From scores we move on to songs - sing along, won't you, if you know the words?:
"Days of Wine and Roses" from Days of Wine and Roses
music by Henry Mancini
lyrics by Johnny Mercer
*
second and final win, third of eleven Original Song nominations for Mancini; fourth and final win, 14th of 18 nominations for Mercer
"The days of wine and roses laugh and run away like a child at play..." Serious subject matter this film deal with. In the hands of Blake Edwards, it actively tries to avoid loud sermonizing or general moroseness. In the hands of Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, a self-pitying moan of a tune. This is bad! I can't believe this won the Oscar and two Grammys!
"Follow Me" from Mutiny on the Bounty
music by Bronislau Kaper
lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
*****
first and only Original Song nomination for Kaper; past two-time winner, eleventh of 16 nominations for Webster
Plays at least twice: once in Tahitian over a montage of the sailors enjoying the newfound paradise, and once in English during the entr'acte. I love it. I think it's romantic, hypnotic, seductive. It's also characteristic of the exoticism the film goes in for when it comes to depicting the Indigenous populations, and while I know it's not enough to just scream, "BUT THE SONG IS GOOD!" ...people, THE SONG IS GOOD!
"Tender is the Night" from Tender is the Night
music by Sammy Fain
lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
***
past two-time winner, seventh of ten nominations for Fain; make that twelfth of 16 nominations for Webster
Another mournful ballad for a drama about an alcoholic - this time, he's a psychiatrist married to his former patient, a bipolar heiress. Succeeds where "Days of Wine and Roses" fails, because there's genuine affection in every note and lyric.
"Second Chance" from Two for the Seesaw
music by Andre Previn
lyrics by Dory Previn
???
second and final Original Song nomination for Andre; second of three nominations for Dory
A really wonderful film about an unlikely couple dealing with the reality of their unlikely coupling. But point me to where this song actually plays - with lyrics - in the movie. Should've been up for score, if anything; the inclusion here doesn't make much sense to me.
"Walk on the Wild Side" from Walk on the Wild Side
music by Elmer Bernstein
lyrics by Mack David
*****
first of four Original Song nominations for Bernstein; sixth of eight nominations for David
In this movie, a drifter in search of his lost love finds her in a brothel; further sin and crime ensue. This song gyrates, the kind of tune you need a cigarette during and after. "The odds against going to heaven: six-to-one!" Mmm, yeah...
--------------------
The Oscar, for the second year in a row, went to Mercer & Mancini:
No, thanks! My vote goes to:
BERNSTEIN & DAVID
for
"WALK ON THE WILD SIDE"
from
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Sunday, the nominees for Best Original Screenplay: Divorce Italian Style, Freud, Last Year at Marienbad, That Touch of Mink, and Through a Glass Darkly.
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