Sunday, August 17, 2025
More on Robert Russell Bennett, one of Hollywood's many unsung heroes
["'Victory at Sea' (1952) - Suite - Richard Rodgers (musical recording)"]
By RM
sunday, august 17, 2025 at 1:08:00 a.m. edt
More on Robert Russell Bennett, one of Hollywood's many unsung heroes
Seems I hit the nail on the noggin-
"Richard Rodgers contributed twelve basic themes for the series..." And Mr. Bennett turned them into music.
The whole story is amazing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Russell_Bennett
He contributed to the work (and reputation) of a lot of famous composers- the guy was a genius!
His name is on at least one movie as composer, Pacific Liner ('39). It's RKO, so it probably runs on TCM once in a while. I should watch it again!
-RM
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6 comments:
There were many geniuses back then(in music). By the rules of evolution,there should be even MORE today--but I see none currently.
--GRA
So much for "evolution."
Signed,
A non-Darwinist
The Wiki article is the tip of the iceberg about the "Victory at Sea" music. The twelve Rodgers piano "themes" last an aggregate of twelve minutes, and Bennett arranges/transforms them to produce a couple hours of the score. But, more than nine hours of it is entirely his (Bennett's) composing. In Hollywood, a fair bit of his "arranging" is sub-composing----here's a theme, expand it to fit this scene. You don't see his name on "Rebecca," but he helped Waxman quite a bit (the climactic fire music is his); for the Jerome Kern "Swing Time," the "Waltz in Swing Time" is solely Bennett's. And then there's all the concert music he somehow found time to write, including a first opera "Maria Malibran," produced at Juilliard with a cast that included a young Risë Stevens. You'll want to read the new "Victory at Sea" book---and the Bennett biography.
Or is evolution being stifled artificially by DE-evolution,caused by the placing of blacks in positions of decison-making? White talent is likely being ignored in racist manner. Whether long term trends can overcome short term disruption of evolutionary forces(if that's what's happening)is the question.
--GRA
Thank you. To give another example of an anonymous talent, most of the music credited to Duke Ellington was written by a fellow band-member, Billy Strayhorn- including "Take the A-Train." (There is a book about Mr. Strayhorn, which I haven't gotten around to yet.)
The score for "Rocketship XM" (1950) is credited to the famous composer Ferde Grofe, but it was arranged by prolific B-movie talent Albert Glasser, who added a theremin to the music, establishing the instrument as a staple of science fiction, a year before Herrmann's score for DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. (The theremin was introduced to movies by Miklos Rozsa as an indicator of mental aberration in SPELLBOUND and THE LOST WEEKEND.)
-RM
Believe it or not, once upon a time blacks could sing in human fashion, compose real music, and play actual musical instruments. The decision to promote the worst (of everything) came from somewhere above, to de-evolutionize all of us.
-RM
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