Films soundtracks #4 - Sweet Smell of Success
Hello Hive community!
Today I want to talk to you about an American movie from the 50's, called Sweet Smell of Success, as well as its great soundtrack.
If you saw the movie, I think you will agree with me that it is a great piece of work and its music is excellent. If you did not see it, I recommend it.
Released in 1957, Sweet Smell of Success is a drama directed by Alexander Mackendrick, with screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, and starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. The rest of the technical data sheet can be seen here.
The movie, which has a film noir visual style, is about a press magnate, who wants at all costs to avoid the sentimental relationship between his sister and a jazz guitarist. To this end, he employs a young and shameless press agent.
At the time the film was a total commercial failure. Thank God, time always puts things in their place, and today it is considered a great cinematographic work, and a classic.
I came to it the same way I came to so many other movies, by browsing IMDB. This is an activity that I love to do when I have the time.
I've discovered some real gems that I might never have known about otherwise.
The film's soundtrack is composed by the ultra-renowned New York composer and conductor Elmer Bernstein. However, the film also features jazz tunes composed by The Chico Hamilton Quintet, a jazz group originally from the United States, led by drummer Chico Hamilton.
Elmer Bernstein
(Born April 4, 1922, New York, New York, USA - Died August 18, 2004, Ojai, California, USA).
The son of a Ukrainian mother and an Austro-Hungarian father, Bernstein showed an interest in the arts from an early age, and at the age of 15 he gave his first concert.
Encouraged by the composer Aaron Copland, he decided to study composition with renowned teachers, among them Stefan Wolpe and Roger Sessions.
During World War II he participated in composing music for the Army Air Force radio.
His big break came in 1950, when writer Millard Lampell, a former army buddy of his, convinced producer Sidney Buchman to hire him as composer for the film Saturday's Hero, an american football drama. This would be his first experience in the cinema, where he forged a very successful career, composing the music for more than 140 films.
Among his most recognized soundtracks are: The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), The Ten Commandments (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Magnificent Seven (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Great Escape (1963), Animal House (1978), Heavy Metal (1981).
As a curiosity, he composed the gloomy music that accompanies the main song of Michael Jackson's video clip Thriller
Chico Hamilton
(Born September 20, 1921, Los Angeles, California, USA - Died November 25, 2013, New York, New York, USA).
Foreststorn "Chico" Hamilton attended Jefferson High School in his hometown. That school is famous for the number of jazz musicians it trained under music teacher Samuel Browne. There Hamilton met and played with many young men who would become part of the California jazz scene, also known as West Coast jazz, including saxophonist Dexter Gordon.
In 1955, Chico formed his first quintet, The Chico Hamilton Quintet, whose original members were: Carson Smith (bass), Fred Katz (cello), Buddy Collette (wind instruments), Jim Hall (guitar) and Chico Hamilton (drums).
This group of musicians is the one who participated in the soundtrack in question. They also appear in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, which portrays highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
Hamilton had a long musical career, with more than 30 albums as band leader, and participating as accompanist in works by figures such as Louis Armstrong and John Lewis.
He is also well known for his work as a talent scout, discovering and giving opportunities to many young musicians, several of whom joined his band throughout its various formations.
Some curious facts:
- He scored the 1965 film Repulsion, directed by Roman Polanski.
- He is the brother of actor Bernie Hamilton.
I'm not a big fan of jazz (I admit that I haven't given it enough opportunities), however, this soundtrack won me over.
It accompanies the film in a very natural way, and manages to musically express wonderfully the tone and the feelings that the images of the film propose.
In particular, there is a scene that made my hair stand on end when I saw it for the first time, in which the newspaper magnate (Burt Lancaster) goes out on the balcony of his house and looks at the city, while in the background a music plays that amplifies the emotion of the situation.
In this link I leave the complete soundtrack in good quality for you to download and enjoy, but in the meantime you can enjoy these videos:
Sources
. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051036/
. https://elmerbernstein.com/bio/
. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/26/chico-hamilton
. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chico-hamilton-mn0000776301/biography
. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_High_School_(Los_Angeles)
. https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/samuel-rodney-browne-the-music-teacher-who-broke-l-a-s-color-barrier
. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/west-coast-jazz-by-geoff-roach.php
. https://www.discogs.com/es/Elmer-Bernstein-Sweet-Smell-Of-Success/release/1361815
. https://www.discogs.com/es/The-Chico-Hamilton-Quintet-Sweet-Smell-Of-Success/release/1373281
Here I leave you my previous posts of "Films soundtracks" series:
• #2 - Vertigo (1958)
• #3 - Lo chiamavano Trinità... (1970)
This post has been manually curated by Jux from Rising Star on behalf of #musicforlife.
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