Alfred Newman won more Academy Awards for Best Original Score (nine) than anyone in history. He was nominated 45 times, a record that was finally topped by John Williams in 2011. Newman's long career in Hollywood spanned 40 years, and included such one-off compositions as the fanfare to the 20th Century Fox Lion logo:
Camelot wasn't his last film score (that was Airport in 1970) but it was his last Oscar. Camelot (the film) was based on Camelot (the Broadway musical). It actually didn't have anything to do with Jack Kennedy - the musical dates from 1960 and the film rights were acquired in 1961, so there was no Kennedy nostalgia then although Jackie said that it was his favorite. When filming started the producers couldn't get Richard Burton and Julie Andrews who starred on Broadway. Burton was asking too much money, and so they considered Gregory Peck and Marlon Brando. Richard Harris heard about the film and started pestering the producers for the role. He hired a team to do a screen test, and got the role of King Arthur. Vanessa Redgrave beat out Audrey Hepburn and Ann-Margaret.
The score is very Hollywood Golden Age, meaning it was Oscar-worthy from a time when that meant something.
1 comment:
The second video says it is unavailable. I was not familiar with Alfred Newman somehow. Wow, what a career.
Post a Comment