Film Classics
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LISTEN TO FILM CLASSICS WITH JACK GOGGIN - SUNDAYS AT 6 PM ET
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01/10/10 - AVATAR Director James Cameron has been working on this project off and on for about 15 years—and while only time will tell whether or not it was worth the wait—we’re not waiting for the reviews to come in—in fact, as this is being written, we haven’t even seen the picture yet! The music is by James Horner, who collaborated memorably with Cameron on that movie with the ocean liner and the iceberg a few years ago, and if this one is even half as successful, none of us has anything to worry about.
12/13/09 - TWO BY DARIO MARIANELLI Italian-born Dario Marianelli won an Academy Award for “Atonement” in 2007, but tonight we’ll feature selections from a couple of his other scores: “V for Vendetta” (2006) and “The Soloist” (2009).
10/04/09 - CONDUCTED BY ERICH KUNZEL The late Erich Kunzel, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 74, was a great friend of movie music. In fact, in his 44 years with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, he made fine recordings of selections from more than 100 different films. Out of all those CDs, was it easy to pick out an hour’s worth? Well, no…but hear what we come up with. And don’t worry—there will be more to come—we could do several more shows and barely scratch the surface!
An entire show devoted to Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s magnificent music for the 1942 Warner Brothers film version of Henry Bellamann’s novel about life in a midwestern town at the turn of the last century—directed by Sam Wood and starring Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and Betty Field.
09/20/09 - GOOD NIGHT Excerpts from such films as “Night and the City” by Franz Waxman, “Nights of Cabiria” by Nino Rota, “Nightbreed” by Danny Elfman, “Night of the Generals” by Maurice Jarre and “Night Passage” by Dmitri Tiomkin. (Very different movies indeed, but you’ll notice they have at least one thing in common!)
09/13/09 - TITANIC Highlights from one of the best-selling soundtrack albums of all time—James Horner’s music for the 1997 James Cameron epic about the doomed ocean liner which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet—and yes, we’ll even hear Celine Dion!
09/06/09 - “JAZZ” SCORES In honor of the 30th Anniversary of the Detroit International Jazz Festival—selections from motion picture scores that bear the distinctive influence of jazz—including “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Alex North, “The Man With the Golden Arm” by Elmer Bernstein, “I Want to Live” by Johnny Mandel and “Anatomy of a Murder” by Duke Ellington.
Selections from two movies from 1946 that were set in the sordid (?) world of classical music—“Humoresque,” (scored by Franz Waxman) with Joan Crawford and John Garfield—and “Deception,” (scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold) with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. Murder! Infidelity! Suicide! (Who knew musicians led such interesting lives?)
08/23/09 - REJECTED! Many movie composers have had their music thrown out of movie projects over the years—tonight we listen to excerpts from three of the most famous rejected scores of all time: Alex North’s unused music for Stanley Kubrick’s “2001-A Space Odyssey” --Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Ridley Scott’s “Legend”-- and of course, Bernard Herrmann’s music for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Torn Curtain”.
08/16/09 - MUSIC FROM MOVIES DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD If you still think of him as “Opie,” think again! Ron is one of the most bankable film-makers in the business—and he’s worked with some of the best composers in the movies—including John Williams, James Horner, Hans Zimmer and Randy Newman.
08/09/09 -THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON An entire program devoted to Max Steiner’s splendid music for the 1941 Warner Brothers film about George Armstrong Custer, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Yes, we know a great deal of the movie is pure fiction, but the Little Big Horn battle sequence is one of the most amazing achievements in Steiner’s long and distinguished cinematic career, and the romantic scenes for what proved to be Errol and Olivia’s final film together are pure Hollywood magic. A 1998 Marco Polo recording with William T. Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
08/02/09 - ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SHOW Selections from such scores as “The Ten Commandments” by Elmer Bernstein, “Land of the Pharaohs” by Dmitri Tiomkin, “The Mummy” by Jerry Goldsmith and “The Egyptian” by Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman.
07/26/09 - A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Music by Felix Mendelssohn as arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold for the 1935 Warner Brothers film version of Shakespeare’s comedy, which was directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, and starred James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland, among many others. The musical score is a brilliant achievement by almost any estimation, but it’s especially significant in movie music history because it was Korngold’s first project in Hollywood, and the reason he eventually signed a contract to write original scores for the studio. Remember, “…the course of true love never did run smooth.”
07/19/09 - ANOTHER HARRY POTTER PROGRAM? Well, why not? The newest film in the series will be out, and it’s a perfect opportunity to capitalize shamelessly on all the multimedia hype. So be prepared for music by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, and Nicholas Hooper. Dark Secrets Revealed! (Well, that’s what the blurb on the poster says.)
07/12/09 - RUDYARD KIPLING GOES TO THE MOVIES Enjoy selections from “Gunga Din” by Alfred Newman (1939), “Captains Courageous” (1937) by Franz Waxman, “The Jungle Book” (1942) by Miklos Rozsa and “The Man Who Would Be King” (1975) by Maurice Jarre.
07/05/09 - FOURTH OF JULY GALA Light the sparklers and fireworks to music from films such as “Born on the 4th of July” (1989) by John Williams, and “Independence Day” (1996) by David Arnold, among others. Oooh.... Ahhh...
Enjoy selections from scores by one of the best composers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: “Gulliver’s Travels” (1939) and “The Uninvited” (1944).
06/21/09 - VICTORY AT SEA Music from the legendary documentary series aired on NBC in 1952, all about naval operations during World War II. The music was by Richard Rodgers-- arranged, orchestrated and conducted by Robert Russell Bennett-- and we’ll be listening to Bennett’s own recording with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra. Happy Father’s Day!
06/14/09 - MUSIC FROM VIDEO GAMES II We thought of calling this one “Bride of Video Games,” but thought that might sound too “old school.” “Video Games, Part Deux” sounded too much like a parody, and therefore also failed to make the cut. “More Music from Video Games” works, but what if we do another one next year? So get ready for some more symphonic music written for the gaming business—which these days is becoming just as big as Hollywood! And Happy Flag Day!
06/07/09 - TWO BY JAMES HORNER Sure, we could do music from “Titanic,” but why play that when we can feature music from movies no one knows like “The Rocketeer” (1991) or “Enemy at the Gates” ( 2001)? Is that a rhetorical question?
5/31/09 - THE SEA WOLF Not to be confused with “The Sea Hawk,” this score by the legendary Erich Wolfgang Korngold was written in 1941 for the Warner Brothers adaptation of Jack London’s novel which starred Edward G. Robinson as Wolf Larsen. A 2004 recording with Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
05/24/09 - TWO BY ALAN SILVESTRI Selections from two largely overlooked (but wonderful!) scores by one of the most versatile composers in the business: “The Mexican,” from 2001, and from 2007--“Beowulf”.
05/17/09 - JAMES DEAN Hear music from movies that starred James Dean. Well, there are only three of them—but they’re all pretty good. “East of Eden” and “Rebel Without a Cause” by Leonard Rosenman, and “Giant” by Dmitri Tiomkin.
One of the great names in motion picture music history. Jarre composed much more than we can fit into a commemorative hour—but we’ll try to do him justice in just 60 minutes with selections from such scores as ‘Lawrence of Arabia,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “A Passage to India” and “Is Paris Burning?”
05/03/09 - STAR TREK On this edition Jack goes where no Film Classics show has gone before -- in collaboration with our partners at the Detroit Science Center and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra -- a special program devoted to music from “Star Trek,” small screen and big screen.
4/26/09 - FIRST KNIGHT Hear Jerry Goldsmith’s splendid score for director Jerry Zucker’s 1995 retelling of the story of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, which starred Sean Connery, Julia Ormond, and Richard Gere. The film was not a critical or popular success—but Goldsmith’s music is so good it transcends the limitations of the picture for which it was written and gives you an idea of grandeur the film-makers were aiming for.
4/19/09 - HUGO FRIEDHOFER Arguably the best orchestrator who ever worked in Hollywood, Hugo Friedhofer graduated to become a great movie composer in his own right, and tonight we’ll feature music from such scores as “The Best Years of Our Lives,” “The Adventures of Marco Polo,” “An Affair to Remember,” and “The Lodger.”
04/12/09 - EASTER PROGRAM Hear musical selections from movies that have to do with the story of Jesus, including “Ben Hur” and “King of Kings” by Miklos Rozsa, “The Greatest Story Ever Told” and “The Robe” by Alfred Newman, and “Jesus of Nazareth” by Maurice Jarre.
03/22/09 - WILLIAMS/MA/PERLMAN Hear music from scores by John Williams that feature prominent cello and violin solo parts performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman—including “Seven Years in Tibet,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and “Schindler’s List.”
03/15/09 - JULIUS CAESAR In honor of the Ides of March, hear music by Miklos Rozsa from director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 motion picture version of Shakespeare’s play, which starred Marlon Brando and James Mason. Beware!
03/08/09 - JANE AUSTEN Hear selections from movies inspired by the works of the great English writer—including “Emma” by Rachel Portman, “Pride and Prejudice” by Dario Marianelli, and “Sense and Sensibility” by Patrick Doyle.
03/01/09 -- A. H. RAHMAN Hear music composed by the 2009 Oscar Winner for Best Original Score. We'll play selections from "Slumdog Millionaire" and other movies.
02/22/09 - 2009 OSCAR SHOW Hear music from the five movies nominated for Best Original Score---“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by Alexandre Desplat, “Defiance” by James Newton Howard, “Milk” by Danny Elfman, “Slumdog Millionaire” by A.R. Rahman and “WALL-E” by Thomas Newman. Features special guest co-host Liz Goggin!
02/15/09 - A DICKENS OF A SHOW Hear selections from movies inspired by the works of Charles Dickens—including “Nicholas Nickleby” by Rachel Portman, “David Copperfield” by Malcom Arnold, and “Oliver Twist” by Arnold Bax.
02/08/09 - TWO BY GOLDSMITH Hear selections from two masterful (and very different!) scores by Jerry Goldsmith, one of the finest composers to ever work in Hollywood: “The Wind and the Lion” (1975)—and “Basic Instinct” (1992). Both are textbook examples of how a good score can improve a motion picture.
02/01/09 - THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Outraged that The Phoenix Symphony was banned from Symphony Bowl MMIX due to a "flimsy technicality," Jack devotes the entire hour to that orchestra's recording of the best score ever written for a western: "The Magnificent Seven" composed by Elmer Bernstein in 1960.
01/25/09 - MAUGHAM’S THE WORD Selections from movies adapted from the works of Somerset Maugham—including “The Letter” by Max Steiner, “The Razor’s Edge” by Alfred Newman, “The Painted Veil” by Alexandre Desplat, and “Of Human Bondage” by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
01/18/09 - UNDER THE BIG TOP Music from movies having to do with the circus—including “Trapeze” by Malcom Arnold, “The Clowns” by Nino Rota, “Circus World” by Dmitri Tiomkin, and listen for an appearance by an animated elephant with very big ears.
01/11/09 - AURIC Highlights from movies scored by the French composer Georges Auric—including “Lola Montes,” Beauty and the Beast,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “The Titfield Thunderbolt.”
01/04/09 - WALTON Music from motion pictures scored by the distinguished British composer Sir William Walton—including selections from “The First of the Few,” “Hamlet,” “Henry V,” and even the largely unused score he composed in 1969 for “Battle of Britain.”
12/28/08 - YEAR-END LEFTOVERS Every year, I realize that each show in this series could have been different (not to mention better!)—so in this episode, I've included some of the items that didn’t make it on the air in 2008. Listen and enjoy!
12/21/08 - HOLIDAY SHOW Enjoy movie music that ranges from the usual (“A Christmas Carol” by Richard Addinsell) to the somewhat odd (“Nightmare Before Christmas” by Danny Ellfman) with many choice seasonal selections in between.
12/14/08 - ROBOTS! Selections from movies having to do with screen androids—including “The Day the Earth Stood Still” by Bernard Herrmann, “I, Robot” by Marco Beltrami, “The Iron Giant” by Michael Kamen, “Robots” by John Powell, and “A I—Artificial Intelligence” by John Williams—among others.
12/07/08 - WORLD WAR II Music from films having to do with the 2nd World War, including selections from “Saving Private Ryan” by John Williams, “Patton” by Jerry Goldsmith, “The Great Escape” by Elmer Bernstein, “The Guns of Navarone” by Dmitri Tiomkin, as well as music by Maurice Jarre, Franz Waxman and Ron Goodwin.
He was best-known for screen musicals, but Vincente Minelli was a complete film maker who excelled in all genres of the motion picture business. This show contains excerpts from such movies as “Madame Bovary,” and “Lust for Life,” by Miklos Rozsa, “Some Came Running,” by Elmer Bernstein. “Two Weeks in Another Town,” by David Raksin, and “The Clock,” by George Bassman.
11/16/08 - THE MISSION Is it one of the greatest miscarriages of Oscar justice in Hollywood history? Listen, and you be the judge. Ennio Morricone’s magnificent music for “The Mission,” which was nominated for, but did not win the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1986, will be featured on this program. The original soundtrack recording, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Voices conducted by the composer.
11/09/08 - MARK TWAIN Music from films having to do with Samuel Langhorne Clemens and his works, including “The Adventures of Mark Twain,” by Max Steiner, at least a couple of the many screen versions of “Huckleberry Finn,” and “The Prince and the Pauper” by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
11/02/08 - THE ANNUAL HALLOWEEN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL You can’t kill it, even with a stake through the heart and lots of garlic! Dracula and friends are hanging around for a bit to frighten us. Selections from “House of Frankenstein,” “The Beast With Five Fingers,” “I Walked With a Zombie,” “Vampire Circus,” and “The Mummy,” among other things.
10/12/08 - 1954: A VERY GOOD YEAR Music from movies released 54 years ago—including selections from “On the Waterfront,” “The Caine Mutiny,” “The High and the Mighty,” “Dial M for Murder,” “Prince Valiant,” and a monster-trifecta including “Them!”, “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” and “Godzilla.”
09/21/08 (1/2 hour) - QUO VADIS
08/31/08
08/24/08
08/10/08 CONSIDER THE SOURCE An entire show devoted to “source” music. What, you may well ask, is “source” music? Well, in movie music parlance, it is music that can be traced to an on-screen source: an orchestra at a concert, a dance band, a radio, or perhaps a phonograph. In other words--music that you could still hear if you were one of the characters in the movie. Sometimes it’s by the composer of the background score, sometimes from another “source” altogether
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