He switched to Universal where the suits were infamous for interfering in the production of films. However, probably due to his extreme stubborn nature, he managed to make four of the best films of his career. At any rate, the important part of the evening was the four films screened… and NOT who was in the audience.
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”

Hollywood Heritage Museum · Movie Makers