Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

July 7, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 15 Studios Woo Nation^s 15 Million Music Lovers Films with Music Seen Also Increasing Public's Interest In Works of the Immortals A concerted drive on the part of Hollywood's producers to attract some of the nation's annual 15 million concert and opera goers who, averaging 10 performances yearly, pay $150 million into the concert and opera box-offices, has resulted in some 45 feature productions now_ or about to be released, which will have classical music as an integral portion of the background of the picture, a survey by Showmen's Trade Review reveals. The influence of the film world on American life is so great, that without any conscious desire to do so, Hollywood will thus give a tremendous impetus to classical music by popularizing composers and artists now known to only a few of the country's 135 million people. Most of these pictures devote little more than five minutes of their entire time to classical music, but some are entirely based on the life and music of a composer. Until the advent of Columbia's Technicolor production, "A Song to Remember," Hollywood's attempts to bring classical music to the screen and make the public like it had been more or less unsuccessful. But once this musical romance based on the life of Chopin began its round of playdates, a sudden upsurge in public interest in the music of Chopin began to manifest itself. Music dealers were literally mobbed for recordings of Chopin's works by people who had never before heard of the composer, and popular dance orchestras heeded the requests of patrons to play Chopin tunes arranged for dancing, especially the Polonaise. Chopin melodies poured forth from juke boxes. Never before had a picture so popularized the works of a classical composer. The Pict'ure Must Be Good The reason behind the move, which is being done separately with no attempt at duplication, was best summed up by William F. Rodgers, vice-president and general sales manager of MGM. "Speaking solely for my company," said Rodgers, "it is our desire to have artists in all fields working for us, for that will attract all types of audiences. Classical musicians such as Iturbi and Melchior have been terrific successes with us, and these artists have a definite following among a certain type of person who does not generally go to pictures. A diversification of product will aid the box-office, but it cannot be too strongly stressed that the picture must be good. A good picture will sell any place, but a bad one cannot be sold. We may be able to attract certain customers who never go to films with this product, but unless the films are good entertainment, those customers will not turn out to see a second one." MGM heads the list of companies with eight such pictures either in release or in contemplated production as follows : "Anchors Aweigh" features music from Rossini's "Barber of Seville" ; Brahms Wiegenlied and Lullaby ; Tchaikovsky's second piano concerto; Wagner's Rienzi overture, and Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody. "Ziegfield Follies" features Rossini's William Tell Overture and the Brindisi from "Traviata" of Verdi. "Two Girls and a Sailor" has De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance ; Paderewski's Minuet ; the Anvil Chorus from Verdi's "Trovatore," and the Dance of the Hours from Ponchelli's "Gioconda." "Thrill of a Romance" contains Leoncavallo's Vesti la Giubba from "Pagliacci" ; and the same composer's Mattinata ; Song of India from "Sadko" by Rimsky-Korsakoff ; the Lohengrin Bridal Chorus from Wagner's "Lohengrin"; The Gypsy Baron and Strauss waltzes, as well as THE PICTURE THAT STARTED IT. Attempts, not too successful, had been made by Hollywood to inject classical music into films. But it remained for Columbia's "A Song to Remember," from which the above scene was taken, to do the job in such a way that shortly after the film's release even the hepcats from one end of the nation to the other were singing and playing the music of Chopin. other music by Chopin, Liszt, Schubert and Grieg's Ich Liebe Dich. Other MGM pictures which will have classical music include "Holiday in Mexico," "Two Sisters from Boston," "Ballerina," and "Invitation to Dance." A series of six shorts featuring operatic and symphonic music will be made when the raw stock situation permits. Universal's pictures are "Can't Help Singing," with music by Jerome Kern ; "Christmas Holiday," featuring Johann Bach ; "The Climax," with music by Schubert, Chopin and two operas composed for the occasion by George Waggner entitled, "The Boulevadier" and "The Magic Voice." "Girl on the Spot" has a score by Gilbert and Sullivan; "Once Upon a Dream" features music of Brahms, Rossini and Tchaikovsky. "Synco-Smooth Swing" contains the Liszt second Hungarian Rhapsody; 'That's the Spirit" uses Wagner's Evening Star from "Tannhauser" ; "On Stage Everybody" has Schubert music ; "Salome, Where She Danced," contains the Blue Danube of Strauss, "Solid Senders" the Liszt Second Hungarian Rhapsody, and "Swing Out Sister" the Emperor Waltz of Strauss. RKO's biggest feature is Disney's "Fantasia," which is due to be revived soon. This film, besides featuring Stokowski, contains music of Bach, Tchaikovsky, Dukas, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Ponchelli, Moussorsky and Schubert. In addition, RKO still has some 50 to 60 Silly Symphonies of Disney playing throughout the country. Others on the company's list include "Strictly Ding-Dong," using the Grieg Piano Concerto ; "Sing Your Way Home," with Schubert music ; "Enchanted Cottage," using music by Chopin and "None But the Lonely Heart," using the Tchaikovsky title and song. Monogram's contributions are "Lady Let's Dance," using the Beethoven Fifth Symphony and Strauss waltzes ; "The Sultan's Daughter," featuring the Beethoven Turkish March ; "Spotlight scandals," with excerpts from "The Bohemian Girl" ; "The Return of the Apeman," using Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata ; "SarongGirl," featuring music from Lohengrin ; "Alaska," using music from "Pagliacci" ; "Women in Bondage," usin'g Mendelssohn, Grieg and Strauss, and "Dillinger," featuring Arditi's "II Bacio." Republic has "Concerto," using the second and third piano concerti of Rachmaninoff, the G-Minor Prelude ; the Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Serenade and Polichinelle. Other music in the film includes the Bach Toccata and Fugue, Romance and Inventions ; Mozart's "Magic Flute," and Sonata Number One for Piano ; Beethoven's Emperor Concerto ; Finlandia by Sibelius ; Wagner's Meistersinger Overture and Love Death from "Tristan und Isolde" ; Schumann's A-Minor Piano Concerto; Debussy's Golliwog's Cake Walk and Von Weber's Invitation to the Dance. "Mexicana" contains a Gregorian chant as well as a children's orchestra playing music specially written by the Mexican composer, Gabriel Ruiz. "A Song for Miss Julie" features Mendelssohn's "Rondo Capriccioso." "Lake Placid Serenade" has Smetana's tone poem, Vlatava, Drigo's Serenade, Offenbach's L' Amour de L'Apache, and the traditional Czech composition, Hejslovane. "Captain Tugboat Annie" contains Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen. "Suicide Squadron" contains the Warsaw Concerto, written by the British composer, Richard Addinsell. Paramount's contributions are Hal Wallis's proposed "Life of Tchaikovsky," in which Vladimir Horowitz is scheduled to appear. "The Lost Week End" also features Ray Milland conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the Di Provenza II Mar, from Verdi's "Traviata." 20th Century-Fox has two pictures, "Hangover Square," with specially composed music by Bernard Herrman and "Where Do We Go from Here," containing a Columbus episode with music by Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill. United Artists' film is "Delightfully Dangerous," and it features music by Johann Strauss, with Morton Gould leading an 8S-piece symphony supposedly at Carnegie Hall. Warners' "Rhapsody in Blue" features a large variety of Gershwin music including An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and selections from "Porgy and Bess." PRC's "Bluebeard," contains music from Gounod's "Faust." A re-issue on the market now by Astor Pictures is "One Romantic Night," the story of Schubert's life, featuring his songs. Unfinished Symphony and music by Beethoven. Hollywood is celebrating its 30th year of making classical music pictures this year. An estimated $15 million has been lost in an attempt to feature operatic and instrumental stars, with a few good pictures making money, and leading to consistent cycles which have invariably failed. The first attempt was by Cecil B. DeMille in 1915 when he made six films in three years with Geraldine Farrar. They were "Temptation" and "Carmen" in 1915; "Maria Rosa" in 1916; "Woman God Forgot" and "Joan the Woman" in 1917 and "Hellcat" in 1918. "Thais." with {Continued on Page 16)