Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly – True Love
An evening pause: From the 1956 film High Society. And for my wife Diane today.
Hat tip Edward Theen.
Tag: movies
Lonette McKee – Ill Wind
An evening pause: From the 1983 film, Cotton Club.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson
Hope and Cagney dancing
An evening pause: From the 1955 Bob Hope film, The Seven Little Foys, with James Cagney playing George M. Cohan. Neither man is remembered for their dancing, but from this scene you wouldn’t know it.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
John Williams – Flying theme from ET
An evening pause: I have always thought Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) to be incredibly over-rated, poorly edited, shallow with a predictable script, and not very interesting. Why the public went mad for it in 1982 always baffled me. Nonetheless, Williams’ score was and is magnificent, and a listen here might explain that madness somewhat.
Hat tip Danae.
on account of because
An evening pause: From the 1941 Howard Hawks classic, Ball of Fire, about eight professors who hire a burlesque dancer to explain slang to them. Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime, who notes, “Barbara Stanwyck demonstrates the art of seduction, complete with luminously backlit hair, opposite the uncharacteristically prim Gary Cooper.”
“I’m going to show you what yum-yum is!”
David Arnold – Independence Day
An evening pause: Vienna’s Radio Symphony Orchestra performs an excerpt of David Arnold’s soundtrack to the 1996 film Independence Day during the 2013 Hollywood in Vienna concert.
The film was incredibly silly, but fun nonetheless. The performance here captures some of that silliness, with the lighting and the smoke and the film clips. Also, the score’s use of a drum and flute in a short section near the middle is clearly intended to refer to the American Revolution, since in the movie the human race, led by Americans, conquers the aliens on the 4th of July, Independence Day..
Hat tip Danae.
An evening pause: Vienna’s Radio Symphony Orchestra performs an excerpt of David Arnold’s soundtrack to the 1996 film Independence Day during the 2013 Hollywood in Vienna concert.
The film was incredibly silly, but fun nonetheless. The performance here captures some of that silliness, with the lighting and the smoke and the film clips. Also, the score’s use of a drum and flute in a short section near the middle is clearly intended to refer to the American Revolution, since in the movie the human race, led by Americans, conquers the aliens on the 4th of July, Independence Day..
Hat tip Danae.
Excommunication scene from Becket
An evening pause: On the eve of this year’s election day, this scene from Becket (1964) expresses well what I wish the American voters would do to both the Democratic Party and the Republican leadership in Congress. They all need to go, for the health of the country and because of their repeated malfeasance in office.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of the new edition of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Ben-Hur – The Chariot Race
An evening pause: This clip is actually only the last half of the chariot race scene from Ben-Hur (1959), still one of the greatest action sequences ever put on film. And not only was it on film, but they did it without any computer animation. What you see is real, real horses and real chariots and real actors and real very skilled and brave stunt men. (See this short film on how the even earlier 1925 silent-era epic film Ben-Hur version was made, in a similar manner.)
If you get the chance, watch the 1959 film. Truly a great Hollywood epic.
Hat tip Phil Berardelli, author of the new edition of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Around the World in 80 Days
An evening pause: Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of the new edition of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime, who notes, “Producer Mike Todd lured dozens of stars to appear in cameos in his still-glorious take on the classic Jules Verne novel, and nowhere were they more delightful than in the San Francisco saloon scene.”
How many well known actors and performers can you spot doing cameos in this short clip?
All that Jazz – audition scene
An evening pause: Stay with it. The last bits of dialogue are worth it.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
SpaceX – The Blue Danube
An evening pause: This SpaceX video taken by a camera attached to the fairing of the Falcon 9 rocket is cool not because of the video itself. Cameras on rockets have become routine, even for NASA. What is cool is that they have unveiled it using the same Johann Strauss waltz used in the move 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). It shows that SpaceX is aware of the cultural impact of what they do.
Hat tip Tom Wilson, Tom Biggar, and others.
Chico and Harpo Marx – At the piano
An evening pause: From The Big Store (1941).
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
The Americanization of Emily – “War is not moral”
An evening pause: A fine performance by James Garner from a Paddy Chayefski screenplay. While I agree that putting soldiers on pedestals is often a misplaced emotion that can lead to future unnecessary wars, I do not agree that all war is immoral. There are times, as a last resort, when good people have to stand up and fight, if only to prevent bad people from dominating the battlefield. In 1964, when The Americanization of Emily was released, Americans could be forgiven for being hostile to war. After World War II the country had gotten itself into a string of wars, the goals of all having been poorly considered. It was also a time when evil people were well restrained by our willingness to stand up to them.
Today, our fear and hostility to war is allowing evil to run rampant worldwide. It will very soon descend upon our heads if we do not begin to fight back.
Having said that, this is a fine and thoughtful scene from a fine and thoughtful movie, raising many profound thoughts about the nature and consequences of war. Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
“Let’s all be manly!”
An evening pause: One of the many classic scenes from the classic Hollywood masterpiece, Adam’s Rib (1949).
Another hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
For the birds
“If life were only like this.”
An evening pause: A classic comedy scene from Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977). What especially makes the scene work is how realistic he portrays what it was like to stand in a movie line in New York in the 1970s.
Another hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Ben-Hur – John Wilson Orchestra
An evening pause: From the 1959 classic movie Ben-Hur, written by Miklós Rózsa. Watch the musicians as they aggressively play this very driving piece of music. Shows that classical orchestra music is far from staid and boring.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Botti – Cinema Paradiso
An evening pause: It has been a few years since I posted a performance of this magnificent music by Ennio Morricone from the magnificent 1988 film Cinema Paradiso. The time has come to do it again.
Hat tip Danae.
Keith Jarrett – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Henry Mancini – The Baby Elephant Walk
An evening pause: From the 1962 Howard Hawks film Hatari!, this scene, and the music that goes with it, shows off the film’s light-hearted adventurous tone. And yes, that’s John Wayne following the girl. Since then this music has been reused innumerable times in youtube pet videos.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
????? – John Wilson Orchestra
An evening pause: This pause is going to be a challenge. I am curious who can most quickly identify the film that this suite comes from, performed here live in 2013. I am sure that anyone that knows anything about movies will figure it out by around 2:30, but can you do it sooner? One hint: this is one of the greatest and most popular films ever made.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Fred Astaire & Leslie Caron – Something’s Gotta Give
Movies before the code
An evening pause: I had doubts about posting this initially, not because I’m a prude but because, as I wrote to Phil when he sent me this suggestion, “What is the point? Watching three minutes of 1930s girls taking off their robes to reveal their underwear? I’m not sure that is my goal with my evening pauses.”
But then I thought, why not? The compilation definitely illustrates the differences and similarities between then and now. What was risque then is almost innocent today. And at the same time, what is interesting in terms of sex then is not much different than what is interesting today. Sex still sells. Humans remain human. And Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Eleanor Powell – Hula
An evening pause: From Honolulu (1939). What I like about this is that everyone involved has no worries about offending anyone. They are free to take the native cultural music of Hawaii and embellish it as the whim takes them. They were free (to repeat that forgotten word) to be as creative as they like. The result is a pretty hot dance number.
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
Isn’t it Romantic?
An evening pause: From the 1932 film Love Me Tonight, starring Maurice Chevalier. Stay with it, because it gets quite entertaining. And don’t you want to know what happens next?
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
Six Turnin and Four Burnin
An evening pause: From the 1955 Jimmy Stewart film Strategic Air Command. The B-36, with both propeller and jet engines, was soon superseded, but the takeoff, as captured so well in the movie, is impressive. It was a big plane.
Hat tip again to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
An evening pause: From the 1955 Jimmy Stewart film Strategic Air Command. The B-36, with both propeller and jet engines, was soon superseded, but the takeoff, as captured so well in the movie, is impressive. It was a big plane.
Hat tip again to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell – Begin the Beguine
An evening pause: From Broadway Melody of 1940. This is probably one of the best tap dance duet scenes ever filmed.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
The Marx Brothers – Tootsi Frootsi Ice Cream
An evening pause: From A Day at the Races (1937).
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Martin Brest – Hot Tomorrows
An evening pause: Hat tip again to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime. As Phil wrote to me, this scene is “the sensational finale from Martin Brest’s NYU student film, Hot Tomorrows. Brest, who went on to direct Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run and Scent of a Woman, broke all the rules in scrounging every resource he could find to make this 73-minute tragi-comic riff on the subject of death.”
Makes for a perfect Halloween evening pause.
An aside: Long ago, when I was in the movie business, I worked with many of the people who helped Brest make this film, and can say without doubt that he scored the best crew one could imagine finding for a student production.