"A film without music is like a plane without fuel" wrote screen icon Audrey Hepburn in a letter to legendary film composer Henry Mancini.
From driving the narrative and setting the scene to introducing characters and highlighting moods, music can make or break a film. Throughout movie history, music has played an integral role in virtually every classic film using anything from live piano accompaniments to Tarantino's kitsch soundtracks. Imagine The Third Man with no zither, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly with no Ennio Morricone and Jaws without its classic dum-dum effect - put simply, they just wouldn't be as good.
Silverscreen Crackers, a new Radio 4 series, takes five of the very best Christmas themed films and goes behind the scenes to find out more about how the role of music helps define a classic. From Holiday Inn to It's A Wonderful Life, Mary Poppins, The Snowman and even A Muppet Christmas Carol, producer Fiona Croall had her work cut out in choosing just five of the many silver screen favourites that pepper the Christmas tv and cinema schedules. So how on earth did she narrow it down? "My starting point is to get behind the scenes and rummage about for the juicy details that shed light onto how the film and music came about" she confesses. "I love Christmas films too. Who doesn't? It gives you a chance to escape the bloated feeling of too much turkey!"
The series also puts paid to a well known myth. Think that Aled Jones sings the famous song in The Snowman ? Think again! He only sings on the commercial cd, not the film - that was Peter Auty's voice. And It's A Wonderful Life, a great 'feel-good movie' actually marked the end of a long term collaboration between director Frank Capra and Russian born composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Fiona reveals that "most of his score was cut as Capra believed it to be too dark for a Christmas film." Tiomkin, understandably, wasn't terribly happy about the cuts and the two never worked together again. Silverscreen Crackers also divulges the inspiration behind A Spoonful of Sugar, one of the most popular tunes in Mary Poppins. Composer Robert Sherrman's son told him a story about taking medicine at school and with a bit of musical magic by Sherrman and his brother, a classic tune was born.
"My film music passion began a few years ago when one of my favourite radio presenters here in Scotland thought it would be a great idea to do a series about film music" says Fiona when asked where the idea for the series came from. "The seed grew from there. It's now out of control and most of my colleagues think I'm a total film music nerd!" Her previous work for Radio 4 includes an archive hour on Henry Mancini, composer for Breakfast At Tiffanys and The Pink Panther. One of Fiona's favourite stories is that the producers of Breakfast at Tiffanys wanted to cut the famous song Moon River as they felt that the film was too long. It was only because Audrey Hepburn stepped in and insisted that it stay that they gave in.
There are many films with instantly recognizable music, but Fiona admits that her favourite is probably The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. "I love the way that the genius composer Ennio Morricone is so playful with the different character themes.the music is the film." But what about compilations versus composers? For a while it looked like the role of a composer in the film world might become redundant as the fashion for pre-existing music to be used on a soundtrack became increasingly popular. Fiona thinks that a healthy mix of both works best, "especially composed music works for some films and others need the compilation" but she's not a fan of all compilations. She explains that sometimes film-makers use compilations "that have no real relevance to the narrative" and that it "reeks of commercial merchandising possibilities" rather than being integral to the film itself.
And for those who prefer their films without a Christmas theme, Fiona fervently hopes that there may be a further series of Silverscreen Crackers, but with a slightly different theme. She explains; "the next series could be Easter related with Jesus Christ Superstar, The Last Temptation, The Life of Brian, The Ten Commandments and Jesus Of Nazareth, let's hope for another series. Bring it on!"
But does Fiona have any musical aspirations? Has she ever composed anything herself? Or written a song? "Obviously I'd like to lie, it might be more interesting than the truth - which is no" she says wryly.
Elizabeth Hyder
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