Music from 'Foreign Intrigue'

Foreign Intrigue was a 1956 film by the American writer-director Sheldon Reynolds, who primarily worked in television - including a series of the same name as the film just mentioned. 

The film was a made-in-Europe spy drama with Robert Mitchum providing the American star power.

Foreign Intrigue did not merit a soundtrack LP; like some other movies it was relegated to the 45 rpm bin, where both a single and EP could be found. Today we'll listen to the single, which has two pieces by different composers that are interesting in their own ways.

First is the "Foreign Intrigue Concerto," a quasi-Rachmaninoff composition, one of a long series of such pieces written for film soundtracks. The vogue for such works had been touched off by the "Warsaw Concerto," Richard Addinsell's enduring piece from the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight. That was a war film; Foreign Intrigue was a postwar film involving Nazis, so perhaps it all makes sense.

Charles Norman and Paul Durand

The Foreign Intrigue Concerto was the handiwork of Charles Norman, a Swedish composer who mainly worked in Europe. The transfer of the concerto from soundtrack to vinyl was none too good, so I dubbed the piece directly from the film for this post, with the exception of a brassy coda from the record that I don't recall hearing in the film. The pianist is uncredited.

The second piece - imaginatively named "Intrigue" - is by the film's music director, the French composer Paul Durand. This is a repeating motif on the soundtrack. Here we have one of the treatments. The music is built on a memorable bass ostinato, which was almost inaudible on the 45 before I boosted the gain so you can hear it.

Surprisingly, "Intrigue" was turned into a vocal pop song, here represented by the Cadence single from the wonderful Barry Sisters. The lyrics were added by Ervin Drake, but it's the Barrys and Archie Bleyer's fine production that make it work.

The Barry Sisters - Merna and Claire

The opening bass line on their version may have you thinking - or rather it had me thinking - of "Hernando's Hideaway" from the 1955 musical The Pajama Game. That thought must have occurred to Drake, for he produced a sotto-voce opening to his lyrics - "What are you afraid you'll be revealing?" the Sisters whisper, and so on.

By the way, the film is a enjoyable watch, although the plot is full of holes. Bob Mitchum is always welcome and the cast also includes the exceptionally attractive and accomplished Geneviève Page and Ingrid Thulin.

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Foreign Intrigue: Mitchum's in trouble!

More of 'Today's Hits' from 1955

Here's another in a series of Today's Hits EPs from RCA Victor's Camden budget line, this one dating from 1955. The vocalists are Jack Haskell and Jeannie McKeon; the bandleader Johnny Guarnieri.

The pop music landscape was changing at the time, and the chosen songs give some clues to the market: two ballads, one R&B song and a old-timey medley.

Haskell was the better known of the two singers. At the time he was a regular on the Today Show on NBC, not coincidentally owned by RCA. He made a few LPs, which I believe I have, some singles and at least two more of these Camden EPs.

Jeannie McKeon otherwise only recorded for the small Black & White label in the 1940s, including a 78 album that I may offer later on. I suspect she was a studio singer in the 1950s.

Johnny Guarnieri, who has appeared on my other blog a few times, made his name as a pianist in the Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw bands. He did a number of these Camden collections along with a variety of other albums.

Jack Haskell

Jack Haskell leads off the collection with a smooth reading of "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup." This Anna Sosenko song was first recorded by Hildegarde in 1935, but in 1955 the song was a hit for Nat King Cole. Jack had many good qualities - a nice voice, excellent diction - but he lacks Cole's unique charisma.

Jeannie McKeon

Jeannie McKeon does not have such formidable vocal competition for her solo song. "How Important Can It Be" was a chart success for Joni James, who had an appealing vulnerable quality but was not a strong singer. The song itself, by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss, is not a particularly good one, but Joni rode it almost to the top of the charts.

Johnny Guarnieri

Johnny Guarnieri gets to show off his virtuosity in the "Crazy Otto Medley." This was one of a series of rickety piano tunes that were popular in the postwar years for reasons that can only be imagined at this late date. The piece was inspired by a German pianist named Fritz Schulz-Reichel, who called himself "Crazy Otto." The American pianist Johnny Maddox slapped together a bunch of Schultz-Reichel's numbers into a medley he called "The Crazy Otto" that became popular over here. I don't believe that Guarnieri's selections match Maddox's - he includes a transgression against Dvořák's "Humoresque" yoked together with the 1918 pop song "Smiles."

Finally, McKeon and Haskell get together for the drab "Pledging My Love," the posthumous R&B hit by Johnny Ace written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey. They do what they can with it, which isn't much.

It occurs to me that after dissing Joni James and Johnny Ace I have albums by both in my collection. No Crazy Otto, though.

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Lambert Conducts Auber, Waldteufel and Chabrier

My recent post of Daniel Auber's Fra Diavolo Overture on my other blog reminded me that I have this set of French music - including another Auber treat - ready to go, as conducted by one of my long-time favorites, the English composer-conductor Constant Lambert (1905-51).

Auber's Les diamants de la couronne ("The Crown Diamonds") Overture leads off this collection, here in a 1938 performance with Lambert conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Auber (1782-1871) is seldom heard today, but his music is delightful, similar in spirit to the better-known Gioachino Rossini.

Daniel Auber and Émile Waldteufel as seen by their contemporaries

Lambert championed the music of Émile Waldteufel (1837-1915). In previous posts, we heard the composer's waltzes Les Patineurs and Pomona. Today we complete Lambert's set of Waldteufel's works with Estudiantina and Sur la plage. He handles the music wonderfully well in 1950 recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Finally, we have Lambert's last recording. As it happens, it is his own orchestration of a posthumous work by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-94), a graceful Ballabile, written for piano.

The sound of these vintage recording is splendid.

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A Fantin-Latour painting of Emmanuel Chabrier at the piano. Vincent d'Indy is at right.

The Hits from Cole Porter's 'Can-Can'

In the mid 20th century, whenever a famous songwriter prepared a new musical, the record companies would quickly enlist their top acts to record the numbers likeliest to be the most popular.

Cole Porter's Can-Can of 1953 was set in the boîtes of 1890's Montmartre, a perfect setting for a lively score. And Porter did produce several songs that enjoyed some popularity in the day, and a few that are still heard today. The show was quite a hit, remaining on Broadway for more than two years. It was the career breakout for Gwen Verdon.

Capitol records had several of its top acts swing into action with recordings from the score. Four of these are collected on today's EP, with one more added as a bonus.

Les Baxter

The record begins with a choral version of "I Love Paris" from a Les Baxter ensemble. The single did well on the charts (which may be why it leads off the record). Baxter effectively handles the transition from the dirge-like opening to the sunny proclamation "I love Paris every moment!" His instrumental chart is in the exotica style that was then becoming popular.

Gordon MacRae, Kay Starr

Gordon MacRae must have thought that "C'est Magnifique" required a bravura approach - he came out with an operetta-style performance that is effective of its type. Axel Stordahl is the conductor.

Kay Starr's intense singing is well suited to "Allez-vous-en (Go Away)," a good song that is less often heard that the two already mentioned. Providing the backing is Harold Mooney.

Nat King Cole

One of the label's biggest stars, Nat King Cole, was matched with one of the  weaker songs from the score - "I Am in Love." He handles it in his usual sincere manner, but it doesn't take flight, despite a chart by Nelson Riddle.

Bob Manning

Capitol entrusted the most famous song from the score - "It's All Right with Me" - to its new romantic balladeer, Bob Manning, in one of his first recordings for the label. Bob's smooth version did not make it onto the EP, possibly because the other artists were more established, but I've added it to the download file. Sid Feller was the conductor on Bob's single.

Manning's collected Capitol singles can be found here.

Such EPs with songs from the musicals of the day were common back then. At times they came from varied artists, such as this one, but just as often they featured one of the label's stars in all four songs. For example, just for Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1951 hit The King and I, RCA Victor issued an EP with Dinah Shore, and M-G-M did the same with Jane Powell. For the listener, it was an inexpensive way to get to know the new songs in versions by their favorite artists.

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More Singles from Les Elgart

Not long ago I posted the earliest singles from the Les Elgart band, dating from 1946 and 1948. This was a companion to his Band of the Year LP, which captured many of the group's 1954 singles. Now here's a sequel with six varied and generally enjoyable single sides from late 1955 and early 1956.

The initial item is the first recording of "Devil May Care," a new song back then, written by jazz pianist-vocalist Bob Dorough with Terrell Kirk. The label doesn't identify the young and personable vocalist, but he seems to be Don Forbes, who does get a credit on the record below. He apparently recorded just a handful of songs, all with Les. Don was a young Sinatra follower with a hip approach, a la Buddy Greco.

"Devil May Care" is a good song, but it didn't really catch on until it was taken up by a whole flock of cabaret singers, starting with Meredith d'Ambrosio in the 1980s.

The flip side was "The Trouble with Harry," an exploitation song associated with Alfred Hitchcock's comedy of the same name. Les' version marks the third time this piece has appeared here The first two were in a post devoted to Hitchcock obscurities, where you can read about the genesis of the music. I described the first two versions as "equally annoying." This one is just a little annoying, thanks to the repeated calls of "That's the trouble with Harry!"

Don Forbes returns with "D.J. Jamboree," a not-unpleasant tune by Alden Shuman and Marshall Brown. Record artists of the day were keen on pandering to the nation's disk jockeys, who at the time were the gatekeepers of air time. (Thus the payola scandal just a few years hence.)

The next number is "Main Title - Golden Arm." That really ought to be "Main Title - The Man with the Golden Arm" because that was the full name of the Sinatra film about a junkie card dealer. 

It's an impressive theme from the gifted Elmer Bernstein. Elgart's version is well done, but please listen to Bernstein's own version, which tops it in swagger and menace.

The next item has the unprepossessing title of "La Chnouf." It is the theme from a contemporary French gangster film Razzia sur la chnouf ("Raid on the Dope"), with the great Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura. The song turns out to be a very good one by Marc Lanjean, here in a fine chart that gets a polished performance. Lanjean also wrote "Le Grisbi" ("The Touch") with Jean Wiener, recently featured here in versions by both Betty Johnson and Sy Oliver.

Finally, Alden Shuman and Marshall Brown (along with Earl Shuman) return with "Saddle Shoe Boogie," a simple riff tune designed to get Elgart's huge campus following out on the dance floor. It's a worthy follow-up to "Bandstand Boogie," which can be found on the Band of the Year LP.

The sound on all these numbers is excellent.

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