GAILY, GAILY the NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY's “In 1925, There

The one area where it succeeded perfectly was So, Rosenblum began refashioning the film, in its score by Henry Mancini. By this time, using a clever device of stock footage that Mancini was already a legend. After toiling in the would lead into the production footage, rear - GAILY, GAILY music department at Universal (the highlight of ranging and restructuring scenes, and spend - his tenure there would be Orson Welles’ Touch ing a year doing so – the result was stylish and Of Evil) , he hit it big, first with his TV score to visually interesting and it transformed the film THE NIGHT Peter Gunn – which not only provided that from disaster into a hit. THEY RAIDED MINSKY’S Blake Edwards series with its signature sound, but which also produced a best-selling album The score for Minsky’s was written by Charles on RCA – and then in a series of films for which Strouse, who’d already written several Broad - “In 1925, he provided amazing scores, one right after an - way shows, as well as the score for the film other – Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Charade, Hatari, Bonnie and Clyde . The lyrics were by Lee there was this real The Pink Panther, Days Of Wine and Roses , Adams, with whom Strouse had written the religious girl” and many others. Many of those films also pro - Broadway shows Bye Bye Birdie, All-American, duced best-selling albums. Mancini not only Golden Boy, It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Super - knew how to score a film perfectly, but he was man and others. He and Adams provided some one of the great melodists and each of his clever and catchy songs, and Strouse’s other The end of the 1960s brought a lot of changes scores was jam-packed with one memorable themes for the film are clever and catchy, too. in the movie business. Even before the release tune after another. His songs from films re - Plus, we get vocals by the likes of Rudy Vallee, of Easy Rider in 1969, styles were changing, ceived many Academy Award nominations, and Dexter Maitland, Lillian Heyman, and the film’s audiences were changing, young people he won back-to-back statuettes for “Moon stars, Jason Robards and Norman Wisdom. wanted films that spoke to them and old-fash - River” and “Days Of Wine And Roses.” ioned films were, well, old-fashioned. So, it’s in - The LP presentation of Gaily, Gaily was as - teresting that Norman Jewison, who’d come off Mancini’s score for Gaily, Gaily is short but per - sembled by Mancini with his customary good an amazing string of hits, all modern-day and fect. As was his wont, the soundtrack album taste, and since the album presentation in no topical, including The Cincinnati Kid, The Rus - was, in fact, a rerecording – it featured all the way resembles the music as heard in the film, sians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, themes from the film, but not the actual score we left it as he assembled it. The album mas - In The Heat Of The Night, and The Thomas tracks from the film. The main theme, “Tomor - ters were in excellent condition. The LP of Min - Crown Affair , would then choose to make Gaily, row Is My Friend” (with lyrics by Marilyn and sky’s was never a great-sounding album, and Gaily, a nostalgic story set in 1910 Chicago, Alan Bergman) is one of his most sublime and it, for me, was oddly put together, opening with which recounts the fictional coming-of-age haunting melodies, and Jimmie Rodgers’ per - a LeRoy Holmes-produced version of the main memoirs of writer Ben Hecht, as he takes his formance of it in both film and on the album is theme rather than opening as the film did, with first steps toward being a journalist and author. wonderful. The other themes are pure Mancini the “Overture and Introduction.” In fact, the two The story of this innocent, who is robbed upon and a great deal of fun. As a wonderful bonus, the LeRoy Holmes’ arranged and conducted tracks arriving in Chicago, and who ends up living in album gave us Melina Mercouri’s recitation of are not in the film at all. I took the liberty of mov - a house of ill repute and having all sorts of ad - “Christmas Eve On Skid Row” with Mancini’s un - ing a few tracks around and making the CD ventures, well, it didn’t exactly speak to the derscore. more like the film because I felt it better repre - young audiences of the time. And yet, a year sented the score. Our mastering engineer, later, young director William Friedkin made his The Night They Raided Minsky’s was a troubled James Nelson, has done all he can to make it second film, The Night They Raided Minsky’s , film. Bert Lahr, one of its key players, died be - sound as good as possible given the quality of a film that, while entertaining, also didn’t really fore shooting was finished. The first cut was, by the original masters. speak to young audiences of the time, and yet all accounts, dreadful – according to the film’s that film did achieve success and fared well editor, Ralph Rosenblum, David Picker, head Having worked briefly with Henry Mancini (and with critics, which is more than you can say for of United Artists, having seen the first cut, said, what a wonderful man he was) when we issued Gaily, Gaily , which didn’t do well at the box-of - “In all my years in film, this is the worst first cut The Molly Maguires on CD (on the Bay Cities fice or with critics. Which proves, as William I’ve ever seen.” It was left to editor Rosenblum, label), and having worked with Charles Strouse Goldman says, no one knows anything. to try to save it. His “save” was detailed in his and recorded quite a few of his songs over the fine book When The Shooting Stops… The years, I couldn’t be more pleased than to offer Gaily, Gaily certainly had the makings of a hit – Cutting Begins. Friedkin wasn’t around for any these two scores on one CD. Mr. Mancini, meet a terrific cast including young Beau Bridges, of the post-production, having moved on to his Mr. Strouse – Mr. Strouse, meet Mr. Mancini – Brian Keith, Hume Cronyn, Melina Mercouri, next film. The original idea from producer Nor - and thanks for the melodies. and a very young Margot Kidder, along with a man Lear was that he wanted this old-fash - large cast of wonderful character actors. The ioned musical – about an innocent Amish girl — Bruce Kimmel whole look and sound of the film were wonder - who comes to New York in 1925, gets involved ful – in fact, the film garnered three Academy with a burlesque troupe at Minsky’s Burlesque, Award nominations: Best Art Direction, Best and ends up inadvertently inventing the Costumes, and Best Sound. But in the end, striptease – to have a New Look. Just what that the film felt very episodic, frenetic, and, yes, meant or what the New Look was supposed to old-fashioned. But with actors such as these, be, nobody quite knew. much of it still managed to be entertaining..

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