I Think This Has To Be One Of The Best Scores Around I Know It Was Done By Johnny Keating But You Would Think It Was Henry Mancini On Some Of The Tracks Great Stuff........
I've Never Heard Of It Before I'll Have To Watch Out For It Next Time It Comes On The Telly Any Body Got A Light? (j/k) It Was Made In 1967 And Starred Rod Taylor And Was Based On A Book By Arthur Hailey Who Wrote Airport,Wheels,The Moneychangers.Then There Was A Tv Series Hotel That Lasted From 1983-1988
I enjoy the score a lot but I don't think it's necessary to compare it with the works of Henry Mancini ...
I saw the film a couple of times many years ago and was happy to get the theme on an old vinyl album (Great Warner Bros. Love Themes). Entertaining if not particularly good film ... I think this was one of those films which led the novel's author to say - in response to a query as to what his next novel would be about - it would based on the plot of the latest film made from one of his novels!
I'm very pleased - as always - with FSM's production of this release and I quite like its companion piece Kaleidoscope but yes, Hotel by Johnny Keating is well worth owning.
I've always wondered why Keating didn't have more of a career as a film composer, based on his fine score for HOTEL. Despite some repetitive suspense moments, I also enjoy the LP for ROBBERY (although it suffered from the prevalent London records' mildly overdriven quality.)
I took a chance on this album around six months ago upon reading that it hadn't sold well and that Bruce Kimmel talked it up, and I have listened to it fairly regularly since. The initial appeal was that I didn't have any scores like this, but it's definitely made me seek out some more, such as Two For The See-Saw and just recently The Fortune Cookie paired with The Apartment. I don't care for a lot of the 60s sound because it sometimes sounds kitschy to me (Kaleidoscope for example is pretty silly), but I do like the very sleek, polished sound in Hotel, a quality that I've also found in Andre Previn and Johnny Mandel. So far, this score and the FSM Mandel set are among my most played CDs this year, although I'm still snatching up and savoring all the Goldsmith that comes my way.
Yes, I love Hotel - love the score, and really like the film a lot. Dated? Sure. But very entertaining with a wonderful cast. I was on the road when it came out and saw it in Cincinnati at a gorgeous movie palace on Euclid. I liked it and the score so much that I went back three times in two days. It's a real shame Keating didn't do more scores - he had the gift.
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