INTRADA Announces:
THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING
Composed by Leigh Harline
THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE
Composed by Fred Steiner and Lionel Newman
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 99
Intrada's latest 20th Century Fox double header features The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) and The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967). The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is a relentlessly polite version of one of the most lurid tales ever to hit the tabloids: the 1906 murder of celebrated architect Stanford White (designer of Madison Square Garden) by millionaire socialite Harry Thaw, who—as he pumped three rounds into White before a horrified theater audience—shouted out that the older man had “ruined” his wife, the former showgirl/model/Belle Epoque wild thing Evelyn Nesbit.
Composer Leigh Harline was so gifted with a singular lyrical style (winning an Oscar for "When You Wish Upon a Star"), that it’s easy to lose sight of his remarkable versatility. Fortunately, Harline’s score for The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing offers an ample display of his wide-ranging talent. From the tender, tragic, often frightening ("Forsaken”) to somber study in strings, cellos providing a sinister base line for neurotically slashing violins (“Double Escape”). And of course, Harline's most dizzying flights of musical lyricism are on display ("Guessing Games"). Note should be made, too, of Harline’s gift for pastiche, lushly evidenced by the riotous ragtime of “The Stage” and the fragrant, pastel-colored waltz in “Red Velvet Swing.”
Produced and directed by talented schlockmeister Roger Corman, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a low-budget, documentary-style study of events leading to
the infamous gangland bloodbath that established the supremacy of Chicago mobster Al Capone (Jason Robards) over rival Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker). A full orchestral score would have been neither affordable nor suitable; musical director Newman’s solution was to put together a small-scale Twenties-style jazz/dance band for most of the music, offering cracking variations on such period standards as “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Toot Toot Tootsie
(Goodbye),” “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue,” and the adorable “Stumbling.” His enthusiasm for the era is made manifest in the perfect reincarnations of period tunes on vivid display here—and in his original pastiche number, “Smarty,” co-written with Lee Hale. Contrasted with all this confectionary nostalgia, Fred Steiner’s three short cues for Massacre (“Main Title,” “Graveyard,” and “Finale”) come as a chilling—and welcome—splash of cold water.
This CD features both scores in stereo from the original master elements at 20th Century Fox -- two scores separated by just a few years on the creative continuum, but worlds apart in both purpose and effect.
This release is limited to 1000 copies.
INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 99
Retail Price: 19.99
AVAILABLE NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6251/.f
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