MovieChat Forums > Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1956) Discussion > 'Stranger in Paradise' Overkill.

'Stranger in Paradise' Overkill.

posted 18 years ago by imdb-12621
7 replies | jump to latest

I was very annoyed that this movie uses Borodin's Polovtsian Dances (aka "Stranger in Paradise") over and over again. It is really annoying and actually destroys what would otherwise be a ... well, no. It just stinks, period, but would be a bit better with a variety of music.

In my reading, I found the reason for this. According to the Fire Maiden actress Jacqueline Curtis (Duenna, the naughty girl) they used the Polovtsian Dances as queue music for blocking the dance scenes. The intention was to later dub an original score, but it just never happened.

[–] Jordan_Haelend 18 years ago

It's as bad as the way ONE Albert Glaser tune was used repeatedly in 1957's "Beginning of the End."

"An Archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows."
-Li Chen-Sung (Richard Loo) The Outer Limits

[–] paradised 15 years ago

Not only that, I found out that it uses music from one of Puccini's operas, too.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

So, that makes it bearable for opera fans? I haven't seen it in years, but whatever it contains it still sux.

Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.

[–] bluecat60 12 years ago

I thought it would be funny if MST3K made reference to the commercial we all heard ad nauseum back in the day and I thought they wouldn't do it, but then 5 minutes before film's end, we finally hear " I'm sure you all recognize that beautiful melody, Stranger in Paradise" etc.!

[–] sambda 8 years ago

The "dubbing something else later" theory doesn't work. The "Stranger in Paradise" music is across multiple shots and so *was* dubbed later (not recorded live at the same time as the pictures are shot. Films aren't done like that - how would you match the flow of music across shots?)

[–] philoj 8 years ago

Remembering that this was much earlier in the history of direction, is it possible that they used the music played on set to synchronize the different shots, so the dance flowed instead of jumping around in the choreography?

--
Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.

[–] hobnob53 8 years ago

Look at it this way. If they weren't playing the music, they'd be uttering even more inane dialogue.

Count your blessings.