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| Music, Music, Music! | |
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| Topic Started: May 24 2007, 10:14 AM (2,046 Views) | |
| mort bakaprevski | May 24 2007, 10:14 AM Post #1 |
Soony Roony!
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I was reflecting, the other day, on just how much of my enjoyment of serials was due to the musical content. Now, I don’t know if any serial ever used original compositions (kinda doubt it), but since most of the post 1935 serials featured wall-to-wall music and, since they re-used themes extensively, I certainly grew very fond of quite a few of these musical fragments. I thought I’d list my two favorites from each of the three production companies: COLUMBIA – 1) SUPERMAN – Bakaleinikoff really went back into the vaults for some of these. My favorite is Milan Roder’s contribution to the last reel of 1935’s BLACK ROOM which starred Boris Karloff. 2) BATMAN & ROBIN – Again, a plethora of oldies-but-goodies. Particularly fun for the fact that the music which would sometimes introduce The Wizard was the same piece that introduced The Octopus eleven years earlier in THE SPIDER’S WEB. REPUBLIC – 1) DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. - I particularly like the way the invisibility scenes were handled. First, no music at all, just the eerie hum of the machine. This was then followed by music which seemed to perfectly complement the hum. Always gave me goose bumps. 2) CAPTAIN AMERICA – I really don’t remember hearing any of this music in any other Republic serial or feature and that’s a shame. It’s, for me, the most exciting score utilized in any serial. UNIVERSAL – 1) ACE DRUMMOND. – Another serial where I have been unsuccessful in discovering the musical sources. It doesn’t seem to use any of the cues that FLASH GORDON did (from THE BLACK CAT, THE INVISIBLE MAN & WEREWOLF OF LONDON). And the cues aren’t utilized again (although a couple appear in JUNGLE JIM). 2) FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE - Starts with Liszt’s “Les Preludes”, then goes to Waxman’s “March” (from BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN) for the recap. During the action we hear a couple of great themes by Frank Skinner plus numerous cues from the original FLASH GORDON. A real treasure chest!! What music really grabbed you???? |
| “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.” | |
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| Greypilgrim | May 24 2007, 04:54 PM Post #2 |
"Zarkov to Flash Gordon....Come in Flash!"
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It was Les Preludes that really grabbed me when I saw Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe serial in the mid-60's. I didn't know the name of the piece till years later on a record commercial for a Time-Life set. Once I knew it, I found it on a cassette tape with other great classical pieces, and to hear that whole piece with headphones and the sound turned up.....The cymbals at the end are just phenominal. And of course there's ALWAYS the William Tell Overture from the Lone Ranger which never changed from radio to serial to tv show. Between radio and the serials, I learned to appreciate the classics. Oh yeah, Dracula got me to appreciate Swan Lake :lol: |
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| riddlerider | May 24 2007, 07:12 PM Post #3 |
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Mort, what makes you think there were no original compositions used in the musical scores of serials? Republic serials were extensively (if not entirely) scored with newly written music from 1939 through 1943, and even after 1944 many new cues were written to supplement the stuff being reused. You wondered if CAPTAIN AMERICA was an original score and was reused. Some of the cues were indeed original, but others were borrowed from MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN and THE MASKED MARVEL, to name two. The four Columbia serials produced by Jack Fier -- SPIDER'S WEB, FLYING G-MEN, MANDRAKE, and OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON -- all boasted substantially original scores, with reused pieces from older features popping up here and there. The Larry Darmour serials mostly used library cues sourced from Lee Zahler, but some of these were actually composed by Ross DiMaggio and used (ever so slightly altered) in contemporaneous Republic serials. You can hear at least one and maybe two DiMaggio cues from MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN in THE GREEN ARCHER. Those serials were released almost simultaneously. Likewise, a familiar cue from CAPTAIN MARVEL can be heard in THE SPIDER RETURNS. The Katzman serials used whatever music was available: reorchestrated cues from the Jack Fier serials, Zahler library cues, and cues from recent Columbia features. BATMAN AND ROBIN is one of a handful of late '40s and early '50s Columbia serials that use several Hugo Friedhofer cues written for THE SWORDSMAN, a 1948 swashbuckler starring Larry Parks. Familiar cues from mid-to-late '30s Universal serials come from a wide variety of sources, among them such little-known features as POSTAL INSPECTOR and ARMORED CAR. I don't have all the sources myself, although guys like Rich Bush -- who've studied the original cue sheets -- can identify most of the best pieces. I can tell you definitively that the score for the 1938 Johnny Mack Brown serial, FLAMING FRONTIERS, is made up almost entirely of cues from two Universal features, STORMY (1935) and SUTTER'S GOLD (1936). You can hear some of the same music in other Universal Western serials as well. One of my favorite Universal cues is "Great Impersonation Main Title," which was used over the main titles -- duh! -- of THE GREAT IMPERSONATION (1935). But serial fans know it as the main-title music for TIM TYLER'S LUCK and BUCK ROGERS. Another favorite, a romantic piece used several times in the Buck Jones PHANTOM RIDER, was written for Universal's 1934 version of the well-known tearjerker, IMITATION OF LIFE. |
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| riddlerider | May 24 2007, 07:24 PM Post #4 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Forgot to mention some other favorite pieces of serial music.... The most perfect use ever of Milan Roder's "Night Prowler," a silent-era cue that found its way into the Abe Meyer music library, can be found at the end of Chapter One of S.O.S. COAST GUARD. It begins slowly, as a mysterioso, when Ralph Byrd climbs aboard the grounded Carfax as Richard Alexander hacks away at the mooring cable. It builds, then pauses for a beat, and becomes a furioso. The piece continues throughout the fight between Byrd and Alexander, right up through the end title card. The way that whole sequence is cut and scored, you'd swear that "Night Prowler" had been written for COAST GUARD. (I've heard it as early as 1933's TARZAN THE FEARLESS.) Speaking of "S.O.S." -- that's the title of another favorite piece from the Meyer library. It was written by Nem Herkin for some silent movie. It's used well in the climactic fight between Bela Lugosi and Lucien Prival in Chapter Four of RETURN OF CHANDU. |
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| mort bakaprevski | May 25 2007, 07:03 AM Post #5 |
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Soony Roony!
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WOW!!! Great info, rr... as usual!!! I've always wondered if some of the music (excluding the Abe Meyer library) was produced in a vacum. That is, for no particular scene, but just to be inserted as needed. Tedesco's name appears all over the place as "stock music", but there doesn't seem to be many source movies for this stock (or at least I haven't been able to find a lot). |
| “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.” | |
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| mort bakaprevski | May 25 2007, 04:08 PM Post #6 |
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Soony Roony!
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Acccchhhh, I forgot to ask the $64 dollar question (boy, does that date me). Does Mr. Bush have a web site where he shares his knowledge with others?? Does he have a book?? Anything??? |
| “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.” | |
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| mort bakaprevski | Oct 2 2008, 02:53 PM Post #7 |
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Soony Roony!
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Watched a couple of old New Universal flicks yesterday & it reminded of a question that I've pondered for some time: Does anyone know where the sprightly theme that accompanies so many early 40's Universal's repetition of their "good casts" originally came from?? I'm betting Skinner wrote it... but for what??? |
| “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.” | |
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| Don Daredevil | Oct 2 2008, 08:39 PM Post #8 |
Old Fart
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For those of you who might be interested ... http://www.amazon.com/Cliffhangers-Music-C...ks_all_1#disc_1 |
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| KanSmiley | Oct 2 2008, 09:14 PM Post #9 |
Charter Member
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I have this CD and have really enjoyed it the times I have listened to it. Just out of curiosity I checked the Amazon site that Don Daredevil put up. There are three listed for sale...one for $18.59; one for $20.00 and one for a whopping $78.00 or thaere abouts. Wow!!!  No crowding kiddies.Kan |
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http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/ Note: No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. | |
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| LaneCarson | Oct 2 2008, 11:10 PM Post #10 |
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Charter Member
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Have often given this CD away as an (unlisted) bonus |
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| Pa Stark | Oct 3 2008, 10:10 AM Post #11 |
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Charter Member
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I have the other version of this CD with Don Barry as Red Ryder on the cover. One difference is my version does not have the title music from KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED. What in the world is so special about that one disc that is supposed to be a collectors item that is going for $72.02????? |
| Honest and Lovable Pa Stark | |
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| Don Daredevil | Oct 3 2008, 10:21 AM Post #12 |
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Old Fart
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There are now 5 for sale ... including 2 new from $12.68. |
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| Paul | Oct 3 2008, 03:16 PM Post #13 |
Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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We're up to chapter 5 or so of Dick Tracy Returns, and so far we've heard this one snippet from Wagner's Rienzi overture and the opening of the second movement of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique about a million times each. |
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| Chandu | Oct 3 2008, 05:39 PM Post #14 |
Knowledge Seeker and rascal at large
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Anyone know what the frenzied piece in The Black Coin is? |
| Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me... | |
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| Greypilgrim | Oct 3 2008, 06:26 PM Post #15 |
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"Zarkov to Flash Gordon....Come in Flash!"
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When I was kid and saw F.G.C. the U., Iwas taken up by the Lizt piece, but had no idea what it was. Many years later, when it was shown in its entirety at a local theatre as an all-nighter (from 12-5am), again I was totally overwhelmed by the piece. Then, several years later, I was watching an ad on TV for one of those "Most Beloved Classic Music Pieces" records from Time-Life, and saw the list (no pun intended) with the name Les Preludes darkened and part of the piece playing at that moment. Finally knowing the name of it, I rushed out and grabbed a cassette with the whole piece on it. It is a great piece with cymbols crashing, kettle drums booming and much much more than the serial gave you. That, and, of course, The William Tell Overture from The Lone Ranger--serial, tv, and radio--are my favorite pieces. |
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