Topic: WILD HORSES (Read 14497 times)

bk · « **on:** August 27, 2004, 11:59:34 PM »

Well, you've read the notes, because wild horses couldn't keep you from reading them, and now wild horses cannot possibly prevent you from posting until the wild cows come home.

Panni · « **Reply #1 on:** August 28, 2004, 12:13:34 AM »

My wild horses are calling me to bed. I got to bed around 3 last night and was up at 6. Three hours isn't enough - even for me.
Natalie Wood was in so many wonderful movies - it's hard to choose. I'll start with an early one -- MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET.
THE SEARCHERS (not because of her in particular, but because it's a great movie)
MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
WEST SIDE STORY
GYPSY
LOVE WITH A PROPER STRANGER
INSIDE DAISY CLOVER
I don't know how BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE would stand up today, so I'l reserve judgment.
I know I've picked too many, but I like them all, so live with it!

Tomovoz · « **Reply #2 on:** August 28, 2004, 12:41:16 AM »

"Two For the Seesaw" (I hope!). Don't really know that much but do like the theme from Valley Of the Dolls thanks to Dionne Warwick.

For Natalie - "WSS" and "Gypsy".

bk · « **Reply #3 on:** August 28, 2004, 12:43:09 AM »

Two for the Seesaw is a wonderful score and features one of Previn's most beautiful melodies - Second Chance.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #4 on:** August 28, 2004, 12:51:30 AM »

Good Evening! Good Morning!

Yes indeedee it was a great show tonight/last night! It was kind of scary just how many of the jokes they got - at least to me. And I've also started to decipher some of the various laughs. There's the good ole, "Oh that was funny!" laugh. Then there's the "Oh, I remember seeing that show!" laugh. And then there's the "Oh, I was IN that show!" laugh - it has a touch of fondness to it.

As for Natalie Wood movies and Andre Previn scores.. Ditto.

*But I did recently hear his new violin concerto entitled, "Anne-Sophie," which was written for his new wife - and violinist - Anne-Sophie Mutter. Quite a nice piece of music.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #5 on:** August 28, 2004, 12:57:53 AM »

And I have to Thank DR Panni - a.k.a. Anna - for the wonderful birthday goodie bag she presented to me after the show. Smile upon smile!

-And her friend, Bernard Rothman, also was very kind and complimentary. He called me an "orchestra"!

Panni · « **Reply #6 on:** August 28, 2004, 02:08:01 AM »

You're quite welcome, DR Jose! And you ARE an orchestra.

I'm amazed to lean, BTW, of the marriage of Anna-Sophie and Andre. I had no idea! Nobody told me. I wasn't invited. Skammen.

Michael · « **Reply #7 on:** August 28, 2004, 04:48:51 AM »

Quote from: Panni on August 28, 2004, 02:08:01 AM

You're quite welcome, DR Jose! And you ARE an orchestra.

I'm amazed to lean, BTW, of the marriage of Anna-Sophie and Andre. I had no idea! Nobody told me. I wasn't invited. Skammen.

I was hoping to get you in time if it was Bernie, to tell you to hello from me and my father (Who goes way back with him to his Montreal days)

Michael · « **Reply #8 on:** August 28, 2004, 05:19:25 AM »

As for Mr. Andre (with the accent) Previn it is funny but I never thought of him really as a film composer along the lines of Herman, Roza, Mancini, Williams, Goldsmith, Bernstein etc etc despite all the wonderful work that he has done over the years,

It is shocking to think that he hasn't written a new score for film since 1974 and his last theatrical venture was the opera A Streetcar Named Desire.

Also the fact that he started to work in movies in 1948 when he was just 19 years old at MGM. He was able to conduct or score some of the great "A List" musicals and dramatic films at MGM including:

The Secret Garden 1948
Three Little Words
Small Town Girl
Kiss Me Kate
Bad Day At Black Rock
It's Always Fair Weather
Kismet
Invitation to the Dance
Silk Stockings
Designing Woman
Gigi
Bells Are Ringing

and after MGM
Porgy and Bess
My Fair Lady

He seemed to be the favorite of many well known directors.

and worked with Billy Wilder on
Irma La Douce
One, Two, Three
Kiss Me Stupid
The Fortune Cookie

and worked wirh Vincent Minnelli after MGM
Goodbye Charlie
The Four Men of the Apocalypse

and George Syndey
Pepe
Who Was That Lady
The Swinger

And don't forget his collaborator on allthose wonderful 60's film songs with Dory Previn from such films as

Pepe
Inside Daisy Clover
Harper
The Swinger

and one without Andre
Come Saturday Morning.

It seemed that after Andre left Dory for Mia Farrow she never worked in movies again!

Michael · « **Reply #9 on:** August 28, 2004, 05:23:53 AM »

I am also partial to the new songs he co-wrote for Paint Your Wagon: Gold Fever, A Million Miles Away Behind the Door, Gold Fever. (Previ didn't score this film)

Michael · « **Reply #10 on:** August 28, 2004, 05:48:39 AM »

As for Natalie Wood the films I actually saw her in and enjoyed her performance (and not necessarily the movie itself)

As a child:
Tomorrow Is For Ever
Miracle on 34th Street

As a Teenager
Rebel Without a Cause
The Searchers

As an Adult
Marjorie Morningstar
West Side Story
Gypsy
The Great Race
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Michael · « **Reply #11 on:** August 28, 2004, 05:49:40 AM »

And oh btw despite his name Andre Previn. He is actually German and not French! The things you find out!!!

td · « **Reply #12 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:22:21 AM »

I like Natalie's teen angst movies:
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
(I also really like WILLIE & PHIL, but, you can hardly call it a Natalie Wood movie!)

I'm very fond of SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL, and I'm almost certain I'm the minority on that one.

THE GREAT RACE, imho, contains her finest comedy work, and she looks positively dreamy in the period costumes.

WEST SIDE STORY
GYPSY

INSIDE DAISY CLOVER, more for her early scenes with Ruth Gordon, than with the stiff Robert Redford.

It's early here, I know tomovoz; it's LATE there. . .but I'm sure as the day progresses, I'll think of others that I'm terrifically fond of.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:28:30 AM »

Oh my.....I hear wild horses!!!

I am watching WILD IN THE STREETS on DVD! At last! THE APPLE is calling me as well...and I will be buying it this week, DRtd.

Matt H. · « **Reply #14 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:30:06 AM »

There was a documentary on Andre Previn on either Ovation or Trio a couple of months ago, and it covered his entire career. I was dismayed to find he thinks so little of his Hollywood years and his work there despite three Oscars, loads of nominations, and a handful of classics to his name.

My favorite score of his is INSIDE DAISY CLOVER, and I think his arrangements and music direction are superb for PORGY AND BESS despite what the Gershwin estate thinks. I still think that single LP of soundtrack highlights is the best single disc PORGY AND BESS ever made.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:35:30 AM »

Oh my....Natalie Wood....and Andre Previn...

My favorites have already been mentioned....but that never stopped me before.

Previn scores: Valley of the Dolls, Inside Daisy Clover, Dead Ringer (which is a terrific LP).

But if I have to choose one.....music to match the images and emotions....I go with THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE...all those grand themes and emotions.... It's wonderful!!!

Natalie Wood movie...West Side Story of course and Inside Daisy Clover....but not her "comedies."

My favorite: MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR with lovely clothes a wonderful Max Steiner score, stunning photography....a young girl struggling to find herself thinking about becoming an actress and falling for the WRONG man. Natalie is so beautiful! Whew!

She loves Noel Airman but finally decides to marry......

td · « **Reply #16 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:36:38 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on August 28, 2004, 06:28:30 AM

Oh my.....I hear wild horses!!!

I am watching WILD IN THE STREETS on DVD! At last! THE APPLE is calling me as well...and I will be buying it this week, DRtd.

I watched THE APPLE's dvd late last night! What more can I possibly say? ? ?

Matt H. · « **Reply #17 on:** August 28, 2004, 06:39:38 AM »

I just love Natalie Wood period. I've always found her an interesting presence in a movie, and she's often been undervalued as an actress. (The Harvard Lampoon named its Worst Actress movie prize after her, most unfairly, I think.)

I swing back and forth on her best performance. Perhaps because I viewed it recently, I think GYPSY is her finest movie work, but then I'll see LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER and swing back to it. INSIDE DAISY CLOVER, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, and MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR are other top favorites.

I think GYPSY is so remarkable because of her physical transformation. The way she's made up to look tomboyish and frumpy, and by the time of that strip sequence and afterward, she's this RAVISHING beauty, well, it's just breathtaking. What other top star of the time could have done this? Plus, I think her acting is also exceptional, and the meltdown sequence with Rose in the dressing room prior to "Rose's Turn" has never been done better by any actress that I've ever seen, and I've seen GYPSY probably 20 times with 20 different amateur and professional actresses doing the role.

In NATASHA, it's revealed that she loathed making THE GREAT RACE and hated her work in it. Boy, I didn't! I think she's hilarious, looks smashing, and even with Jackie Ward's singing voice on "The Sweetheart Tree," sitting on that bank, strumming that guitar and singing is just about as beautiful a moment as a movie comedy has provided us. (Was Blake Edwards doing a little satire on his Hepburn-guitar sequence from TIFFANY'S?)

Danise · « **Reply #18 on:** August 28, 2004, 07:10:51 AM »

Morning folks,

Would you believe I can't find my copy of that book cover? I have a pile of back up disks because the old computer kept saying the hard drive was going to crash. But I think (therefore I am confused) it may have been even further back than that--the computer before the last computer. Like I said, it was so long ago. When nothing came of it I forgot all about it until yesterday. Oh well. I will scan it when I get my copy and then I shall share it will all of you.

I did my good deed for today already. I was able to help a friend out with her home computer. Ahh, the mysteries of having two CD drives. The confusion when one of them writes/reads CDs and the other one is just a reader. I had to explain that if you put a blank CD into the reader, it is NOT going to have anything written to it until/unless you put it in the drive that writes. And no, the computer didn't have anything wrong with it.

I'm so glad to hear that you had a sold out house last night and again tonight! Wow, it sure didn't take long for word to get around about the best show in town!

I have a question: If you do take What If to NYC, how long would that take? Would it be right away or would it take a few months? Say springtime? March/April/May?

Everyone already picked my favorite Natalie Wood movies so I don't have any to add.

Say a prayer for me today. I am going to get my hair trimmed/(gasp!) cut. I might come back with a totally different do. I hate short hair but I’m thinking I need a change.

I don't have any wild horses to hold. Will wild dogs do? They want to go walkies so to walkies I must go.

Noel · « **Reply #19 on:** August 28, 2004, 07:14:01 AM »

I think West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass and Gypsy are wonderful films. The sort of films that, if you're flicking around your TV dial and catch them, you stay and watch more. It's been years since I've seen Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice but I've high regard for a lot of early Mazursky.

I'm not so fond of Previn as a composer. But please note I know him better from his songwriting than his film scoring. The title song of Coco has always reminded me of the theme song of Flipper. Once. I attended a wedding in which he was father-of-the-groom. It was the sort of big wedding where people said "Well, this marriage will never last." We were right.

Jay · « **Reply #20 on:** August 28, 2004, 07:31:53 AM »

Quote from: Matt H. on August 28, 2004, 06:30:06 AM

...and I think [Previn's] arrangements and music direction are superb for PORGY AND BESS despite what the Gershwin estate thinks. I still think that single LP of soundtrack highlights is the best single disc PORGY AND BESS ever made.

Have you heard the old RCA recording of great scenes from P & B, Dear Reader Matt H.? Led by Mr. Skitch Henderson, it features Miss Leontyne Price and Mr. William Warfield and is the best sung P & B I have ever heard.

Miss Price takes on music for not only Bess, but also Clara and Serena, thereby providing a moment on the album during which Miss Price engages in dialogue with herself.

Matt H. · « **Reply #21 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:04:25 AM »

I LOVE the title song from COCO and quite a few other numbers from that show.

Panni · « **Reply #22 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:04:45 AM »

Quote from: Michael Shayne on August 28, 2004, 04:48:51 AM

I was hoping to get you in time if it was Bernie, to tell you to hello from me and my father (Who goes way back with him to his Montreal days)

I can still tell him. (And I will.)

Matt H. · « **Reply #23 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:05:48 AM »

No, DR Jay, I have not heard that P&B disc, but as much admiration as I have for Ms. Price and Mr. Warfield (who were married at the time of their famous PORGY tour), I'm not sure I want her voice on ALL the soprano solos.

Panni · « **Reply #24 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:07:45 AM »

Question: Is there some way to access old posts (Aug 12)?

Jay · « **Reply #25 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:39:35 AM »

Quote from: Matt H. on August 28, 2004, 08:05:48 AM

No, DR Jay, I have not heard that P&B disc, but as much admiration as I have for Ms. Price and Mr. Warfield (who were married at the time of their famous PORGY tour), I'm not sure I want her voice on ALL the soprano solos.

Do hunt it down, DR MattH. It is quite a thrilling recording.

And, for the record, I am such a fan of Miss Price that had she taken on Porgy and Crown in addition to the three female leads, I'd have been all the happier.

Jay · « **Reply #26 on:** August 28, 2004, 08:42:32 AM »

Quote from: Panni on August 28, 2004, 08:07:45 AM

Question: Is there some way to access old posts (Aug 12)?

It's easy. (Oh. A sort of Anyone Can Whistle reference.) Click on the "Home" button (above and below the posts string you are looking at right now) and then click on the "Daily Discussions" link. Scroll to your date of choice. There are multiple pages of dates of posts, as there are multiple pages of posts within a single day, but August 12th should be on the same page as the link to today's posts.

(Edited to add in a step I inadvertently omitted in the initial post.)

MBarnum · « **Reply #27 on:** August 28, 2004, 09:06:33 AM »

Good morning all...and Robin too! He's baaaaack! Welcome back Robin, we have missed you! Now post something so that we know you are OK!

Favorite Natalie Wood's...I loved SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL when I was a tike...haven't seen it in about 30 years. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.

favorite Andre Previn scores: I like just about everthing of his that I have heard...CAUSE FOR ALARM comes to mind and of course VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.

bk · « **Reply #28 on:** August 28, 2004, 09:29:56 AM »

Are those wild horses succeeding in keeping you lovely people out there in the dark from posting up a storm? Skammen.

Good Previn choices. Good Wood choices. I love Natalie in West Side Story and Gypsy and Daisy Clover, and she's wonderful in Love with the Proper Stranger. She's also very cute in The Great Race and Sex and the Single Girl. My favorite Previn musical score adaptation is Bells are Ringing - really wonderful. His work on Gigi (I think that's him) is great, too. I don't like his work on My Fair Lady quite as much.

Panni · « **Reply #29 on:** August 28, 2004, 09:48:05 AM »

Thanks for the info, Jay.

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Author Topic: WILD HORSES (Read 14497 times)

MBarnum