This is probably just me, but the orchestral music in that John-begging-in-truck scene really reminds me of the famous melody in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, movement 4, one of the most emotional melodies I have ever known. Chaplin was an excellent composer, he even got one Oscar for his music, but did he also adapt classic music, or other composers' works into his movies?
shareSorry, I'm not familiar with that piece by Tchaikovsky--at least, not by name, anyway. Anyway, interesting observation by you, and sorry I can't comment directly about that, but I noticed that the main theme music of the movie (played at the very end, as well as at several points in the movie) reminded me a lot of the Italian song "O Sole Mio". A few of the notes in the main, most dramatic segment of this music by Chaplin sound similar to the notes that go with the "O sole mio! Sta infronte a te!" part of the "O Sole Mio" song, so I thought perhaps Chaplin might have been inspired by that Italian song. It's only a matter of a few similar notes, though, so I'm not sure, but I wondered if you or anyone else saw the similarity.
shareABSOLUTELY. I was actually at a concert of Tchaikovsky's 6th and it was there where it hit me how close the melodies for the two pieces are. So its is not just you =) This piece of music helps this scene be, as you have said, one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in cinema, as far as I have seen.
share I was wondering about this myself- I just listened to a cd by Glenn Miller and there was a song called A Story of a Starry Night and I was wondering where have I heard this melody? I realized it was from that scene you were referring to from The Kid. So I looked up that song on Amazon and here's the link- http://www.amazon.com/Classically-Romantic-Ludwig-van-Beethoven/dp/B00000IGHX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1208462088&sr=1-1
It is a song by Tchaikovsky- the A Story of a Starry Night was adapted from it and I'm CERTAIN it's the same melody as from The Kid. Incidently, I love that song! And that scene from the movie. Have you ever watched Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr? They also have that music playing at the end. I usually get choked up, from both movies.