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Another Kritzerland home run!
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Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition world premiere release – two great scores on one CD:
O. HENRY’S FULL HOUSE
Composed and Conducted by Alfred Newman
and
THE LUCK OF THE IRISH
Composed by Cyril Mockridge
O. Henry was a master writer and was known for his ironic "twist" endings. In O. Henry’s Full House, an anthology film from Twentieth Century Fox, we get five of his stories, some of which remain famous to this day: “The Cop and the Anthem,” “The Clarion Call,” “The Ransom of Red Chief,” “Gift of the Magi” and “The Last Leaf.” The film had five separate directors—Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Henry Koster, Howard Hawks and Jean Negulesco—and an amazing all-star cast, including Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, David Wayne, Jean Peters, Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain.
As with so many Fox films, Alfred Newman also has to be recognized as one of the leading players. Ably assisted by his close collaborator, vocal director Ken Darby, Newman brings his customary sensitivity to every sequence, and this is some of the most beautiful music he ever wrote. It’s a classic Newman score, filled with his exquisite themes, none more so than his masterful “The Last Leaf.”
The Luck of the Irish was directed by Henry Koster, and starred Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Lee J.Cobb and Jayne Meadows, with the delightful Cecil Kellaway as Horace, a leprechaun. The music for the film was composed by Cyril J. Mockridge and was conducted by Alfred Newman. Like David Buttolph and David Raksin, Mockridge served Fox as a workhorse and jack-of-all-compositions. Although he occasionally got to score projects which went on to become classics—such as Miracle on 34th Street and How To Marry a Millionaire—he never wrote a lovelier or more entertaining composition than he gave to Irish, an all-but-forgotten comedy/fantasy. His music perfectly follows every footstep of the physical and spiritual journey of the characters, and is a delight from start to finish.
This is the world premiere release for each of these scores, lovingly mixed and mastered by Mike Matessino from the elements in the Fox vaults. The sound is excellent and is an early example of the push-pull miking techniques of the time, resulting in a beautiful stereo presentation.
O. Henry’s Full House/The Luck of the Irish is limited to 1000 copies only and is priced at $19.98, plus shipping.
CDs will ship by the last week of March, but we’ve been averaging three to five weeks early in terms of shipping ahead of the official ship date. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.
So with a bit of "Luck" it might reach us before Saint Patrick's Day...it's not too far away Bruce?
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I'm beyond trying to predict the swiftness or lack thereof of our printer. The actual pressing happens in a day or two - it's getting the damn print run done - they have to do what they call gang runs on their press, so sometimes it happens right away and sometimes it sits for a week. I'm certainly hoping we have them around two weeks from now. I actually screwed up on the listing of the ship date - I always make it six weeks from the announcement, but we'll certainly ship before the end of March and hopefully considerably before then.
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I'm beyond trying to predict the swiftness or lack thereof of our printer. The actual pressing happens in a day or two - it's getting the damn print run done - they have to do what they call gang runs on their press, so sometimes it happens right away and sometimes it sits for a week. I'm certainly hoping we have them around two weeks from now. I actually screwed up on the listing of the ship date - I always make it six weeks from the announcement, but we'll certainly ship before the end of March and hopefully considerably before then.
Fingers crossed so, but anyway it's a wonderful release, well done!
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How do you get this stuff to sound so great!
I am an Alfred Newman completest so bought mine!
If you are an Alfred Newman completest then I hope you will support my desire for the original short score to THE GUNFIGHTER somewhere on a future Kritzerland CD.
Yes! I support this! 
It's a GREAT main title and end title. Bruce, can you add this to a future Fox golden age CD?
Actually, you could probably record the main and end titles off the actual film, and it would sound about as good as the isolated tracks. (Perhaps not as sure about the end title, but, as I recall, the main title would stand pretty well on its own.)
Ah but John, I DID record the main title to The Gunfighter off TV .......... in 1966!
Now, I'm ready for it on a proper CD with the amazing sound quality of Bruce's CDs!
PS: Cody is always right!
That's funny. That's how I got the music to THE GUNFIGHTER, off a TV broadcast in New York City. And a lot of other Newman scores, in what I used to call "TV tapes," recorded directly from the box. Later, I figured out how to record the whole movie onto video, then re-record just the music sections onto reel-to-reel. Fun. Got lots of scores that way; could fit way more of them onto a tape, without all those pesky dialogue sections getting in the way.
Let go of most of them, later supplanted by CD releases.
Still have some of them around somewhere, though I can't say I have a workable machine to play them....
Time passes.
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Samples are great!
Just listening to "Love Ends" from THE LAST LEAF. Reminds me of music accompanying Gregory Peck's walk out of the throne room out to the tabernacle where lies the Ark of the Covenant. Same kind of sound and orchestrations in both cues.
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Just got word that we'll ship next Thursday - both this and Jeepers Creepers.
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Just got word that we'll ship next Thursday - both this and Jeepers Creepers.
Wow, brilliant! Bravo Bruce, and the fabulous Kritzerland!!!
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Personal aside to Rozsaphile --
Hi, John,
Do you remember years ago publishing in Pro Musica Sana my mini-essay extolling the virtues of THE LUCK OF THE IRISH, and encouraging readers to explore the little-known score and film? (I may have written a similar piece about O. HENRY'S FULL HOUSE, but my memory's a bit fuzzy on that point.)
Sometimes, if you hang in there, you get to live long enough to see one of your dreams come true.
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Posted: |
Feb 27, 2014 - 12:50 AM
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By: |
Doug Raynes
(Member)
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Personal aside to Rozsaphile --
Hi, John,
Do you remember years ago publishing in Pro Musica Sana my mini-essay extolling the virtues of THE LUCK OF THE IRISH, and encouraging readers to explore the little-known score and film? (I may have written a similar piece about O. HENRY'S FULL HOUSE, but my memory's a bit fuzzy on that point.)
Sometimes, if you hang in there, you get to live long enough to see one of your dreams come true.
Fortunately Preston, with the Rozsa Society journal on the website, finding articles is easy, so here it is, from PMS 16. I've even corrected the scanning typos (only fair as I obviously didn't check the scan thoroughly enough!).
While THE LUCK OF THE IRISH is neither Tyrone Power nor director Henry Koster at his best, this 1947 fantasy/comedy contains two superlative elements, the tender, whimsical leprechaun of Oscar nominated Cecil Kellaway, and the music score of Cyril J. Mockridge. When the story calls for an other-worldly approach, Mockridge supplies motifs that are not merely spooky but most specifically Irish-spooky, and the more lively scenes are treated with sprightly, lyrical high spirits that I find delightful. Because of Mockridge’s close professional association with Alfred Newman, I at first wondered if some of the romantic string passages (especially Power and Anne Baxter’s Manhattan farewell) might not have been penned by an uncredited Newman, writing in his best HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY vein. However, Mr. Lionel Newman, who conducted the LUCK music, has since assured me that the score, while utilizing a few folk tunes, is entirely the work of Mr. Mockridge. For an unpretentious comedy, Mr. Mockridge has created an endearing score with the skill of a master.
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