NBC ran the series Victory At Sea in 1952 and 1953. The was was still fresh in the public's mind, and the series won an Emmy. It relied on film from the conflict, with narration Leonard Graves and a soundtrack by Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame). This was from a time before people decided that Classical music couldn't be popular, and if it were popular then it couldn't be Classical music.
inspired by an excellent article about Escort Aircraft Carriers that Peter discovered.
We grew up with that! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe 3-disc set used to appear in the Wally-Woild discount bin from time to time. Heavily recommended.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine's dad had a TV set when the series aired. He'd have viewing parties for the neighbors, as most didn't have a TV. One man abruptly left the room during one show. Seems that the USN DD shown being sunk by kamikazes was his old ship.
Comrade Misfit, that's a cool story.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1951, so I didn't get to watch it the first time around.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER.....when I was some years older and it was in reruns, if it was on, we watched it. My Dad had been all through the Pacific as a SeaBee during WWII, and he was transfixed when it was showing.....
Fabulous music - it occurred to me I had not seen the series, so off to Amazon I go.
ReplyDeleteAll the episodes are also on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThe video is public domain because the copyright didn't get renewed, but the music is still copyrighted.
From the time when at least one radio network had it's own symphony orchestra. I particularly recall cheery, upbeat music playing while burning aircraft plummet into the ocean. Must have been Theirs, not Ours. To the modern eye, a bit bizarre. These times are not those times.
ReplyDeleteHubby and I love that show and watched it whenever we could. I don't know if it is still shown (probably not), but I do miss it.
ReplyDeleteI just watched episode #19. I wonder if this series had anything to do with later videos/movies, with their very short clips. I don't think any of them run more than 5 seconds long, and most are shorter. I remember watching this series when I was a kid, but the constantly changing screen is annoying.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the music, I just finished reading a book about a German fighter pilot, "The Star of Africa". He had been called to Berlin to receive a medal from Hitler, and at a later dinner, attended by all the top brass and industry leaders, he had been asked to play the piano for them. For about an hour, he played a variety of German composers' great works. Then, he gave them a little smile, and proceeded to play a jazz piece, which was forbidden in Germany, as that sort of music was considered decadent. Hitler left, along with most everyone else.
Quite a character. He was tolerated, for the most part, due to his exploits against the Allied forces in Africa. He did things in combat that the other pilots considered insane. One of the nicknames for his wingman was "the calculator", since his primary function seemed to be counting his victims, as he often had multiple kills falling simultaneously.