Greg,
Forbidden Planet is a great choice. Greg, as you are a guitarist and you also mention the amazing music in Forbidden Planet, I thought I would write a bit about the score for the film that is not well known. In 1956, MGM, which was the Production Company behind Forbidden Planet, had a full-time and tenured Symphony Orchestra on staff at the studio. During this time all of the other major Hollywood studios also had their own unique full-time staff orchestras per agreements with the Musicians Union ( American Federation of Musicians). MGM also had its own group of famous composers and arrangers on staff from the 30's through the 60"s. Before David Rose became famous as the composer for Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and songs like Holiday for Strings and The Stripper, he was doing arrangements and rehearsal piano work at MGM. In fact, it was during this time at MGM that the considerably older David Rose became involved with the teenage Judy Garland. Though still married he gave Judy Garland an engagement ring on her 18th birthday, which was kept under wraps at the time by MGM. Later, after his own divorce from Martha Raye became final, David Rose then became Judy Garland's first husband. Anyway, after various composers were considered and approached about doing the score for Forbidden Planet, eventually the assignment fell to David Rose. David Rose and the MGM Orchestra recorded music for Forbidden Planet, but almost all of it is now lost. Dore Schary who was head of MGM, didn't particularly like Rose's melodic approach and threw the score out. It is not clear if Dore Schary had ever expressed to David Rose his desire to have an avant-garde type of score for the film. Anyway, Dore Schary had secretly engaged the husband and wife team of Louis and Bebe Barron who were involved in early experiments with electronic music to do some demos of electronic music for the film. They worked on it for many months. The Barron's used early synth-type gear of their own design, ring modulators, reverb and tape delay effects to create the unique sonic landscape that we hearin Forbidden Planet. When Schary decided to use the Barron's work in Forbidden Planet instead of the score from David Rose and the MGM Orchestra, the Musicians Union objected because they felt it wasn't 'real music'. Their real concerns were also about future employment for the MGM Orchestra as well. The MGM Symphony would eventually be dissolved about 12 years later. The Barron's work was the very first electronic "sound design" style score and even they weren't sure what to call it. Nonetheless, the original screen credit was supposed to read: "Electronic Music by Louis and Bebe Barron" The Musicians Union was furious and they absolutely did not want the credit to have "music" in it. They had an ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement with MGM that gave them standing on the issue. Legal on both sides worked out a settlement and the Barron's final credit on the film was as "Composer(s): Electronic Tonalities". While that may not seem like a big change, it was. Absence of the word "music" meant that this revolutionary score for this big budget and now iconic Sci-Fi film couldn't even be nominated for an Academy Award for music, let alone win. Contrast that with the synth/sound design score of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network, which in my opinion is far from revolutionary or even great in context for the needs of the film. That score was both nominated and won the Academy Award for music a couple of years back. In the case of Forbidden Planet, it isn't about the "Robber Barons", but rather the BARRONS was robbed! Best Wishes and Happy New Year to All From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Gregory Douglass Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 8:40 AM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] My 2014 MOPO THINK-ABOUT-IT QUESTION Pardon me for weighing in late on this question, but it has been the busiest December EVER for this self-employed guitar picker (21 live shows total, and that's with no New Year's Eve gig!) Add a recently acquired bad cold to the mix and you get a guy whose recreational computer time has been minimal. Unquestionably, the film that completely hooked me on cinema, the horror/sci-fi genre, AND movie posters, all during one trip to the El Rey theater in Walnut Creek, CA when I was six, was "Forbidden Planet". I can recall snippets of films that my parents took me to prior to that, but I remember every moment of this sic-fi classic. While some of the Freudian subtleties were obviously lost on me.or maybe not, come to think of it.the sheer spectacle of the film left an indelible impression on me. When Robbie the Robot came into the picture, my Freak Flag was being stitched inside my six-year old psyche; by the time the monster from the Id came into terrifying view, the Freak Flag was completely unfurled and blowing proudly in the smoke-filled confines of the little theater my dad lovingly referred to as "The Flea House". I recently re-watched the film in HD, and it did not disappoint. Given the context of the time period, the special effects were beyond brilliant, and the "music" is still so radical that I can honestly say I've never again heard anything like it. As I walked out, I saw the 40X60" poster from the film with the iconic image of Robby holding Anne Francis, and I wanted to wake up every morning looking at it. Crap. Still have never owned any significant poster size from this title and, given the present price range on even a title card, it STILL probably ain't gonna happen. But I still have the fabulous memory of the 90 minute gift from MGM that permanently altered and enriched my inner landscape. A belated and heartfelt Happy Holidays to all my fellow poster dorks out there. 2014 was the best year ever for this old geek, and 2015 promises to be even better...hell, maybe that "Forbidden Planet" poster will finally be in my hands after all! Greg Douglass In wet, beautiful Escondido, CA On Dec 23, 2014, at 11:41 AM, Susan <filmfantast...@msn.com <mailto:filmfantast...@msn.com> > wrote: It is a great question Kirby. For me there are so many, but two movies that had a huge impact on me as a child were Them and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane...just couldn't shake those movies for years. The movie that had the most impact on me overall and led to my career in writing and film was To Kill a Mockingbird, which is still my favorite film to this day. It always amazes me that this southern woman, who grew up in the Depression south, had such an amazing spirit to write this story and it impacts me every time I watch it..it is still a film for me that, after a stressful day at work, I can go home and it brings me solace...Happy Holidays everyone.........Sue - Hollywood Poster Frames _____ Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:03:15 -0500 From: vma...@earthlink.net <mailto:vma...@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [MOPO] My 2014 MOPO THINK-ABOUT-IT QUESTION To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> Kirby, Great Question, When I was a kid visiting my grand parents in CT while on summer vacation, my grandfather to me to Town (Mancheser, CT) and he dropped me off at the local theatre (single screen, of course) and I saw Wm.Wellman's "The Next Voice You Hear" w/ James Whitmore and Nancy Reagan.(1950) I am not sure what moved me,but that movie has stuck with me all these years and still now and then, pick it up and watch it. Perhaps as a child it opened up a great deal of questions for me and the manner it was delivered. Number two is and early film; not sure when I saw it, but it, the love and generosity of the theme "stuck with me" again, all these years. "Sunday Dinner For A Soldier" w/ Anne Baxter, John Hodiak, Jane Darwell and Charles Winniger (1944). Let's just say, I loved the films and didn't remember them for a week or so after leaving the theatre, but remember them until this day....................Vaughn -----Original Message----- >From: Kirby McDaniel >Sent: Dec 23, 2014 10:06 AM >To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> >Subject: [MOPO] My 2014 MOPO THINK-ABOUT-IT QUESTION > >Mopolians, > >Is there a film that CHANGED YOUR LIFE? Maybe not in a big way, but somehow affected a change in you permanently? > >This is not a "best-movie-you've-ever-seen" question, although the best movie you've seen may in fact qualify. > >And you may have more than one - but just pick one that stands out in your experience. > >It's really hard to know. It's easy to say that movies changed my life - I think that collectively they help to shape us, but that's >not what I'm fishing for here. > >I mean a film that SHIFTED something in you, maybe good, maybe not-so / maybe big, maybe small. So that you could say "after I saw X, I never liked this, or I loved this, or I never felt the same about thus and such." > >Think about it. > >I'm not necessarily asking you to post your answer, either. This could be something private for you. It's just a question I thought about recently. > > >Kirby McDaniel >MovieArt Original Film Posters >P.O. Box 4419 >Austin TX 78765-4419 >512 479 6680 mobile 512 589 5112 >www.movieart.com <http://www.movieart.com/> >https://www.facebook.com/movieart.austin.texas >http://www.pinterest.com/movieartaustin/ > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com <http://www.filmfan.com/> > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu <mailto:lists...@listserv.american.edu> > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
