MovieChat Forums > Kiss of Death Discussion > music theme identified

music theme identified

posted 18 years ago by s-hill4
4 replies | jump to latest

The sultry, downbeat melody heard in Mature's first appearance in "Kiss of Death" (and in various other Fox urban-crime "film noir" dramas of the 1940s and after, like "Dark Corner") is entitled "Harlem Nocturne." It was composed by Earle Hagen back in 1939, when he was a young musician (20 years of age!), playing horn and arranging tunes for the Ray Noble big band. What's really interesting is that the great arranger-composer-conductor Hagen (still living in recent years, well into his 80s -- see the Earle Hagan web-site) supposedly didn't go to work for Fox studio until appx. 1947 (according to "IMDB"), yet I myself heard his "Harlem Nocturne" in a Fox film dating from 1941, the unjustly forgotten but quite fascinating "I Wake Up Screaming." That 1941 film, starring Mature, Betty Grable, the tragic Carol Landis, and the tragic Laird Cregar, must have been one of Fox's first "film noir" gems of the 1940s. I now wonder whether "I Wake Up Screaming" was the first time that Hagen's "Harlem Nocturne" was heard in a feature film... -- Prof Steven P Hill, Cinema Studies, University of Illinois.

[–] s-hill4 18 years ago

I must correct a bad mistake I made on May 10, identifying the sultry, downbeat, haunting melody used in several Fox films of the 1940s ("I Wake Up Screaming," "Kiss of Death," etc.). I had been close, but no cigar. I now know that the melody was in fact "Street Scene," composed 'way back in 1931 by ALFRED NEWMAN (not Earle Hagen), for the Goldwyn United Artists film version of "Street Scene." This week I finally got my hands on the video of "Street Scene" ('31), and confirmed I'd been wrong on May 10. The further explanation seems to be that when Alfred Newman signed a contract to become Fox's director of music (1940-41), after a decade of work mainly for United Artists, Newman began incorporating his own "Street Scene" melody into the soundtrack of a number of films (normally urban crime dramas) at the Fox studio, where he was now the "music boss." -- Steven P Hill.

[–] fortunate1 15 years ago

That Newman family is really something to behold: brothers Alfred and Lionel, and the next generation including Randy and David. It makes one think that the 'nature v. nurture' argument is just hollow sophistry! Whichever is true, I'm in awe of their musicianship -each and every one of them.

[–] heathentart 14 years ago

Thank you so much, Professor Hill!!!!! I'd been driving myself nuts trying to identify that music. I, too, thought it might be "Harlem Nocturne," but realized my mistake after hearing it played on radio.

Is there a recording of "Street Scene" available to the public? I'd appreciate greatly any help.

[–] jackboot 14 years ago

Boy, that music is SO not Harlem Nocturne!! I'm sorry!! How could you even think that for a minute??

I have no knowledge of a recording of the musical piece, Street Scene, but you can hear it in the credits in all of the mentioned movies, which are all widely available to the public (actually Street Scene is a little hard to find now, but it's out there).