Yup, I bought "The Best of Henry Mancini" CD when I was still living in Japan. I figured since I enjoyed a lot of his theme songs for movies and television, it would be nuts to miss out on the opportunity. Plus, it didn't cost too much at all.
So, for this week's Reminiscings of Youth, I've decided to piggyback one Mancini onto the other with this one, "Charade", being included although I had yet to be born when the Stanley Donen film was released in 1963. Up to this point, I've only seen certain scenes from this rom-com thriller flick but since it entered the public domain, I've witnessed at least one YouTube channel that has put the entirety of "Charade" onto the platform, so one of these days, I'm going to have to see the whole thing. After all, it has Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant...two of my favourites from old Hollywood.
However, I have to admit that I've seen the opening credits to the movie several times since it is so cool. Just start the whole ball rolling by throwing the first murder victim off a speeding train without so much as a how-do-you-do, and then launch the rotating arrows (by Maurice Binder, the fellow behind 007's gun barrel sequence in those opening credits) and the percussion before Mancini's main theme gloriously rolls in.
"Charade" is described as a sad Parisian waltz, and I think that there was a sung version which reflected that sentiment, but the one used in those opening credits is definitely oomphed-up to a Mancini-esque creation of romance and thrills and adventure, perfect for the movie. The tapping percussion and drums sound like an alert to danger before the French-sounding version of the theme enters the scene with that feeling of danger. Then, the swinging jazz orchestra follows up with its own take on the chorus followed by a soaring romantic sensation. I'm always going to prefer the one used for those opening credits over the single version since the latter makes a definite finish instead of the fadeout of the former as if the theme had been meant for the credits of a TV show.
Now, it's time for some Mancini magic when I was in existence. NBC's "Sunday Mystery Movie" was one signal to me and my brother that the beloved weekend was once again coming to an end, and so at the time, we weren't too fond of it. But the sequence was memorable for the desert-setting mystery man off in the distance walking toward the camera as various photos of the detectives involved in this wheel series popped up.
One of those detectives was "Columbo", a fictional hero who has enduring popularity here in North America as well as in Japan despite the fact that actor Peter Falk passed away over a decade ago. Although some of the other detectives on "Sunday Mystery Movie" had their own theme tunes such as "McCloud", "Columbo" never did but I think that a lot of folks on either side of the Pacific have pretty much accepted the "Sunday Mystery Movie" theme as the theme for "Columbo", especially on the Japanese side because those famous opening credits never showed up; the broadcasting Japanese network simply went directly into the latest episode of "Columbo" and then had the ending credits roll by as the "Sunday Mystery Movie" theme played.
And for me, whenever that lovely Mancini theme plays, I'm always going to think of "Columbo", not "McCloud", "Banacek", "McMillan and Wife" or "Hec Ramsey". This is even though it's hard to imagine a self-effacing and shuffling police lieutenant with a Noo Yawk accent being given such a grand song with a bit of country-western and romance accompanied by a whistling synthesizer (apparently a Yamaha CS-80 according to this exchange on "Film Score Monthly").
Come to think of it, I guess Mancini was a composer who just loved to insert a bit of sex appeal and romance into many if not all of his theme songs. They couldn't be all about the intrigue and derring-do.
Well, although the Wikipedia entry for "Sunday Mystery Movie" just listed the premiere year as 1971, I can assume that it could have started in September because back then, the advent of autumn meant the advent of new TV shows. As such, what kayo was being released at that time?
Feifei Ouyang -- Ame no Midosuji （雨の御堂筋）(September)
Mari Amachi -- Mizuiro no Koi （水色の恋）(October)
Pedro & Capricious -- Wakare no Asa (別れの朝）(October)
Classic primetime TV movie featuring detective heroes including Mc Cloud Columbo Banacek Mc Millan and Wife & other crime fighters aired on NBC Network from 1971-77 TV series a true cult TV shows of all time.
ReplyDeleteYep, I remember the old NBC Mystery Movie round wheel when I was a kid. At the time, though, that usually meant it was time for me to hit the bed. "Quincy" and "Hec Ramsey" were in there, too.
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