Showing posts with label Bernard Herrmann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernard Herrmann. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Suspense theme comparisons

Fellow Tweeter Peter Church, who did an interview on this blog not too long ago) presented some terrific ideas about how the Supense radio theme sounded like 1970's pop band Chicago's "Color My World" and also, the "Vertigo Theme" (theme song to the motion picture, "Vertigo.")

The Suspense theme was probably written in 1942 by Bernard Herrmann.  The Vertigo Theme was also written by Hermann.  They are the most similar as both use the same 6 note arpeggio and both are in a minor key.  "Color My World" uses the 6 same notes at the beginning but is in a major key, giving it a bit of a different feel.

Here they are. Judge for yourself.

Suspense Theme:

Vertigo Theme:

Vertigo Theme REVERSED (edit:)

Color My World:

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Notes that I had leftover in a box; a hodge podge

I have a bunch of little notes that never have been posted for one reason or another.

If I don't post them now, I will throw them away.

Take them for what you will - after all, I was going to throw them away...

In Bold Venture (Tears of Siva) you can hear Peggy Webber (a character actress who was noted for her Dragnet performances on radio and TV as good and bad women; also played Friday's mother on radio.)

In the Bold Venture episode, she plays a creepy character (witch, I think) that sounds like demon-possessed Ma Friday:



Every now and then, you come across a contest where they ask you to finish the jingle. There was one on Our Miss Brooks for Palmolive Soap:

A fresher, brighter looking skin,
Is something I would like to win! 
I'll get Palmolive Soap today... 

So, I came up with some "winning lines":

And apply it directly to my shins. 
or
It's just like throwing money away!
or
And bathe until I shrivel away! 
or
If I lose I will not try again!
or... well you get the idea.

I have studied Suspense's William Spier deeply in the past few months and I have some things to share. William Spier was the first main director of Suspense. He was the director from 1942-47.

One of the smartest things he did was hire Bernard Herrmann to write the theme. I do believe Alfred Hitchcock may have well had a hand in that also since Herrmann and Hitchcock worked together on a few films (most notably in the 1950's) and Hitchcock actually directed the very first episode of Suspense, "The Lodger" (which was also one of his silent movies in the late 1920's.) Herrmann also wrote the incidental music for that episode and quite a a few others after that, but by the time 1943 came along, Herrmann was no longer working for Suspense.  His powerful theme music remains.

Spier also seemed to have strong ties with the Mercury Theatre/CBS Radio Workshop (same show, by the way) as almost all of the members showed up on Suspense frequently, including Orson Welles.

IN OTR, is it more likely the show you are listening to at any moment is taking place in a real town or a fictional town?

Well according to my own survey, it looks to be about 80% real place - 20% fake place. For instance, the Aldrich Family, Great Gildersleeves, Fibber McGee and Molly, Adventures of Superman, A Day in the Life of Dennis Day, Harold Peary Show and Lum and Abner all take place in fictional places. While I am sure there are more, most of the others seems to take place in a world city/state/country/continent (I say continent because who knows exactly Tarzan was?)

©Jimbo 2010/2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Hodge-podging for a change

Sorry to say: this is me.
Found a nifty little blog the other day, Inside the Head of Jeff Overture.  He's a big Vic and Sade fan and that's how I found his site.  It's worth checking out as he deals with all kinds of nostalgia.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I have been listening to a mess of Suspense episodes the past couple of weeks.  It used to be a daily ritual but I had so much on my daily plate of listening that eventually, it got put aside.

There's no doubt however, that the show is one of the best out there and I'd rank it above the various other radio anthology series, including the later ones.  Funny but Elliott Lewis had in his hand in many of the better anthology series around...

If you saw my recent list of favorite Suspense episodes, try and remember that there are literally dozens of episodes I find unforgettable.  While I did list 15 episodes there are probably 150 plots I remember off the top of my head because the show simply sticks with me.  Scary?  No  But memorable, yes.

The same can't really be said for shows like The Whistler.   I do remember a few plots but they simply pale in comparison to Suspense.

And while episodes of Escape! are memorable there are only a few that I can distinguish as being Escape! and not some other show.   Suspense had an air of authority behind their stories, whether it's the voice of announcer Larry Thor I remember or the opening theme by Bernard Herrmann or the quality in production of the whole thing.

You know you have good stuff on your blog when people steal from you...

There are some things I wish existed that don't seem to exist. One thing, I'd love to see a film of Fanny Brice doing her Baby Snooks thing. But I've looked and looked and there doesn't seem to be such a film around.

If you are anything like me, once you go to YouTube you find the time flies by. Going on YouTube for me is dangerous. One thing leads to another and another and I realize I have been on YouTube for two hours listening to 13 different renditions of some song I really don't care that much about but are being played by kids that are 8 years old and in most cases doing it better than I did at age 25. Depressing but fun all at the same time. And a time killer/waster.

By tomorrow, I should be done listening to The Six Shooter series. I hate to see it go. I'll try to wait a year and then put it back on my iPod. What a great series that is.

Jimmy Stewart, who was not a great film actor but a good one, is superb in the radio series. The inflections in his voice and the great stories equals one of the very best radio series ever created.

Speaking of great series, I haven't listened to but maybe one of each of Fibber McGee and Molly or the Jack Benny Show in about 4 months. I've really just been too busy. Plus, I've been trying to fix the sound on both series, a monumental task to say the least.

And since I'm on the subject of "monumental tasks" my blog (which you know is really 16-17 blogs) can be a hair-puller. There are never enough hours in the day, I take on too much, some of the tasks are huge...etc. I realize I bite off more than I can chew but it keeps me busy. Sometimes it does overwhelm me but I tend to pick it back up. One thing that I just can't seem to work on is OTR People. You talk about "monumental" that my friends, is the definition of the word.

I have ideas for other blogs but I really don't have the time for them. I'd like to break down Bill Stern's Sports Newsreels into segments and find out from the newspapers if the incidents he tells about really happened. I know most are untrue but actually proving or disproving them would be fun. I may start one and see how it goes...but too many ideas, not enough time. I need a team of helpers who will volunteer to work free 27.8 hours a day.


©Jimbo 2010/2011

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A small tribute to Bernard Herrmann (films)

Bernard Herrmann, in my estimation, was the greatest composer of film soundtracks in the cinema. He also composed a lot of radio themes (among them, the themes for Suspense and Have Gun Will Travel.)

Here is a small tribute to him for some of his lesser-known film work:

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